Head Wound at Disney World

In the middle of our week in Walt Disney World, we had to do some laundry. The resort, (Caribbean Beach), has a few pay laundry rooms scattered about for guests, and we brought detergent and a roll of quarters for this. It’s been a very long time since we used a laundromat. The prices are $2 per load nowadays, for both washer and dryer — that’s $4 per load total! Wifegrit and I put two loads in the washers, and then later Calfgrit7 and I went to move the clothes from the washers to the dryers.

I cleaned the lint filter for the upper dryer, then filled it up with the first load. Then I bent down to clean the filter of the lower dryer, and WHAM! I smacked my forehead on the coin slot thing sticking out of the front of the dryer.

This damn thing:

“Son of a . . . mother . . . god . . .” I stammered and barely held back some serious cursing because Calfgrit7 was with me, and there was a woman in the room doing her own laundry. It hurt so damn bad. So incredibly bad. Really, I mean that smack to my forehead friggin’ hurt! After a few moments I gathered myself and calmed down. The woman in the room showed some concern — I don’t think she saw what happened, she just heard me start shouting unfinished swears. When she was looking at me, I pointed out the coin slot and said, “I just smashed my head on that.”

“Oh dear,” she said, “that must have hurt.”

A few more moments to recover from the shock, and I went back to the washer to move the clothes. When I finished, and was putting the coins into the dryer slots, Calfgrit7 said, “Dad, you’re bleeding.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I can feel it.” I looked at my reflection in the window of the snack machine beside the dryers, and sure enough, I saw some blood trickling down. I had smashed my head pretty solidly. Once I started the dryers, I said, “OK, let’s get back to the room and fix me up.” My little boy took my hand and we headed out of the laundromat for our room.

While walking back, I texted Wifegrit, “Get out the first aid kit.” She always brings a good kit for emergencies on our vacations. She’s a good nurse. When I walked into the room, she said, “Oh my!” She cleaned me up, and this was the revealed wound:

Two cuts. I applied ice to prevent bruising and swelling, and she applied antibiotic ointment to prevent infection. The pain was gone, and I was feeling no after effects of the injury, but I was very concerned about having a scar or two in the center of my forehead. I was afraid the cuts were deep and traumatic enough that they’d leave permanent marks. But only time would tell about that. For then, I just had to keep them clean and protected, so I’d have to wear band-aids on my forehead. At Walt Disney World. For three more days. Sigh.

I bought a ball cap and put on my sunglasses to try to conceal the band-aids. I think I did a fairly good job of it:

Now it’s a few days later, and I’m about to go to work today. I won’t be wearing band-aids, or a hat and glasses to conceal the wounds. But they have started healing, and so aren’t bright red anymore. Wifegrit says they are fading and aren’t as noticeable, but I see them easily and obviously right there in the center of my forehead. And having to continue keeping them moist with antibiotic, (or Vaseline), to keep them from scabbing over just makes me feel like they are even more “right out there.”

I feel very self-conscious about these marks in the center of my head. And I’m still concerned that there will be permanent scars left after the healing. Dammit. I went to Walt Disney World and I got a head wound.

Bullgrit