Originally I was told I only lost about 750-1000 cc’s of blood and not near a liter. However, after doing some calculations based on the estimations they gave me at “ground-zero” and then later at the ER, the numbers say I lost almost a liter of blood. Considering the human body only has 6 liters total, that is a pretty significant amount.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, let me recap in short form since people hate long blog posts.

1. I scratched what looked like a black zit on my leg. It bled a little.
2. A week later, I scratched the scab formed from above scratch and a stream of blood shot out of my leg like a tiny faucet being turned on full blast.
3. Hundreds of napkins later among 10-15 onlookers at a local gas station, the EMT guys showed up, put on some goggles (because it was still spraying – but now more like a pin hole in a coke can), bandaged me up, and sent me to the ER.
4. Doctor told me I had ruptured a varicose vein (i.e. all the blood above my shin was spitting out a hole the size of a ballpoint pen) that had surfaced on my leg (NOTE: don’t scratch black zits on skin).
5. Nurse cleaned my leg up, put on a band-aid, and sent me on my way.
6. Stood up and it ruptured again (the blood in the picture came out in about 3 seconds).
7. Nurse held the hole in my leg for 30 minutes so blood would clot.
8. Got more than a band-aid and was finally allowed to go home

Pretty crazy, huh? I never got woozy or passed out, but my wife sure came close. She probably will not even read this post.