a thorny situation

A THORNY SITUATION
my life almost changed for the worst one week ago
today
this is a blog about a thorn the health care system
and
safety

now i have this big ole agave plant called the century plant
that when its time comes
when its time to leave this earth
it sends up this big beautiful stalk 20 ft in the air
then it dies

this stalk has been up in the air now for two years
still being enjoyed by birds and well us

it has sent out pups
little agave plants

one of the problems with these plants
well there are two
they keep producing pups like rabbits do babies
they also produce these long needle like thorns
which i keep clipped off for safety reasons
or
at christmas we cover them with christmas balls

so
last year i dug up a pup
put it in a small pot
so its growth would be stunted and would stay within
the bounds of the pot

then
came our grandbaby ms b
i started looking closely at my collection of cactus plants
deciding some had to go

so
i trimmed back one of my spineless cactus
planning to haul it off to my large brush pile
in my pasture that provides homes for birds and all
kind of varmints

so
after putting a load of cactus pads in the back of my
old black truck
i looked over at the baby pup agave in the pot
saw those big thorns

no i thought to myself
that needs to go
so
i picked it up and flung it onto the top of those cactuses

boy was that a life changing decision
as i flung it
how i still dont know
i felt this sting in my eye
saw this thing sticking out of my eye
unable to close my lid over it
it well it hurt like hell
it was all blurry in that right eye
i noticed the liquid dripping from my eye
well at least it wasnt red

upstairs to the bathroom i went
looked at the mirror
well it was all fogged over
as i was filthy and sweaty and real hot
but
as near as i could see there was this thorn
protruding out my eye
barely
as it had broken off at the surface of the eye
entering just at the edge of the cornea and iris
poking itself into the front of the eye
between
the iris the colored part of the eye and the cornea
filling that space with blood
dripping down from the entry point

i knew that bleeding was causing a hyphema
a collection of blood there that i had to be careful
and not bend over
as it would flow through the pupil into the back
of the eye
a permanent disaster that could be hard to fix
permanently affecting my vision

so it was important to keep the blood where it was
in the front down in the bottom of the front chamber

i also knew what infection in that eye could mean
the worst scenario wasnt a good one

no i did not have on my safety glasses that i wear when
i mow weedeat do carpentry work etc

it never crossed my mind
but let me tell you
it sure does now

now
so i knew to not bend over
but
i had to get that thing out of there
that thorn
so
where oh where would my wife she have put those
tweezers
quickly
i have been married to her a long time
so in this emergency i had to think quickly like her

she probably put it with her sewing needles and threads
and that instrument she rips out the seams with

so i not being able to see out of but one eye
i did run into the door well two of them
tripped over the bed
into her closet where all that stuff was
started opening drawers
there
it was stuck on this big magnet thing with all the needles

back to the bathroom more carefully on this trip
looked closely into the mirror
without my glasses
grabbed that small nub of the thorn

then i stopped
what would happen if i pulled that thing out
would all my eye juice just flow out of the hole

i couldnt close my lid though since it caught on that nub
hurting like well like hell
as it slid across

so i made the decision
it has to come out
so i reached up
grabbed it
it didnt come out
all i got was this stuff that was white
did i take part of my eye with that

so i tried several times
finally
i just grabbed real hard
my knuckles were white
pressed it in some to get a good grip
out it came

i quickly got real close to the mirror
wiping off the moisture fog
to see if my eye juice was running out

it wasnt

now
i said to myself
i will always always wear good eye protection from now on

now
what do i do now
like that kid in the movie i am home alone
i cant see worth a dam
i shouldnt be driving
heck im not sure i can make it down the stairs
will my eye ball leak fluid


tomorrow i will finish this blog about what happened
and
about my week
with this dethorned eye

the organicgreen doctor