Lame Story Time

The Food Coop is continually giving me the opportunity to try new foods. A couple weeks ago we received a coconut. That is a first for me and I now know that fresh coconut is delicious and the milk/water from the coconut is a little salty but doesn't taste too bad. PE and I were both a little skeptical as we both dislike sweetened coconut. I am glad to know we like fresh coconut especially after reading several sites like this that listed all the health benefits of coconut.

The one thing I will do differently next time I have a coconut is research more on how to get the meat separated from the shell. Actually I wouldn't have to research, I will just follow the directions my mom gave me (she researched). Her directions came a little too late though. There had already been blood spilled at my house due to improper handling of the coconut and a knife. Thankfully it was me and not one of the kids who spilled blood and thankfully PE was there to doctor my thumb so I didn't pass out. I really hate that about myself. Pain and blood / pain OR blood make me a little more than woozy.

The first occurrence was over 10 years ago. I had gone with a friend to get the helix pierced on my ear. First thing that went wrong was the back did not go on the earring when they pierced my ear so there was some fiddling with my ear to get it on during which my ear REALLY hurt. Then to make matters worse I had a headband in my hair that the earring kept touching which sort of kept the pain going. After the piercing we went shopping. (All the while the earring was bumping the headband.)

As we were walking I began to feel as though I wanted to sit down. Then the world started to look as though it were in a tunnel. One minutes I was walking to a column to lean against it and the next I was laying on the floor with people staring at me and asking if I was okay. Oh yeah. . . the worst part of the whole thing?! My friend's little girl (age four) was a little frightened by the whole thing. I felt horrible. Oh and another bad thing about it. . . I passed out after getting my ear pierced. Can we say lame? LAME! I had been through childbirth. Well I had been through some contractions and an epidural. Did I pass out then? No! What is wrong with me?!?

The next year I had my tongue pierced and had to have my friend stop and purchase me a water while I sat in the car with the seat reclined the windows down (in the middle of January), breathing deep. No passing out and 15 minutes later I felt fine. The following year I had the daith pierced on both ears. I had a friend drive me to this and I took some acetaminophen and ibuprofen before going. I had to do some deep breathing and sit for a bit after but other than that I did much better. That was the end of my yearly piercing phase. (I wasn't going below the neck.)

A year or two after that I ripped my thumbnail off and all but passed out. There was pain and blood involved here. I was alone so I called my parents to see what I needed to do and as I was speaking with them the hallway where I was laying started to turn into a tunnel so I got off the phone and did some deep breathing, crawled into the living room, turned the fan on and continued to deep breath. Again, no passing out but it was close.

Moving forward to three years ago, I had gall bladder removal surgery. I made it through the surgery and made it home okay (my reaction to waking up from anesthesia can be for another time). The day after the surgery I was feeling pretty good so I took a shower. In the shower I made the mistake of looking at the incision sites and there was some dried blood then the tunnel appeared. I quickly yelled for PE and the next thing I know PE is over me turning the shower off. I had to stop him and have him finish rinsing my hair. Oh what a proud, proud moment. Sitting on the floor of the shower having my hair rinsed by my husband. (Under different circumstances that could have been semi-romantic. . . maybe.)

That was PE's first foray into the world of my passing out. Since then we have learned that if Bob is bleeding from a split lip or under conscious sedation and having his toe stitched back together, it is best if I don't look. It is also best if I don't look when I am bleeding a lot. You know from something like improper knife handling. Oh, and if I tear a ligament in my knee we know that the pain and the gross feeling of my kneecap moving is not so good either. Again, I have to say LAME! I have the hope that if PE wasn't around and some bloody incident occurred (involving a child) or a painful/bloody incident occurred (involving my body) I would be able to handle it without passing out. I hope. (So incredibly lame.)