Popular Post JeffR Posted June 14, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 14, 2021 How many times have you improvised when you didn't have the correct tool for the job? What were the consequences... Mine were rather spectacular. So the full sorry story goes along the lines of : Week before we were off to Cornwall for a family wedding, I had some free time (under orders from the Boss not to do owt stupid, yeah, like that was gonna happen...), so decided to do some work on the blue landrover. By work I mean destruction by conflagration. I recently replaced all the tub floor supports and top hats (had enough of drilling out pop rivets to last me a life time) and re-rivetted/glued em down with Tigerseal. Too much Tigerseal as it happens (note to oneself - air powered sealant guns are VERY effective), so the underneath looked like the contents of a babys nappy after binge eating charcoal, but with more lumpy bits. So being an "intelligent" human being I crawled underneath the said vehicle armed with a blowtorch and three aerosol cans of underseal. The plan was simple, heat excess glue till its soft, scrape it off and apply underseal. Idiot proof, but certainly and definitely not Jeff proof. Tigerseal really burns well, I mean it sort of melts and spatters worse than welding rusty galvanised tin sheet. All them wee (and not so wee) globs of lava hot goo really hurt (tee shirts are not fire proof, honest), gravity is a bloody nuisance too. Then I smelled burning plastic.... Rolled on to my side to see a big , burning glob of former Tigerseal having a rest on a can of underseal. Dropped the effing blowtorch to put out the resulting conflagration, successfully as it happens. But blowtorch found another aerosol to play with.. The resulting explosion did this, thank God for the goggles I was wearing (A win for the Health and Safety pundits at last): Yup a mix of shrapnel and underseal.... Tee shirt is a right off, shame really, was a nice tee shirt. Never mind crawls out and goes away to sulk and find some clean underwear. Removes a few bits of shrapnel, but the black stuff appeared to have taken up semi-permanent residence in my dermis (they had real fun in A&E getting that off). Decides to find something easy (and safe) to do instead. Was a lovely day, sunny and warm. So decided to sort out a dodgy door lock on the family car in prep for its trip to Cornwall. What could go wrong, ten 10mm bolts to remove the window regulator, two push rivets and two T40 torx screws. Lock out, job done. East peasy. WRONG Twas the push rivets that did for me. I'll be honest here, I really couldn't be bothered to leave my nice warm, sunny spot and go get a 5mm punch. My chest was stinging and I was sat down comfy (ish) like. So I improvised. The nice sharp, pointy electricians screwdriver I'd just used to scrape mud out of the door space would do the job nicely. Then the faeces hit the rotating air moving device. I made an executive decision to stop the screwdriver from scratching the paint on the door by placing my left wrist in its way. Wasn't big as puncture wounds go , measured out at 3mm wide and , judging by the screwdriver blade, about 10mm deep. All me fingers worked, no tingling . Didn't bleed much either, stung like buggery though, that horrible deep achy sort of hurt from a deep cut, especially after I cleaned it with brake cleaner (its mostly isopropyl alcohol and was handy). Mind you , wasn't bothered too much by the stinging from the shrapnel/sticky black stuff on my chest anymore, so sort of win win really. NOT Fast forward 6 hours or so and Boss gets back from work. She observed that there was beads of sweat running down my face and I was kinda flushed. "Just excited to see you, My Dear" OK so I made that bit up, the swear filter prevents what I actually mumbled...Twas not very complimentary, but I felt like carp. "What you done" Showed her my chest "FFS", she's not very sympathetic. Then she spotted my wrist was roughly the diameter of the Channel Tunnel air ducts.... She drove me the 45 miles to A&E , never been as frightened in all my life, poor car was on the limiter in every gear, all 6 of em. Goes up to reception, nice lady says "There will be a 4 to 5 hours wait to see a Doctor, but the triage nurse will be out in a few minutes" Triage nurse arrives, takes one look at my wrist and the 4-5 hours magically shrunk to about 5 pico seconds. Was stripped and on a gurney with canulas in every available blood vessel quicker that Donald Trump pocketing his supporters cash reserves. Gallons of blood removed for tox/bacty screening. "Whats the black sticky stuff on your chest?" So I told them, they was impressed, radiographer reckoned my Xray looked like a chaff load dumped over Berlin. Evidently the shrapnel was of minor concern. By now my right arm had started to swell in sympathy, so they removed the shrapnel (cant remember bits hitting that arm). The Boss was having a wee bit of a moment at this stage, we were kinda expecting me to get a handful of antibiotics and a telling off for being a prat..... and a Kentucky on the way home. Then the so and so's started trying to pump as much antibiotics into my system as they could, well 40ccs every 3 hours for 3 bloody days. When the bloods came back, in the words of the A&E consultant " you were very skilful, you managed to miss every major blood vessel, tendon and nerve, but introduced so many different pathogenic bacteria, including Clostridium tetani, I'm impressed" Then he confessed that I was probably less than 8 hours from a wooden overcoat. Quite sobering really, over the years I've cut, crushed or broke some quite large bits of myself. Who would have thought a bloody screwdriver and dinky puncture wound would almost swing for me. MORAL - DONT BLOODY IMPROVISE Sepsis is kinda scary and bloody quick to set in. So if you cut yourself, clean it properly and cover it. Had the last bits of shrapnel removed from my chest last week, no infection from them though as they must have been kinda warm when they became shrapnel... 2 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Glad to read you're still alive ! Yes, most other halves are not impressed by us experimenting with tools.... Hope you'll be well soon ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Wow, I didn't see that coming. As I read it I thought you were going to say you set your land rover on fire and burnt yourself. Sepsis is serious stuff. I hope you make a full recovery soon. I doubt you'll be allowed to work on your land rover again!! Thanks for posting your story as a warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Hell Jeff , some very sobering lessons learnt there , hopefully once your current wounds are fully healed you won't need your Gold A&E card for a good long time .... Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 ... I hope you made it to Cornwall after all that! Great sense of humour obviously helps (and I hope the Boss has recovered hers!) ... good lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Blanco said: ... I hope you made it to Cornwall after all that! Great sense of humour obviously helps (and I hope the Boss has recovered hers!) ... good lesson. This occurred a few weeks back, still taking antibiotics, but more or less back to rude health. Posted as a warning about how insidious sepsis is. Her humour amputation was successful a long time ago, yes we made it to Cornwall, wedding was great, car ate its starter motor, so business as usual. Edited June 14, 2021 by JeffR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Wow! I've just had the sepsis talk from my local paramedic, (a client), who tells me that amateur motor vehicle technicians are regular callers to A&E. Not as regular as clumsy drunks or, in season, anglers with fishhooks embedded in them, but too frequently for comfort. These days I work in an office environment, so the biggest dangers are paper cuts or being stabbed by a biro; fixing metal junk in the garage may be a hobby, but cannot be taken lightly. I'd better check my tetanus shots are up to date. (As a 4x4 Response group we have a monthly trophy awarded to the person who did the dumbest thing in the previous month, the FUBAR, consisting of my old clutch mounted on a plinth; one memorable winner was a member who was run over by his own truck when he took the prop off, another unhitched a trailer, which rolled away, demolishing a wall. This month's likely winner rolled his mates "Mitsi" at Avalanche Adventures this Sunday. Our H&S reps love the trophy as it encourages people to think what might go wrong and 'fess up ASAP or be unmasked by their mates/relatives). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Sheesh Jeff, you don't half have 'em! Glad to have you about still ....and this, people, is why guards should stay on your power tools(!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Christ Jeff, who'd have thought you'd be competition for Nige ! 🤣 Get well soon chap Mo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 10 minutes ago, jeremy996 said: Not as regular as clumsy drunks or, in season, anglers with fishhooks embedded in them, Err I hate to say this, but I've done all of them, more than once... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 The annoying thing is that I have worked in sewage contaminated watercourses for the past three decades, always cut yourself turning rocks over, yet NEVER had an infection. I also forgot to mention my undying and heartfelt admiration for the staff at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary A& E and Ward 22 (or 23, forget which) they are are a credit to their chosen professions and vocations. Salt of the Earth, all of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Did you follow a 'how to' written by HFH?? Happy to hear you could walk away and a wiser man. 😉 I must admit I never pay much attention to cleaning wounds and don't really do antibiotics or other drugs... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 My first thought was that HfH has competition!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Blimey Jeff you don't do it by halves do you Glad you're OK, surprised the boss hasn't murdered you though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 11 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Blimey Jeff you don't do it by halves do you Glad you're OK, surprised the boss hasn't murdered you though That would at least cut out the middle man..... Seriously coming that close does give you a new view on what's worth it and what's not. Glad your on the mend. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 16 hours ago, JeffR said: The annoying thing is that I have worked in sewage contaminated watercourses for the past three decades, always cut yourself turning rocks over, yet NEVER had an infection. Your highly trained immune system may be one of the things that saved you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 2 minutes ago, jeremy996 said: Your highly trained immune system may be one of the things that saved you! Strangely enough, A&E consultant said much the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I can understand that completely - as organic lifeforms, we are at constant war with our environment, with pathogens trying to take over; what floored you for a few days would have put me straight into the morgue in short order. Unless you get regular doses of a low level of the pathogen, you do not maintain some immunity to it. A lot of modern humans live in a "clean" environment, so when something nasty comes, it comes hard. Poking holes in your skin is a good way of introducing some novel and nasty bugs, so I'm rather more careful at 57 than I was at 17! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 8 minutes ago, jeremy996 said: I can understand that completely - as organic lifeforms, we are at constant war with our environment, with pathogens trying to take over; what floored you for a few days would have put me straight into the morgue in short order. Unless you get regular doses of a low level of the pathogen, you do not maintain some immunity to it. A lot of modern humans live in a "clean" environment, so when something nasty comes, it comes hard. Poking holes in your skin is a good way of introducing some novel and nasty bugs, so I'm rather more careful at 57 than I was at 17! This is why I despise the Dettol ads telling everyone to sterilise every item of the house when Dr's are worrying about limited numbers of different types of Antibiotics to treat patients immune to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 47 minutes ago, missingsid said: This is why I despise the Dettol ads telling everyone to sterilise every item of the house when Dr's are worrying about limited numbers of different types of Antibiotics to treat patients immune to them There's an important difference here. Its a good thing to clean your home on a regular basis (Covid should have shown us this) and kill pathogens that might be lurking around on surfaces. Living in a clean environment isn't a problem: Irresponsible use of antibiotics however when your body could fight off what should be a trivial infection is another thing entirely. Its not you that becomes immune to antibiotics, its the bacteria that become resistant and when that happens we have a serious problem with life threatening infections. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I got/had septicaemia once and was 4 hours from exiting this world and I still have no idea how I got it, but I am grateful for the ex wife at the time, she called the doctor when I was saying I was ' fine '... It's nasty stuff and you never realise it's bad until the A&E department aren't smiling so much and then the penny drops and you stop and think. Glad you're ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Jeeeeez Jeff Glad to hear you're on the mend!! Nige certainly does have competition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Ranged Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 A very entertaining read that got rather scary..... Damm! And because of a small injury..... I think you need to buy a lotto ticket!.. and a beer to celebrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 FFFlippin' heck Jeff. Sometimes it takes something like this to provide a bit of a wake up call that maybe we are not quite as invincible as years of being lucky have led us to believe. Post cancer and being left with a dodgy immune system, I now appreciate that seemingly minor stuff can quickly morph into real life changing events in an instant which is what happened when I got a tiny "oh it's nothing" scratch from a rusty paint scraper a few months ago while still receiving chemo. That one tiny scratch resulted in an arm like a kids entertainers balloon and a fever in no time at all which my oncology team took frighteningly seriously. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve King Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Are you Nige in disguise?! I alternately winced and chuckled at your post! It could have been so much worse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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