OK it's official, I'm bleeding patients now. The chief land diver really jacked up his leg on Friday, swollen from the foot to the knee. I gave him an ACE wrap, ibuprofen, codeine on Saturday. He came today and told me it wasn't working, he needed me to let out the bad blood. I explained that we in western medicine try to re absorb the blood through elevation, compression, muscle exercises, etc. He asked for a needle to bleed himself, so I gave him one. On Friday, he cut his bad blood with a broken bottle, so I figured a clean needle was a good plan. He then insisted I do it. So I cleaned it with betadine and used a needle and syringe to draw 2 ml of blood out of the swollen part of his foot. Then i put a bandaid on it, he wanted it off, it was supposed to bleed. I told him if I did the procedure, then I need him to elevate it and do exercises for me. We shall see. I tried to find the win-win plan, but I think neither of us was quite satisfied. I reiterate, land diving is not quite as gentle as it looks on the joints.
Shannon
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