Don't you hate it when you get a tiny little cut - and it hurts sooo bad! I think the worst thing about tiny painful cuts is that when you say it hurts people look at you like you're crazy. My Mom and I have this long running joke about going to the hospital....it goes something like this: Me: Ow! I just got a papercut!

Mom: Do you want to go to the Emergency Room?!

Me: Yes, I think I need to go to the Hospital...

*An alternative scenario would include one of us holding up a freshly 'wounded' finger and in a wimpy voice saying, 'I think I need to go to the Emergency Room'.

(Thank goodness my Mom and I have the same sense of humor...because when I just wrote that out it didn't sound funny at all!)

I have a boo boo on my finger - and it hurts sooo bad! You guys aren't going to believe this but....I got poked by a cactus! These sorts of things aren't supposed to happen on ships! A CACTUS!

Here's the story: The guy that I share this room with apparently collects cacti. They are all over my dayroom. Said cacti are to be watered on Sunday and Wednesday. Weeellll....I've been here for almost two months and last Sunday was the first time they had been watered (thank goodness they're cacti!). Anywho - during the watering process I got a little cactus 'fur' in my finger. No biggie, right?! I immediately went and got my tweezers and removed the offending hairs. My finger felt fine....until the next day where I had a big red circle....and the following day when it filled up with pus...long story short - I now have a wound. If my Mom was here she'd totally be asking me if I need to go to the Emergency Room - Yes! Yes I do, by golly!

After my first ship I vowed to never, ever go to a ship without my own medicines - nothing sucks more than visiting 'the medical officer'. I put together a little bag of everything I could possibly require (short of actually having to go to the hospital). I now very rarely travel without my kit. Wanna know the most important 'medicine-y' type thing to pack? Hawaiian Rock Salt! It cures everything. A good hot and salty soaking can do wonders (Zike, if you're reading this I hope you thought 'that's what she said' because I did and I'm really bad at that game!).

This evening I set up an operating room. I soaked my finger for a bit - and then I got out my dividers and dug around for a bit (yes, that's how ruggedly nautical I am - I perform surgery with dividers) - then I soaked it some more - then I squeezed and cut away some skin - and then I soaked it some more! Now I have a raw, gaping 'crater' on my middle finger! Nicely done, nicely done. I applied some bacitracin and a band aid....call me crazy but I swear it feels better!