![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So my vacation begins with me leaking blood and silver nitrate.
Today was a follow-up in regard to my abscess; it's been a month since my weekend stay at St. Peter's Hospital, and so the doctor/surgeon who has been monitoring this wanted to see me.
Good news: the infection's gone; the only areas of inflammation and bruising are around the incision sites. I also have (and can feel) some skin irritation as a result of constantly wearing gauze in my crotch to sop up any liquid that seeps out of the incisions.
Bad news: because of where the incisions are located (one near my scrotum and the other right near the anus), they are going to take a long time to fully close up and heal, which means that I'm very likely going to have to deal with the discomfort of the wounds healing, scabbing, and stinging as a result of movement for a while longer. This probably means no real pounding, vigorous sex for a while (the last time I had vigorous sex, I re-opened one of the incisions slightly).
To try to help the closing process, the doctor swabbed some silver nitrate over the wounds. Silver nitrate (which is a salt) applied to open wounds--FUCKING OWWWWW.
After the feeling of being ripped in two (which didn't happen, it just felt like it) subsided a little, I realized what the chemical was, and I began laughing. Why?
Silver nitrate is, in part, used to make photographic gelatin, (or, in English, emulsion) that is applied to film and photographic paper.
I've heard of getting intimate with your art, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I made a comment that my crotch would now need to be placed in some developer, stop bath, fixer, then a water rinse.
However, silver nitrate does have medical uses--it's an antiseptic, and used as a cauterizing agent; hence, why the surgeon used it on my incisions to assist with the healing and closing process. One side effect: I'm bleeding again from the first incision (but not heavily) and I was warned that some of the discharge would be gray and/or black, since silver nitrate does blacken the skin.
I have to admire the sheer honesty of the doctor, though. Throughout this whole process, she's been upfront about everything she's done--if something is going to hurt like hell, she'll tell you straight up that it's gonna hurt and not give you the "it's only going to feel like a pinch" crap. That's service.
Still, the discomfort is minimal compared to what I had been feeling pre-incisions, where just sitting up was a near-impossibility. I'll just keep what I've been doing; keeping the crotch as clean and dry as I can, and keep sitting on this nice inflatable donut, which is preventing me from actually sitting on the incisions.
With that good news, it means I'll be able to go on my vacation. Tomorrow, I head downstate to Bloomingburg; my family is on their way to spend a week on the Delaware River, but along the way, Mom's friend is throwing my mom her 50th birthday party. This means I must attend, even if it will mean I spend a total of 5 hours (round trip) driving. I will be traveling by myself; April's grandmother is up from Long Island, and the family is celebrating Grandma's birthday.
Although, keep in mind: my mom turned 50 in January. Why there's going to a be a birthday party for her 5 months before she turns 51, I don't know. Tomorrow she'll be exactly 50 years and 7 months old, so I'll wish my mom a happy 50 7/12th.
Sunday will be busy with cleaning, shopping, and packing, and then on Monday, April and I head up to Crawford Notch Campground in Harts Location, NH--it's near Mt. Washington, and the town has a population of 42. We're talking remote. We'll be there until Saturday, camping and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Hundreds of pictures will be taken, no doubt. All my cameras are coming with.
With any luck, this trip will be relaxing, soothing, and enjoyable, and I can begin the semester feeling refreshed, rested, and reset; for once the semester starts, free time will be reduced to nearly 0.
Since I'll be camping, I'll not be around on the Internet. In fact, my cell phone will spend most of its time being off--I may not even have a signal up there, who knows?
So there we go. Just ducky. Now to spend the evening doing laundry, and begin the process that is my vacation.
Today was a follow-up in regard to my abscess; it's been a month since my weekend stay at St. Peter's Hospital, and so the doctor/surgeon who has been monitoring this wanted to see me.
Good news: the infection's gone; the only areas of inflammation and bruising are around the incision sites. I also have (and can feel) some skin irritation as a result of constantly wearing gauze in my crotch to sop up any liquid that seeps out of the incisions.
Bad news: because of where the incisions are located (one near my scrotum and the other right near the anus), they are going to take a long time to fully close up and heal, which means that I'm very likely going to have to deal with the discomfort of the wounds healing, scabbing, and stinging as a result of movement for a while longer. This probably means no real pounding, vigorous sex for a while (the last time I had vigorous sex, I re-opened one of the incisions slightly).
To try to help the closing process, the doctor swabbed some silver nitrate over the wounds. Silver nitrate (which is a salt) applied to open wounds--FUCKING OWWWWW.
After the feeling of being ripped in two (which didn't happen, it just felt like it) subsided a little, I realized what the chemical was, and I began laughing. Why?
Silver nitrate is, in part, used to make photographic gelatin, (or, in English, emulsion) that is applied to film and photographic paper.
I've heard of getting intimate with your art, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I made a comment that my crotch would now need to be placed in some developer, stop bath, fixer, then a water rinse.
However, silver nitrate does have medical uses--it's an antiseptic, and used as a cauterizing agent; hence, why the surgeon used it on my incisions to assist with the healing and closing process. One side effect: I'm bleeding again from the first incision (but not heavily) and I was warned that some of the discharge would be gray and/or black, since silver nitrate does blacken the skin.
I have to admire the sheer honesty of the doctor, though. Throughout this whole process, she's been upfront about everything she's done--if something is going to hurt like hell, she'll tell you straight up that it's gonna hurt and not give you the "it's only going to feel like a pinch" crap. That's service.
Still, the discomfort is minimal compared to what I had been feeling pre-incisions, where just sitting up was a near-impossibility. I'll just keep what I've been doing; keeping the crotch as clean and dry as I can, and keep sitting on this nice inflatable donut, which is preventing me from actually sitting on the incisions.
With that good news, it means I'll be able to go on my vacation. Tomorrow, I head downstate to Bloomingburg; my family is on their way to spend a week on the Delaware River, but along the way, Mom's friend is throwing my mom her 50th birthday party. This means I must attend, even if it will mean I spend a total of 5 hours (round trip) driving. I will be traveling by myself; April's grandmother is up from Long Island, and the family is celebrating Grandma's birthday.
Although, keep in mind: my mom turned 50 in January. Why there's going to a be a birthday party for her 5 months before she turns 51, I don't know. Tomorrow she'll be exactly 50 years and 7 months old, so I'll wish my mom a happy 50 7/12th.
Sunday will be busy with cleaning, shopping, and packing, and then on Monday, April and I head up to Crawford Notch Campground in Harts Location, NH--it's near Mt. Washington, and the town has a population of 42. We're talking remote. We'll be there until Saturday, camping and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Hundreds of pictures will be taken, no doubt. All my cameras are coming with.
With any luck, this trip will be relaxing, soothing, and enjoyable, and I can begin the semester feeling refreshed, rested, and reset; for once the semester starts, free time will be reduced to nearly 0.
Since I'll be camping, I'll not be around on the Internet. In fact, my cell phone will spend most of its time being off--I may not even have a signal up there, who knows?
So there we go. Just ducky. Now to spend the evening doing laundry, and begin the process that is my vacation.
