It sounds a lot worse than what it is... well, it's actually pretty bad, but I'm dealing with it...

So what the hell happened??? Well, for starters, I have a sh*t immune system, so maybe this won't happen to everyone, but I would feel remiss if I didn't give out a warning.

I was mixing up a few bowls of batter slime (Jayce's "mystery substance," to be exact. Just a few minor tweaks to it.) and I was using a wire whisk instead of a hand-mixer or the industrial technique Jayce uses which requires a drill and a concrete attachment --it's pretty innovative! But this particular recipe required some finessing that neither machine could achieve, so I was doing it all by hand. This particular wire whisk at Jayce's house didn't have a rubber handle, it's all wire, so all the friction on my thumb and index finger created a blister. No big deal, right? Well, the blister got cut and it hurt like hell.

Blisters generally hurt like hell with me anyhow, so I didn't think anything of it when it started to wake me up at night with pain. I just sprayed some lidocaine spray Jayce conveniently had in her medicine cabinet and hoped it would go away. It didn't. I took ibuprofen and naproxen, it still throbbed like crazy.

Finally, a couple mornings ago, I woke up at 6:00 a.m. unable to get back to sleep because my entire hand was throbbing in pain, even up to my wrist. My index finger was so swollen I couldn't make a fist and so red that I started to freak out. Adam was already at work (he had been since 4:30) and I started texting him in a panic. Thankfully his mother is a retired nurse and she would be able to take a look at it. She did and told me it looked infected (well, duh) She and my mother both (my mom used to be a radiology tech & P.A.) told me to get some antiseptic wash, polysporin, bandages, etc.

It still didn't get any better and the swelling was nuts. Tried more NSAIDs and even elevating my hand to decrease bloodflow and swelling. Nope. Didn't stop it. At this point my finger is red and hard like I had a bee sting or something (it wasn't a bee sting. This would be an entirely different post had it been a bee sting.) so I had to make the difficult decision to go to the ER w/o medical insurance...

So it turns out I got a STAPH INFECTION from a fucking blister on my hand. Now I'm pissed because it wasn't a stab wound, it wasn't a dog bite, it was a fucking BLISTER caused by WHISKING. So now I'm on antibiotics and it's very slowly getting better... TOO slowly if you ask me I don't work around exceptionally messy stuff, I keep my hands clean, all that good stuff, so just be careful out there... Don't overexert yourself working on WAM stuff, and if you think you've got an infected cut GO TO THE DAMN DOCTOR.

I'll spare you guys a picture because although it's not gross-gross, it's still pretty ugly... Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to elevate my hand again. It hurts like a mo...

-jilly

P.s. Be sure to ask jayce how I sent her to the ER after her last custom with me

Sorry to hear this, I hope you get well soon! And yes Jayce do tell.

Yeah I normally just say "Eh, it's not so bad..." but I'm really pissed about this. Not because I regret making the mess, that's not it at all, I'm just pissed that my body did this to me over a minuscule little CUT!

Well, making a mess is a whisky business.

I'm here all week! Try the veal!

Seriously, feel better soon!

I am sorry to hear that, I know staph infections are awful I have had one and they are no fun. I hope you get better soon

That's terrible. Keep an eye on that thing and take care of yourself. Staph is no joke and MRSA is especially bad. Hoping you feel better and wishing you a speedy recovery!

MRSA was the scariest thing I could think of and it's honestly the reason I went. That and the pain was coursing through my entire hand and I was like "Jesus, I CANNOT lose my hand!" I just watched Kingpin the night before (you know, the movie about the bowler who ended up with a hook??) so yeah, I was extra-paranoid lol

It really does sound stupid, but I just want people to pay attention to their bodies when they get messy! I'm sure it wouldn't have gotten as bad had I not been irritating the wound so much with messy substances. No regrets!

And "whisky business??" That made me actually laugh out loud XD

Hope you get better quick - that really sucks. Giving up a little sweat for your art is ok, but a hand is maybe a bit too much.

I can understand the reluctance to go to the ER - having some pretty bad health problems myself, I have had more than enough trips there, and fully understand the no insurance experience as well - they really do their part to make you feel like crap about that (the last time I had to do that it took me 6 months to pay off).

I hope you get well soon.

Eeekk!!! Take care of yourself girlie!

Thanks darlin'. Last week I accidentally hit Jayce's head on a bucket and nearly messed up her cornea o_O Maybe we're just klutzes

Psh! You're preaching to the choir! I'm sure MessMaster has a million stories he could tell you about me.

Sure you "accidentally" hit Jayce, right. Hope y'all get better.

Sorry to hear that. Get well soon!

I wanna hear these Messmistress stories hehe.

And I swear it was an accident. I always feel AWFUL if I pie her too hard or something but she always tells me it's OK and that I should do it! So this time I didn't hold back and I hit her head against a bucket (dunking her head repeatedly) and she didn't say "ow" or anything so I kept going! Now that is dedication. I do want to say though that when I found out I felt terrible.

We don't play around when we say "hard pie hits." They're not fake, they're not for show, we're really barreling into each other with all our might! haha. You wouldn't think Ariel, Jayce, or I could hit that hard since we're all rather petite, but nope. Hardcore hits haha

High-five for actually going to the ER.

When you're in the middle of health insurances, that's the reality Meh. Annnnnnnd your bf's dad working at that hospital isn't too bad.

Sorry to hear about your hand, hope you get well soon.

I know you like to tough these things out, so I'm glad you got it taken care of properly. Hope you get some decent rest and make a speedy recovery.

Get well soon

I don't believe you. Cum to my house and prove me wrong!
After all, you girls make me strain my hand a lot too!! ;p

Seriously thought, I'm really thankful you are ok. You are very important to this community and I just wouldn't feel the same without you.

I guess a lot of people have had the same problem because I didn't expect such an outpouring of support! It really feels like something small to me, but I know there are some peeps out there who have a way worse immune system or poor circulation, so I just felt like I HAVE to warn you guys about stuff like this. It's not without its hazards!

In all honesty I think Jayce got it just as bad. She may not have gotten staph, but I'm pretty sure she had an orbital rim fracture or something. Another term for that is, funny enough, a "blowout fracture." I really did not mean for that to happen o_O Thankfully it was just a small fracture and not a BREAK! Maybe she didn't share the story because she didn't want anyone to know which video it happened in... Ha.

At least you didn't need surgery! One of the models I work with ended up in the ER after cake batter dried and literally cooked in her ear, she had to have it surgically removed. She ended up being fine but was terrified because she is a musician so the thought of losing her hearing was one of the worst things she could imagine.

Also for future reference if you ever think you may be getting an infection the best way to treat it is soaking the infected area in a hypertonic solution (use water as hot as you can tolerate and a good amount of non-iodized salt). I also have a poor immune system but have been able to avoid antibiotics this way. The hot salt water will draw the fluids out of the infected area. If the wound is already closed you can take a sterile needle and aspirate the area but do make sure to cover the wound after that or you leave it open to new infection.

Wow...
This just got really messed up really fast. : (
Still, I'm not complaining; it's good that people are being made aware of the possible damage.

It hasn't been mentioned, but also I have been told sugar in one's Vatican is very bad and often it is required to use sugar free varieties for things like chocolate.

Also, the doctors are meant to keep cases confidential, so any questions or things that need done or may be a risk you want to ask about about definately be asked before it is too late.

It certainly takes SSStuff's Slapstick ER to a while new lever.

(...what get happened to the pie smiley?)

Yeah, I have started to get worried about the amount of mud that gets in my ears that I still am cleaning out months later. I probably am going to start using ear plugs next year. Doing so will let me do bigger dunks anyways.

Ariel has had ear infections, Jayce has had ear infections, one of the first things Ariel warned me about was cake batter in the ears! Goodness gracious o_O

Thank you for the advice, I'm definitely going to be taking more precautions next time. I used saltwater to clean out the wound --after the fact, of course-- and I expected it to hurt like hell, but it wasn't any worse than what I was already feeling! So I've used salt water once a day, washed it a few times a day, then benzokonium cl+lidocaine liquid, let it dry, put some polysporin on and then bandage it back up. Now I'm on Doxycycline for another week, but it's really looking SO much better. At the very least the swelling has gone down, as long as I don't use my hand over and over and over again. I'm right-handed, so that's not super-easy!

But I'll be ship-shape soon At least enough to keep this damn bandage off for longer than a couple hours.

By the way, if you head-dunk in Mehron+oil: USE SILICONE EAR PLUGS. That stuff will take forever to get out of your ears o_O It's bad enough when you sneeze a few days after and your kleenex is silver LOL but using Q-tip after Q-tip after Q-tip and it's still in your ears? Whew! It's crazy-go-nuts.

Always found that a wad of toilet paper in each ear works best -- ones that are big enough to easily pull out, yet tight enough not to fall out. You'd think that things would soak through, but those wads always came out dry on the inside for me. Could never find earplugs that work as well for a good protective seal. Can't really speak to Mehron+oil, but I have done cake batter, molasses, flour+water, and... well, just about everything else But yeah, had a bad ear infection before discovering they needed protecting

I use wax earplugs in both my ears and up my nose when I go in the mud. I tend to still get some mud in my ears even with the plugs but it helps a lot.

I see a theme developing. Protect those orifices girls. I'm sure the plugs will hardly be noticeable.