I have tetanus. Again.
Looking over my blog entries from July of 2004, I noticed that in a few of my posts, I was complaining about having tetanus. Okay, so obviously, I didn't have it, or I would be dead by now. Am I right? Of course I am.
But the thing is, I think again that I have it. Only this time, I actually did cut myself. Well, it's more of a scrape, really. But it bled. A little. See, I was at work yesterday, doing actual work. This rarely happens. Anyway, we got in some really crappy gifts that were made in China, and they needed to be priced. So naturally, I reached for the pricing gun, which is on a lower shelf behind the counter. It was near the back, so when I reached in to get it, my pinky finger scraped across those really sharp prongs on the packing tape dispenser that was located right in front of it. I was all, "Ow!" and stuff. At first, it was just scraped skin, but then it started to bleed and I was all, "Oh fudge." I went out back and rinsed it with hot water, and then I dabbed some rubbing alcohol onto the wound and continued on with my work.
But I'm worried I have tetanus now.
See, the prongs of the tape dispenser were not rusty, but apparently, that is a common misbelief - that tetanus is always associated with rust. It isn't. The tetanus spores usually are found in animal feces, soil and dust, and they like to live in places low in oxygen. So, if you step on a rusty nail that has been safely lying around a spotless house full of oxygen, there's a good chance you're safe. And this tape dispenser, as far as I am aware, has not come into contact with any feces or soil (although it has come in contact with dust), so it probably wasn't growing tetanus on it. And I have actually cut myself on that same dispenser before, I just can't remember if it drew blood last time or not.
But the reason I think I have it is because since last night, my jaw has hurt like the dickens. Yeah, yeah, so it hurts about 95% of the time, due to my TMJ in one side of my jaw, and my arthritis in the other side, and granted it's supposed to take at least 2 days before symptoms of tetanus start to show, but STILL. I also haven't had a tetanus shot since Bush Sr. was president.
It just wouldn't be normal for me not to worry I'm going to die from a simple scratch.
In lighter news, here is a picture of me and Johnny Depp dressed as a pirate:
But the thing is, I think again that I have it. Only this time, I actually did cut myself. Well, it's more of a scrape, really. But it bled. A little. See, I was at work yesterday, doing actual work. This rarely happens. Anyway, we got in some really crappy gifts that were made in China, and they needed to be priced. So naturally, I reached for the pricing gun, which is on a lower shelf behind the counter. It was near the back, so when I reached in to get it, my pinky finger scraped across those really sharp prongs on the packing tape dispenser that was located right in front of it. I was all, "Ow!" and stuff. At first, it was just scraped skin, but then it started to bleed and I was all, "Oh fudge." I went out back and rinsed it with hot water, and then I dabbed some rubbing alcohol onto the wound and continued on with my work.
But I'm worried I have tetanus now.
See, the prongs of the tape dispenser were not rusty, but apparently, that is a common misbelief - that tetanus is always associated with rust. It isn't. The tetanus spores usually are found in animal feces, soil and dust, and they like to live in places low in oxygen. So, if you step on a rusty nail that has been safely lying around a spotless house full of oxygen, there's a good chance you're safe. And this tape dispenser, as far as I am aware, has not come into contact with any feces or soil (although it has come in contact with dust), so it probably wasn't growing tetanus on it. And I have actually cut myself on that same dispenser before, I just can't remember if it drew blood last time or not.
But the reason I think I have it is because since last night, my jaw has hurt like the dickens. Yeah, yeah, so it hurts about 95% of the time, due to my TMJ in one side of my jaw, and my arthritis in the other side, and granted it's supposed to take at least 2 days before symptoms of tetanus start to show, but STILL. I also haven't had a tetanus shot since Bush Sr. was president.
It just wouldn't be normal for me not to worry I'm going to die from a simple scratch.
In lighter news, here is a picture of me and Johnny Depp dressed as a pirate:
posted by Amanda at 9:37 AM
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