Sunday, February 15, 2009

Blood and misery. What happened?

I was watching something on TV, probably As Time Goes By on our educational channel. My favorite program even though I have seen it many times. The cat, Edgar, was sleeping on my lap. It was a peaceful wonderful afternoon. I had just made myself a cup of coffee and because I had been reading a book which my youngest daughter had given me for my birthday, I had put in about a table spoon cream in the coffee. I never use cream or milk in my coffee. But the book, titled OUT STEELING HORSES by Per Patterson who on one page talked about coffee with a spoon full of cream in such a convincing way that I had to try it.

All was quiet and peaceful. And then Edgar woke up and decided to take his daily cleansing ritual in my lap. He knows that it is against our house rules to do that. I told him to get off. He attempted to get off but lost his balance in getting off and so he clawed my hand. Something hurt me terribly, but worse in the whole melee, I knocked off my coffee mug and I saw the coffee with cream running along on the carpet. I rushed to the laundry area to get some wash clothes that I use for just such events, out of the dryer. And then I noticed the blood. There was blood everywhere. On the washing-machine, on the wall next to the doors to the washing-area, on the carpet from where I had been sitting. I ran into the bathroom and applied a female sort of thing to my hand to absorb the blood. And then I tried to clean up what had been happening. I was now wearing a cotex over my hand injury, but in order for it to stay where it was needed I covered my hand with one of my handmade socks.

And then I began trying to clean up coffee and blood from the poor carpet. I had to use my injured hand, and I am too old to get on my knees. It was a miserable time. Finally I had to say "Enough" And then I took the sock and the cotex off my hand. There was a beautiful walnut size lump on the back of my hand. And a promise of a huge black and blue spot on my lily white hand. Go and look at your grandmother's hand and see how unprotected the blood-vessels are. My cat, my beloved Edgar had punctured one of the visible arteries that are so obvious. The fact that I have to take blood thinning medicine caused the gushing of blood, I suppose.

Then I began worrying about Rabies. The cat is terribly healthy and I cannot assume he has Rabies even though he is permitted to run wild at night. Today, someone who saw my hand said :Call the doctor. I heard about a cat owner in our area who got cat fever from a cat bite. Mine is not a bite.

Then when time came to write my blog, I was trying to bring in the sheriff and and news paper headlines, but I am not clever enough to change this to some sort of crime.

10 comments:

Haphazardkat said...

Good grief!!
All that and you didn't get to try your creamed coffee!

Take care. Hope all heals quickly and easily.

Kat
Vancouver, WA

Sarah Mattingly Photography, LLC said...

Yikes, but you are a clever woman to come up with your idea for "covering it up." I hope this heals quickly.

Barbara said...

Ah! Sounds familiar. We all have such moments. Unfortunately, when we have cats who love us they do not realize that we are not cats ourselves. I also have the scratch marks to prove it.

I trust that you are alright now!

Jodie said...

GO TO THE DOCTOR!!! Yikes. I complain because I get claw marks on the back of my shoulder where she likes to perch on the front of my left side and hang her claws over. BAD KITTY!!!! Take care of yourself. We need your blog to help us know that getting older isn't a bad thing.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! dear woman. I do so hope your hand is feeling/healing much better by now (12:30am Minneapolis, MN time). As one who has a clawed feline housemate myself, I have the scars to prove it. Though he would never let on, I'm sure Edgar feels horrible about everything.
I wanted to add, do absolutely delve into that wonderful, beautifully written book, "Out Stealing Horses"; I loved it. It was my first read of a Swedish author - now I'm hooked and researching our local library for anything and everything written by them. So please do let us know what you think of it.
Warm regards and a quick recovery.
Steph
Mpls, MN

TM Photography said...

I hope your hand feels better.

Liz said...

I hope your hand is feeling better and heals quickly. I remember my grandmother's hands and very thin seeming and easily bruised skin...

I loved hearing that you put cream in your coffee because the book made it sound so good. I learned my love of scotch and various whiskeys based on some book I enjoyed and character I loved.

weecyn said...

Hydrogen peroxide will remove any blood stains that remain. Just dab it on and watch it disappear. Of course, in line with your mystery-novel thinking, I should admit that it will still show up under the black like that the police use to investigate crime scenes...

Best wishes for speedy healing!

Anonymous said...

Please let us know that you got medical care and that you're on the mend. You can always have someone in to clean the carpet, and you can always make another creamy coffee, but you can't replace your hand, so please *take care,* dear lady!

Stella said...

I hope that you go to a Doc to have your hand looked at. An outdoor cat can have all kinds of little things on their paws that might not be good for your paw! When you finish Out Stealing Horses, look for Petterson's To Siberia . .another wonderful book from him.

Jo (not Stella)