How *Not* to do an implant
Every once in awhile a thread appears that relays some incredibly stupid actions within the realm of biohacking. This is one of those threads.
I am going to tell you all of the mistake that I made. This is for educational purposes and I am fully aware of the terrible things that I have done.
Pictures of the healing process http://imgur.com/gallery/fVRqH
Mistake #1: Not having the proper tools.
I did not mention this previously but I actually attempted the procedure twice. One of the first mistakes that I had made was keeping my spare lido in a syringe that I had used for a previous implant. I knew that this was a bad idea but I did not know how to store it and did not want to spend another 50 dollars. I kept it in the syringe and would then take of the needle and keep it in a plastic bag. I would then attempt to sterilize the already previously used needles in a the typical chlorhexidine-isopropyl mixture. This was incredibly stupid I know. However I am young and very impatient. I figured that it would be okay. I was wrong. When I tried to perform the digital nerve block I realized that the needle had infact been blocked. So instead of actually injecting any lidocaine I just punched a bunch of holes in the side of my hand. Lesson: Always use clean new equipment. No matter how lazy/broke you are.
So with my first attempt foiled I had to wait until the next night. I bought some insulin needles from the pharmacy and thought I was ready to rock and roll.
Mistake #2: Premature preparation and getting frustrated
Like I said, I went all in on my first attempt. Which also meant that I had opened the sterile sutures in preparation to stitch myself back up. That was a mistake. There was no need to have this opened before I had even started cutting, especially since I had someone there helping me. When things went south on the first attempt I got very frustrated. Once I cooled down I came back and cleaned up a bit. That is probably when I lost the sutures. I am still not entirely sure what happened to the needle and thread but it was gone the next day. Imagine my surprise when I was ready to stitch myself up and finding out that I didn't have any sutures!! Lesson: Remain calm and cool and take care with your operation at every step of the procedure.
Mistake #3: Settling for anything less than ideal and making assumptions
The real issue with all of this was not that I was missing the sutures. It was that I had assumed that everything from the previous night was still in suitable condition for the operation. I was very wrong. I should have taken inventory and be more comprehensive in my pre-op procedure. If had done that then I would have realized that I did not in fact have a way to seal my wound. I was not aware of this until after I had cut an inserted my implant. However I have the common trait of absolute stubbornness that many people my age possess and I did not want to abort after my first failed attempt the previous night. That was a mistake. With no real way to seal the wound and I had to rely on shoddy butterfly bandages, which hardly did the job. I woke up in the middle of the night and could see the implant poking out a little bit, and I had to push it back in. In all honesty I should probably have taken it out right there and gone to the hospital to get stitched up. Lesson: Never settle during a procedure and always triple check yourself
Comments
And I think it was infected. I would routinely have to squeeze out yellowish pus
That's a shame, do you think that it was do the the implant procedure or not maintaining enough after care?
Sorry for some more thread necro. I haven't been active for quite a while so I figured that I would post an update. Below you can see some pictures of the scar. (Also can we no longer embed pictures or links? Do we need to use html tags?)
https://imagebin.ca/v/3csLPwXNcRpe
https://imagebin.ca/v/3csLqTvVJDtG
@ChrisBot did you end up doing anything? How's the healing going?