My fame as a healer

[NN5I]

My fame as a healer is assured. At least, Matthew thinks so.

Matthew is 10 or 11. He's a student at Central Florida Judo and Jujitsu, where currently I'm a guest instructor. In last evening's Judo class he suffered a collision that left him with a slightly split lip, bleeding a little.

After having him sop it up with a wet paper towel, followed by a dry paper towel, I sought a cold compress to reduce the swelling. Alas, there was no cold compress; so I fetched a Fudgesicle from the freezer and told him to apply it to his lip. Matthew complied heartily, and was back on the mat in ten minutes or so, nearly as good as new.

Hippocrates, Galen, Lister, Mayo -- now me.

[Radio]

In a similar vein, or at least bloodletting, a flash back from my childhood:

I had a loose tooth right up front and on the bottom. I kind of liked playing with it that way but my grandmother wanted it pulled. I preferred not. It was a standoff.

Then the ice cream truck came into our neighborhood. The way the streets were laid out, the truck must pass our house twice, once on the way in, again on the way out. I had about 10 minutes to negotiate a dime away from my grandmother.

In short, I sold my tooth for a dime. The string method of extraction was selected, and as the tooth dangled dangled in free space I was out the door to catch the ice cream man.

He wondered why his little customer had blood all over his chin so I explained it to him and I think he laughed about it the rest of the day. But a cold compress, or an Eskimo Pie, will indeed stop bleeding from the mouth.

[KF5BET]

Hey Carl:

I am no doctor although I was named after the Galen you just mentioned (I guess that happens when your mom is a nurse....)

I was about 11 or 12 an went camping with the scouts. We were making little wooden boats to float down the stream by our campsite. I cut my finger almost to the bone with my pocket knife. Dunked it in the stream but even the cold water would not stop the bleeding. One of the leaders said here give me your hand. When I did he turned his back so I couldn't see and proceeded to pour salt into the wound. The bleeding stopped but I saw stars for almost an hour afterwards.

Ice cream sounds much better!

[NN5I]

Ice cream sounds much better!

Tastes better, too.