Pain People, I'm Talking PAIN!

Do NOT ask me how this happened-I swear you could pay someone a million dollars and they couldn't reproduce what happened to me yesterday...

I was working in surgery yesterday and was going from one room to another (my hands were gloved and sterile so I pushed the door open just enough for me to squeeze in/out) when I hear this ripping sound and shear pain in my stomach. Yep, my belly button ring got stuck on the door hinge! Now since I was in the middle of surgery-no screaming, swearing, tears, no checking it. All I'm doing is praying my ring didn't rip right out of my stomach. So after that surgery finished (we had 3 more to follow and no breaks between) I peeked at my belly button ring-saw that it was still in place (phew!) was bleeding slightly...the shocker-my ring started out as almost a complete circle. Now? A straight line! Yep, I pulled on it so hard that it straightened the darn metal right out! If you have one, you know how hard that metal is to bend so you can imagine how hard it pulled.

Now the dilemma-what the hell do I do with it?! I ended up coming home and looking online quickly-most sites say to leave the ring in because if you remove it, the infection can get trapped inside...great. So, I cleaned it with soap and water, put on some antibiotic ointment and covered it (oh, and put in a different ring since this one was bent beyond belief). It stayed covered until after work today. I took the bandage off figuring if it stays moist, it might not heal as fast. But holy hell does it hurt! My lymph node under my one armpit is SO swollen that hurts just as much as my belly button. I'm just praying it heals and doesnt get worse from this point on. OUCH!