Story starts at 1:00 pm Friday afternoon. I'm a diabetic with some severe leg complications including tremendous swelling. Well Friday afternoon I was washing my feet when my face cloth caught on a piece of dry skin on my left toe. Being macho, I just pulled the face cloth and lifted off a piece of skin about 3/4" x 1/8". Then the fun started - the toe began to bleed like no tomorrow - under the pressure of my swollen leg, the blood just gushed from this simple wound. Well, continuing to be macho I tried to stop the bleeding for twelve and half hours (all the while - my wife saying "let's go to the ER"). I tried to apply pressure manually; I tried using "bag clamps; I tried using some of my wood working clamps; and finally tried using rubber bands. Finally, at 1:30 AM this morning I went to the ER. It took them 3 hours to stop the bleeding (all the while my leg lifted in some obscene position). It couldn't be stitched; it couldn't be corterized. I lost so much blood that I needed a transfusion. They finally sent me home at 7:30 this morning with a huge bandage using something called "gel foam". It is still bleeding a little, but the worst seems to be over - at least untill tomorrow when my wife must remove the dressing - WISH ME LUCK. I feel like CRAP and I feel like a JERK!

The moral of this story - DON'T WASH YOUR FEET and DO LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE.

Fred