What are the potential risks and complications of a mechanical pencil injury?

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A user shared an experience of injuring their thigh with a mechanical pencil, leading to significant pain and difficulty walking. They speculated about possible infections or retained lead, rating the pain as unusually high for such a minor injury. Respondents urged immediate medical attention, expressing concern over the potential for infection and the risks of self-medication with leftover antibiotics. The discussion shifted to rabies vaccinations, with one user mentioning they had received shots after a bat encounter, while others shared their own medical experiences and humorous anecdotes. The conversation included light-hearted banter about medical procedures and the challenges of dealing with injuries, emphasizing the importance of seeking professional help rather than self-treatment. Ultimately, the injured user did visit a doctor, who confirmed the presence of pencil lead and an infection, leading to a humorous exchange about the incident.
  • #31
Tsu said:
Yes, trib. We're POKING fun at you!1111 Isn't it FUN? :smile: :smile: :smile:

How's your leg? o:)

Everyone needs someone to poke fun at, and since he's so proudly wearing his pink ribbon... :biggrin:

Tsu, sorry you didn't get a chance to play with your big biopsy needle...it's really the best thing going for "poking" the funny guy. It seems threatening to just cut his leg off and be done with it got him to the doctor a lot faster than fussing over his boo boos. I'll have to keep that in mind, don't coddle, threaten worse torture when he does stupid things. :smile:
 
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  • #32
Moonbear said:
Everyone needs someone to poke fun at, and since he's so proudly wearing his pink ribbon... :biggrin:

Tsu, sorry you didn't get a chance to play with your big biopsy needle...it's really the best thing going for "poking" the funny guy. It seems threatening to just cut his leg off and be done with it got him to the doctor a lot faster than fussing over his boo boos. I'll have to keep that in mind, don't coddle, threaten worse torture when he does stupid things. :smile:
Yeah, that would have been cool. It makes this really loud ker-chunk noise when you pull on the trigger and it takes a real nice BIG core of what's being biopsied. I'll bet that noise would be even louder if it went through the BONE!11 :smile: :smile: Kewl! :biggrin:
 
  • #33
Tsu said:
Yeah, that would have been cool. It makes this really loud ker-chunk noise when you pull on the trigger and it takes a real nice BIG core of what's being biopsied. I'll bet that noise would be even louder if it went through the BONE!11 :smile: :smile: Kewl! :biggrin:
does it make a *champagne cork pop* sound when you pull it out?
moonbear said:
It seems threatening to just cut his leg off and be done with it got him to the doctor a lot faster than fussing over his boo boos. I'll have to keep that in mind, don't coddle, threaten worse torture when he does stupid things.
I have gotten no sympathy for my leg and it really hurts. I only work with two guys and the closest they came to being sympathetic was to only laugh for 1 minute instead of 2 when a friendly dog came over to be petted and put both paws on my wound.
 
  • #34
tribdog said:
I have gotten no sympathy for my leg and it really hurts. I only work with two guys and the closest they came to being sympathetic was to only laugh for 1 minute instead of 2 when a friendly dog came over to be petted and put both paws on my wound.

That story will get you an Awwww...poor tribdog!

Okay, that's enough sympathy because that's too funny of a story not to laugh. :smile: See, that's what happens when you wear the pink ribbon. :smile: Now stop being a wuss and walk it off! :biggrin: :smile:
 
  • #35
it sucks being a guy. I'm going to go get a hooker and tell her I don't want sex, just to be tucked in and kissed on the forehead. maybe bring me a glass of water.
 
  • #36
tribdog said:
it sucks being a guy. I'm going to go get a hooker and tell her I don't want sex, just to be tucked in and kissed on the forehead. maybe bring me a glass of water.

:smile: All that fancy fetish stuff will really cost you! :smile:
 
  • #37
tribdog said:
does it make a *champagne cork pop* sound when you pull it out?
Nope. It sounds more like a shotgun trigger without a bullet in the chamber. :biggrin: It's LOUD!11

I have gotten no sympathy for my leg and it really hurts. I only work with two guys and the closest they came to being sympathetic was to only laugh for 1 minute instead of 2 when a friendly dog came over to be petted and put both paws on my wound.
Awwwww... Poor tribdog. Want a cookie? o:) Got milk? :smile:
 
  • #38
Tsu said:
Nope. It sounds more like a shotgun trigger without a bullet in the chamber. :biggrin: It's LOUD!11

Oooh, cool! :cool: You know, just because he had the doctor get the lead out for him doesn't mean we can't still play with your biopsy gun. I'll hold him down... :devil:


Awwwww... Poor tribdog. Want a cookie? o:) Got milk? :smile:

Hmmm...tribdog, check the fridge. How far past the expiration date is the milk? I predict you'll soon need lots of fresh milk. You might want to pick some up when you're out. :biggrin:
 
  • #39
*starts stuffing a variety of Auntie Tsu's Famous Yummy Cookies into computer for tribdog*

Tell me when to stop, trib!11 :biggrin: (yeah, right...)

OK. You've got two dozen. I'll assume you're at the store getting milk, not just sitting there with a swollen leg and a face full of cookies. My computer is feeling a little sluggish, too. Let me know when you need some more, sweetie. :smile:

How's your leg today? o:)
 
  • #40
*<whispering> OK, Moonbear. I've got the needle. Let me know when you've got him COMPLETELY immobilized. :biggrin: Yes, I'll let you play with it a few times, too. :wink:*
 
  • #41
Don't worry. He'll be easy to handle real soon. I hashed his cookies. :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #42
Tsu said:
Don't worry. He'll be easy to handle real soon. I hashed his cookies. :smile: :smile: :smile:

:biggrin:

*speaking softly* Okay, tribdog, just lie there quietly. Tsu and I are going to take good care of you now. Here, have another cookie. Do you want some more milk with that? We'll just tuck you in now. There you go. Now, let's just pull back the blanket from that sore leg, it's better if we let it get some air. That's it. Just relax now. You can close your eyes.

(Okay, Tsu, I don't know if we'll keep him still after your first attempt, but I think he's quiet enough for the moment.) :biggrin:
 
  • #43
Ooooo... Nice job strapping him to that backboard. Isn't velcro GREAT?? :biggrin: OK. Now hold still triby. This shouldn't hurt (much). Ya know, Moonbear, I forgot the lidocaine so I guess we'll just try it without. Ya? :wink: OK. Here we go!1

*positions needle over wound and advances needle into leg - pauses - should I have put on sterile gloves? NAH! :biggrin: - pulls trigger*

ker-CHUNK![/size]

Oh, KEWL! :biggrin: Look at this little core of trib's leg bone, Moonbear! SWEET! :wink:

Here. You want to try? It's FUN! {Hold still trib. Go back to sleep. Oh. You want another cookie? Fine. Here you go. Nighty night! :devil:}

*hands needle to Moonbear*
 
  • #44
You're right, that IS loud, especially that howl tribdog just made! :devil: :biggrin:

Okay, my turn! How about I try the other leg? This one seems to be bleeding a lot. :smile:
 
  • #45
Oh, good idea! Wait! Let's do one in his patella! That might make an even COOLER sound! Then we can thread a little wire through it and with just a little tug on it you can bring him to his knees before you! :smile:
 
  • #46
tribdog said:
There was actually a nice size piece of pencil lead in there. Had to hook the Hoover up to 220 to suck that thing out. jk doctor took it out for me. Nice little infection brewing inside there as well, but nothng to write home about. Get it? pencil lead...write home? Is this thing on?
Good to hear that you are unleaded.

This reminds me of a story.

A few years back my job involved a lot of machining, one common task was to drill a small (.02") hole on center in a small piece. This required that I put a .02" carbide drill bit in the tail stock of the lathe, after doing that, while I checking alignment of the piece in the chuck, I some how brushed past the drill bit with my right hand, shortly I noticed that there was a small scratch in the meat of my lower right thumb, and that my tiny drill bit was broken off. I didn't think much of it at the time, it was Friday afternoon and I was heading home shortly. Friday evening, I began to feel tenderness in that scratch. I soon became pretty sure that there was something in there. By Saturday morning I was positive there was something there. So I headed off to the ER to have it looked at. When I told the lady at the check in desk that I thought I had a drill bit in my hand, she looked at me like I was nuts. Evidently she had never seen or even heard of a bit that small. They xrayed, and as I am sure Tsu will know, carbide shows up very nicely. The doc was able to extract it, it was about 3/8" long. My hand felt much better with that out!
 
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  • #47
Tsu said:
Oh, good idea! Wait! Let's do one in his patella! That might make an even COOLER sound! Then we can thread a little wire through it and with just a little tug on it you can bring him to his knees before you! :smile:

Ooh, yes, I think that will be just the thing! All this screaming is really distracting though. *stuffs pillow in tribdog's mouth* Okay, that's better.

Here goes...

ker-CHUNK![/size]

This is such a fun toy! I'm so glad you let me play with it, Tsu! :biggrin:
 
  • #48
Yes. We have REALLY fun toys in hospitals... :biggrin: You should see the enema tips we use. They have balloons on the ends of them that you can blow up to bigger than softball size once they're 'in place'. :biggrin: Helps them to 'hold their water'. :eek: :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #49
Tsu said:
Yes. We have REALLY fun toys in hospitals... :biggrin: You should see the enema tips we use. They have balloons on the ends of them that you can blow up to bigger than softball size once they're 'in place'. :biggrin: Helps them to 'hold their water'. :eek: :smile: :smile: :smile:



Hmm...do you think we can roll tribdog over without him getting away? :biggrin: o:)
 
  • #50
Integral said:
Good to hear that you are unleaded.

This reminds me of a story.

A few years back my job involved a lot of machining, one common task was to drill a small (.02") hole on center in a small piece. This required that I put a .02" carbide drill bit in the tail stock of the lathe, after doing that, while I checking alignment of the piece in the chuck, I some how brushed past the drill bit with my right hand, shortly I noticed that there was a small scratch in the meat of my lower right thumb, and that my tiny drill bit was broken off. I didn't think much of it at the time, it was Friday afternoon and I was heading home shortly. Friday evening, I began to feel tenderness in that scratch. I soon became pretty sure that there was something in there. By Saturday morning I was positive there was something there. So I headed off to the ER to have it looked at. When I told the lady at the check in desk that I thought I had a drill bit in my hand, she looked at me like I was nuts. Evidently she had never seen or even heard of a bit that small. They xrayed, and as I am sure Tsu will know, carbide shows up very nicely. The doc was able to extract it, it was about 3/8" long. My hand felt much better with that out!
Yeeeeouch! :eek:
 
  • #51
Moonbear said:
Hmm...do you think we can roll tribdog over without him getting away? :biggrin: o:)
I doubt it. They way you strapped him to that backboard was a pro job. We'll need to unstrap him to turn him. Maybe if we force-feed him another cookie or two... Well, hell. NAH. I'll just start a little IV on him and we can give him a real snow-job with some Vitamin H (Haldol). :smile: What do you want to do with him when he's turned over?? :biggrin:
 
  • #52
Tsu said:
I doubt it. They way you strapped him to that backboard was a pro job. We'll need to unstrap him to turn him. Maybe if we force-feed him another cookie or two... Well, hell. NAH. I'll just start a little IV on him and we can give him a real snow-job with some Vitamin H (Haldol). :smile: What do you want to do with him when he's turned over?? :biggrin:

Well, I'm a little doubtful about how an enema tip of that size could fit anywhere, so I thought we should try it out on someone who has made sure they were properly "conditioned" before we started. :biggrin:
 
  • #53
Oh, it fits 'anywhere' just fine. You wait until it's in place before you blow up the balloon. The balloon just keeps the tip from slipping out at an unfortunate moment... :biggrin: However, since he's been 'conditioned', maybe I'd better get the X-rtra large sized tip and balloon... :devil: :biggrin:
 
  • #54
Tsu said:
Oh, it fits 'anywhere' just fine. You wait until it's in place before you blow up the balloon. The balloon just keeps the tip from slipping out at an unfortunate moment... :biggrin: However, since he's been 'conditioned', maybe I'd better get the X-rtra large sized tip and balloon... :devil: :biggrin:

You mean that soft-ball sized balloon wasn't the X-tra large! :eek: Well, let's go for it! We wouldn't want you to have to go practicing on patients when we have a perfectly...um...will..um...readily available...volun...um...subject...right here! :biggrin:
 
  • #55
Well, actually there's really only one size. :biggrin: We can just blow it up a little bit more than softball size if we need to and hope she doesn't blow! :smile: :smile: :smile:

Relax, trib. You're just dreaming. :devil:

OK. I'll give him a little more Vitamin H now :wink: *injects said 'vitamin' into IV tubing, adjusts drip* and we can unstrap him and roll him over. Ya ready, Moonbear? :biggrin:
 
  • #56
Tsu said:
Well, actually there's really only one size. :biggrin: We can just blow it up a little bit more than softball size if we need to and hope she doesn't blow! :smile: :smile: :smile:

Relax, trib. You're just dreaming. :devil:

OK. I'll give him a little more Vitamin H now :wink: *injects said 'vitamin' into IV tubing, adjusts drip* and we can unstrap him and roll him over. Ya ready, Moonbear? :biggrin:

:devil: Ready! On the count of three...one, two, three...ooomph! I think we've been feeding him too many cookies! Okay, straps are back in place.

This should get all those nasty toxins out of him that have been hampering his sense of humor.

:rolleyes: Did you remember any lubricant?
 
  • #57
Always a tube in my pocket! :approve: Here you go. I'll let you do the honors. Have you ever tipped a patient before? :biggrin:
 
  • #58
Tsu said:
Always a tube in my pocket! :approve: Here you go. I'll let you do the honors. Have you ever tipped a patient before? :biggrin:

Nope, but there's always a first time to learn! tribdog seems like a good one to learn on. It seems all he needed as a little vitamin H to relax and enjoy this. Look how peaceful he seems. :smile:
 
  • #59
Integral said:
shortly I noticed that there was a small scratch in the meat of my lower right thumb, and that my tiny drill bit was broken off.

How many thumbs do you have?!

------------------------------------------

tribdog,

I have no idea how you managed to accidentally give yourself such an injury with a mechanical pencil...quite a feat!
 
  • #60
Integral said:
Good to hear that you are unleaded.

This reminds me of a story.

A few years back my job involved a lot of machining, one common task was to drill a small (.02") hole on center in a small piece. This required that I put a .02" carbide drill bit in the tail stock of the lathe, after doing that, while I checking alignment of the piece in the chuck, I some how brushed past the drill bit with my right hand, shortly I noticed that there was a small scratch in the meat of my lower right thumb, and that my tiny drill bit was broken off. I didn't think much of it at the time, it was Friday afternoon and I was heading home shortly. Friday evening, I began to feel tenderness in that scratch. I soon became pretty sure that there was something in there. By Saturday morning I was positive there was something there. So I headed off to the ER to have it looked at. When I told the lady at the check in desk that I thought I had a drill bit in my hand, she looked at me like I was nuts. Evidently she had never seen or even heard of a bit that small. They xrayed, and as I am sure Tsu will know, carbide shows up very nicely. The doc was able to extract it, it was about 3/8" long. My hand felt much better with that out!


What a coincidence !

I'm currently building a capacitive level sensor for a cryostat, and it involves 14 holes that are 1/64" diameter. I've been using a 0.02" (actually 0.016", but surely that's what you used too) drill bit for this. But it's a steel bit (don't need carbide for drilling in plastic) and I've stuck a little piece of masking tape on the shaft to make it easier to handle...so if I find it broken off, I know where I'll be looking first ! :biggrin:
 

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