By The Skin Of My Nose

Everyone has heard the idiom, "it's no skin off my nose". It's used to express indifference about something that has no effect on you either way. 

Yesterday, the exact opposite of that saying made its way into my life for real. At first I wasn't sure I should share this with you. But I will as a way of keeping myself humble. I can't believe I did it but it happened. 

After spending a couple of hours in Bowling Green yesterday, getting some things done (oil change for my car, paying bills, some store returns, picking up groceries, ect.) I had one last stop before heading home.  

I had to stop at our vet's office to pick up a new supply of supplements I give my dog. Because the vet's parking lot was a bit full, I decided to back into a space so I could get out easier. This meant that the back of my car was just a couple of feet away from where the lot's blacktop drops off and the grass begins.   

Because of all the stops I had made, I had things I was going to have to carry into my house in both the front and back of my vehicle. Before I went into the office, I decided to take the stuff from the front seat and put it in the compartment in the back so everything I needed to carry in would be in one place. 

I opened the back hatch and put the stuff in the compartment. Now at this point several things were going on at the same time. I was surveying what I had to take into the house in an effort to decide if I would be able to carry it all in one trip. At the same time, I was trying to remember the "official" name of the supplement I was going to have to ask for once I got to the desk inside the vet office. Third my feet were sending a message to my brain. 

Feet: Uh, brain, this is your feet. Just wanted you to know that the heels are dangerously close to the edge of the blacktop. If we step back any more we'll fall off. We're not too concerned for ourselves. We're pretty durable. We're worried that the whole body will become off balanced, the ankles may twist and there's a likely possibility for other injuries.   

Brain: Understood feet, we confirm that scenario and will have the legs alter your position to stabilize balance and lessen the risk of a fall. Thanks for the notification.

So while my mind was busy thinking about a couple of things in my immediate future, my body made a sub-conscience adjustment to keep me upright and safe. 

But here's where the problem comes in. By moving my feet away from the edge of the blacktop to keep me from falling, my brain moved the rest of my body closer to the open hatch door. But apparently my hands didn't get the memo about the position change. So when they forcefully pulled the door down to close it, the front of my face was in the way. 

Bang! the edge of the door hit the bridge of my nose, knocking my glasses off. Totally startled and I saw stars and for a very brief moment felt like I had just knocked myself out. Fortunately, I stayed on my feet, stepped back, closed the hatch, found my glasses and started to access what I had just done. 

I looked at my reflection and saw that I had taken a chuck of skin off the bridge of my nose just below where my glasses set. I decided it wasn't all that bad but I needed a better look. I went into the vet's office and into their bathroom. I looked in the mirror.  Then the wound started to bleed. I pressed a paper towel on it to stop the bleeding. I managed to work through getting the supplements and keeping my nose covered. 

When I got home I waited until most of the bleeding stopped before I took this picture. 

   Once the blood loss was under control I decided that my nose wasn't broken. Since I had only taken off the first layer of skin only basic first aid care would be necessary.  I had a slight headache so later in the night I put an ice pack on my face to reduce the swelling. It helped. 

I covered the wound with an adhesive bandage and antibiotic ointment for over night. 

This morning, as I write this post, it's a lot better. The loose flap of skin is now firmly back into place and I am well on my way to healing. 

 I know I don't look very happy in this picture. Believe me I'm very pleased with how well its turned out. 

I'm not in any pain. There's nothing to left to do but keep it clean and do my best to make sure it doesn't leave a scar. 

I'm a little embarrassed about what a stupid thing I did. Its my fault because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. But that's why it's called an "accident". 

I'd like to say that the whole thing was no big deal. That it was "no skin off my nose" but that's not true. However for the next couple of weeks when asked what happen I will be able to use another common idiom. I will just simply say, "I ran into a door". 

While most of the time people don't believe you when you tell them that. This time they will have to because it's the truth. It's as plain as the nose on my face.