Re: unfortuanate rose pruning incident

Go to the doctor! Whatever it is, don't mess around!  Maybe your doctor can
give you some sort of ointment that you could put on your cuts and punctures
right away. I use some gloves called "Garden Handy".  They have a green,
almost impervious substance over cloth, and are made for rose pruning.  Of
course they are clumsy to use, I take them off and receive the same sort of
injuries as you.  

Best wishes, Cathy

> From: "Reid Family" <pkssreid@comcast.net>
> Reply-To: pkssreid@comcast.net
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 08:08:38 -0800
> To: "medit-plants" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Subject: unfortuanate rose pruning incident
> 
> Fellow gardners:
> 
> Does anyone else besides me find it impossible to prune shrub roses without
> getting a bit scratched up?  I wear long sleeves and long, gloves, neverless,
> I end up scratched in the oddest places as the long canes whip around, and I
> force my way into the mish-mash to relieve the much-dreaded crossing canes
> scenario.  Anyhoo, my skin has always had a bit of a tough time with rose
> scratches, getting inflamed and taking forever to heal, perhaps because I just
> always ignore them.  Not too long ago, I read somewhere that roses can host an
> array of bacteria and that their wounds should be thoroughly cleansed, etc.
> Yesterday, while pruning a particularly vigorous Graham Thomas, I was pricked
> in a couple of places.  The one I cleaned the quickest (because, as my son
> noticed, it was gushing blood) and covered with a band-aid before reinserting
> into my dirty gloves, is fine.  The one on the back of my hand, on my middle
> finger knuckle is a bit gnarly this morning.  My hand is so stiff that making
> a fist is painful.  The whole knuckle is red and swollen and painful to the
> touch.   Now, I have to confess, I have a rather unnatural fear of necrotizing
> fasciitis (brought on at childhood by the eroded face of a distant cousin who
> had been spider-bit in her sleep.), but this seems to me a nonetheless extreme
> reaction to a tiny rose thorn prick.
> 
> Has anyone else ever had such a reaction or heard of it?  Does it sound like
> something to be concerned about?  I just hate running to the doctor, but I
> know how quickly some bacteria can spread.
> On the verge of a freak-out in Folsom,
> 
> Karrie Reid
> Folsom Foothill Gardener
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