My trip to the ER

I'm on a co-ed softball team. A lot of the guys on the softball team played high school or college baseball (read: great arms). I play catcher, with no equipment. Two weeks ago I could have died from a near blow to the head with a baseball bat (fortunately, he missed). This week, my luck got the best of me when I missed a catch from my third basemen and the ball hit me smack in the middle of the face, right on my nose between my eyes.

After about sixty seconds of intense and massive bleeding, I was carried to the bench where I was to put pressure on my nose and hold a towel to it to soak up the blood. The blood finally slowed down, but my teammates and the EMT guy on the other team urged me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I really didn't want to go. I wanted to see the end of the game! Even as I was holding the towel over my nose, I was yelling orders to my teammates about where the fielding switch ups where and how to fix the batting order once I was out of it. I also complained how my nose used to be perfect, and I would like to keep it that way.

I was taken to the hospital by my friend, Mike. We were so eager to get to the closest CPMC emergency room, that we didn't realize we were going to the Pediatrics ER until we got to the door. The waiting room was filled with puzzles and books and toys, and Dora the Explorer was on the TV hanging above the room. I was taken into a nurse's room and got all my vitals checked. She was wearing scrubs with bright yellow suns and rainbows on them. Reminded me of the Zoe character from Nurse Jackie.

When I got to the next room, I met Nurse Katie. "Hi Kelsey, my name is Katie and I'm going to be your nurse. The doctor will be in very soon, but we want to take some pictures of your nose, okay?" My first thought was that she was going to take out a camera and use me as an example of what happens when domestic abuse goes too far. Then I realized she was referring to x-rays.

Upon entering the x-ray room, I was asked (for the second time that night) if there was any way I could be pregnant. Hell no, thank you. Snap. Snap. X-rays done. Is my nose broken? The doctor will tell you.

Me: Doc, is my nose broken?
Doc: It's fractured.
Me: Oh, that's good, right?
Mike: Kelsey, that means it's broken.
Me: Fuck. I bet you don't hear that from the little kids.
Katie: You'd be surprised what comes out of those little buggers' mouths.

After the doctor put my stitches in and showed me my x-rays, he gave me a prescription for Vicodin (hells yes, this injury was so worth it) and some antibiotics. He also referred me to an ENT to look at my nose break. They told me where the nearest 24 hr pharmacy was and Mike and I went there to get my pain killers and some other necessities (tissues, band aids, frozen peas).

Considering I had a light dinner, started drinking beer at 8, was on the playing field by 10, and bleeding profusely by 10:30, finished with the stitches at midnight, and in bed by 1:30 passing out and acting all loopy; I guess you could say it was just another night out.