Not-so-random medical questions.
I burned myself at work on Sunday --- not too badly, I thought, just barely on the sucky side of second-degree, but unfortunately I broke the skin and turned it into an oozy/scabby mess instead of a blistery thing --- and I've been improvising bandages and stuff for it on and off all week, mostly by using lots of Band-Aids since that's what we've got in the house. But this is lame, and it's brought to my attention the fact that it'd be good to have more comprehensive first aid supplies at home.
So. What should I get for my home first aid kit? The obvious stuff (stuff I would've liked to have this week) includes gauze pads and tape, as well as something of the bactine/iodine/peroxide persuasion for cleaning up scrapes and stuff. But that's just the stuff that's glaringly missing right now because it's what I wish I had for this stupid burn (which is itchy and occasionally the skin around it gets all swollen and red and makes me worry that it's infected, although I'm not yet worried enough to go to urgent care or anything like that). Which reminds me: antibiotic ointment of some sort should probably be on my list. We've got aspirin and ibuprofen and acetaminophen for painkillers, and of course lots of duct tape. But for the rest I'm striking out and feeling stupid, so yeah. Advise me, kids. What else might I want or need?
My other random medical question is the old "advise me on how to find a doctor" thing. Really, what I want is a health clinic like Planned Parenthood, where I can walk in and ask a doctor or nurse or EMT or whatever (I'm not fixated on having to per se see an M.D., or even the same practitioner person every time) "is this broken?" or "is this infected?" without having to do all the urgent care type paperwork. Really what I want is access to a team of pharmacists with EMT training who can prescribe drugs if I need them. (Also I want a pony.) But so far the best I've got is my health insurance company's list of area providers taking on new patients, and I really don't relish the thought of making appointments and waiting weeks and most of all shelling out fees just to interview doctors and decide which one I want. Hmm. Maybe I'll email the doctor I went to in my hometown and ask her if she knows anybody in the Eugene area. Bleh. Responsibility sucks.
And on that note, I'm going to go relax and drink tea until I have to be at work at noon. Woo!