#gangrene

[writheworm]

(2026) studies based on the photos on European cigarette boxes.

I find it touching that people consented to having photos of really painful, personal moments circulated so widely...

[artphobos]

So uuuuuh, Im in the hospital atm, had to undergo emergency gall bladder surgery, found out today while recovering it had gone gangrenous and was very likely responsible for my general sick af feelings for the last couple months as well as a marked increase in frequency of my migraines, and very definitely was only a couple days away from sepsis. The reason this case is weird is because blood tests like the one from my physical only a couple weeks ago showed no sign of infection at all, and it should have showed up. Even the day I was admitted for this, I still showed no sign. I am showing signs now postop, as is normal but jfc, even when you are told you're healthy and have no idea you are not, shit can sideswipe you out of nowhere.

(also the way my surgeon gleefully conveyed he had taken pics (for the medical file) and how multicolored it was....nah, I dun need to see fhat, dawg. Ewww.)

[whumpsday]

Infection

@medwhumpmay Day 9

Medwhump May Masterlist

content: infection, gangrene, amputation, field surgery, broken bones, gore, brief & temporary death wish, lady whump, yuri!

-

The infection only got worse and worse.

Whumpee tried to get the guards to do something about it. When it became apparent that the guards didn’t give a fuck whether she lived or died, she tried to ignore it. But as her foot started to necrose more and more, and then her ankle, and then her lower leg, she stopped being able to ignore it.

She didn’t take her shoe off anymore. It hurt too much, and looking at it made her want to puke. She couldn’t stand, could barely even sit.

And then she got a cellmate.

The other captive was quiet and reserved, but not shy. She was polite, but not much for conversation, not unless it served some practical purpose.

So when Caretaker asked What’s wrong with your leg? only hours after arriving, without having seen anything, she knew it had to be bad.

“Some kinda infection,” Whumpee explained, her voice ever-strained now. “Figure it’ll go away or my foot’ll fall off, one or the other.”

“Or you get sepsis and die,” Caretaker added bluntly.

Whumpee glared at her. “You some kinda doctor?”

“Medic,” Caretaker corrected. “Can I take a look?”

Whumpee grimaced. She hadn’t looked at it in weeks, and at that point it was just the ball of her foot. It hurt all over now, and she could only imagine how bad it was.

But she didn’t want to get sepsis and die.

“Fine. You can look at it if you can get my boot off.” Whumpee didn’t bother to even try to get up off the floor.

Caretaker came to her. She gripped her right boot, tugging only slightly, but Whumpee had to bite her lip and jerk her head to the side so Caretaker wouldn’t see her cry.

“They’re kidnapping medics now?” she forced out, squeaky, just to try to distract herself.

“Apparently they are. Fast or slow?” Caretaker asked.

Whumpee sucked in a deep, sharp breath. “Fast.”

And Caretaker yanked the boot off all at once.

Whumpee screamed. She couldn’t help it, it was the worst pain she’d ever felt in her entire life, and it wasn’t even close. Miles worse than being shot.

“Breathe,” Caretaker said, and Whumpee was about to spit a remark out about that being oh so helpful when she felt Caretaker take her hand. The medic’s hands were warm and gentle, clasped around her own like a clamshell guarding a pearl. “I’m going to help you.”

She did breathe. Big, shaking breaths in time with Caretaker’s own, until the pain settled back to its already-awful baseline.

She didn’t dare look.

“You have gangrene,” Caretaker said as soon as Whumpee seemed in a place to hear it. “Your lower leg is rotting away. It needs to go or it’s going to take the rest of you with it.”

“Guards don’t care, I already tried ‘em. Fuck. I’m gonna die in here.” Whumpee did look up at her then, still teary, caring less about that by the moment.

Caretaker looked out through the bars. She dropped Whumpee’s hand, shuffling away toward the corner. When she seemed certain that no one else was looking, she silently lifted her shirt and pulled a small pocketknife from her waist. Just as quickly, she resheathed it and pulled her shirt back down.

“How did you–”

“They didn’t search me,” Caretaker whispered. “Probably assumed I didn’t have anything.”

Whumpee set her gaze back on the floor beside her head. “You’re going to cut my leg off with that?”

“We don’t have any other options.” Caretaker was right, Whumpee knew it, but still, the thought of that puny knife sawing into her for who knows how long when simply taking off her boot sent her into unimaginable pain…

“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Caretaker continued. “We’ll wait for a time the guards seem unlikely to interrupt us. The fact that they barely looked in when you screamed is a good sign.”

Whumpee nodded blearily. “I’ve been screaming a lot.”

“Good. But we’ll have to try to limit it so they don’t get suspicious. We’ll have to gag you. It’s going to be really, really bad. I’d never think of performing something like this on a conscious person unless it’s an absolute emergency, and that’s what this is. You are going to die if we don’t remove that rotting tissue. I’m going to have to use leverage to break the bone–my knife isn’t strong enough to cut through bone. Then I’ll cut through it as fast as I can, wrap it in my shirt, make a tourniquet, put as much pressure on it as I can, and hope you don’t bleed out or get infected again. It’s the best we’ve got. The good news is I’m pretty sure I can save your knee. Guess it’s a good thing they’re kidnapping medics.”

It sounded like hell.

She had no other choice.

“Okay. I’m in.”

The guards left them alone when they went for dinner–it wasn’t like they expected them to do much. And really, they wouldn’t care about the surgery itself anyway. But if they found Caretaker’s knife, they’d take it away, and then she really would die.

Caretaker pulled off her shirt and slung it over her shoulder, leaving her in a sweaty white tank top. She cut a strip off the bottom, tying it and fashioning it into a makeshift gag.

“This is going to hurt. Just try and stay still or this is going to be way harder than it needs to be.” She knelt down beside Whumpee, one knee bent at a 90-degree angle.

Whumpee nodded. Caretaker picked Whumpee’s leg up and hoisted it over her knee, sending a shockwave of pain through it, and as she rolled up the pant leg, Whumpee finally saw it.

Her leg was unrecognizable. Her toes were totally black, the skin of her foot and up her leg rotten to the bone, which was visible out the side and yellowed. Was it supposed to be yellowed? The whole thing looked more like a dead tree than a part of her body. It was a miracle she kept herself from throwing up, her vision spinning.

“Brace yourself.” Caretaker warned. She wrapped one hand around one fist, raising them up in the air like a hammer.  “This is the worst part. I’m going to try to snap the bone. I’m probably not going to be able to do it on the first try. Don’t look and don’t struggle.”

Whumpee whipped her head to the side. As soon as she did, Caretaker brought her fist down with all the force she had.

Something cracked.

For a moment, Whumpee thought there was a ringing in her ears, soon realizing it was the sound of her own muffled screams. It felt like every nerve in her leg had been pulverized, and she twisted away, unable to control herself in her desperation to escape it.

Caretaker gripped her firmly by the shoulder, twisting her right back. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t the right spot, it didn’t break where we needed it. The bone is weaker on the infection. If I cut there, you’ll still be infected. I need to go again.”

Whumpee shook her head vigorously. She’d rather die. She couldn’t do this.

“I’m sorry,” Caretaker repeated, her voice wavering for once. Distantly, Whumpee realized they were both crying.

The hammer of Caretaker’s fists came down again.

And again. And again.

Each time, Whumpee wailed, trying to leap away to death, though Caretaker easily brought her back. Finally, there was another crack, though everything below that hurt so much worse she could barely feel it.

“There. That’s the worst part,” Caretaker panted, as if she were the one exhausted. “It’ll be over soon. I promise.”

She flipped out that little knife and began to saw.

Whumpee was too spent to struggle anymore, even as she saw the floor grow slick with her blood, even as she felt the blade carve her up like a piece of meat, digging into the corded muscle of her calf.

But oddly enough, by the time she felt her leg thunk onto the cell floor, it hurt less than before they’d began.

Caretaker wrapped something tight just below her knee, and Whumpee whined. Caretaker kept wrapping and wrapping, and when she was done, she pressed her hand into the fabric over the stump of Whumpee’s leg, not letting go.

“It’s done,” she announced. “It’s done. How are you feeling?”

Arms shaking, Whumpee reached up and removed the gag from her mouth. “It hurts,” she whimpered, voice small like a child’s. Whimpered, something she couldn’t say she’d ever done before in her life.

“I know. I’m here. You’re going to live, Whumpee,” Caretaker said reverently.

Whumpee stared at the severed limb laying in a bloody heap on the floor.

She breathed.

-

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[sammie-dae]

THE MAD ONION'S GANGRENEERS (ft. THE FOOT COLLECTOR)

[thebibi]

Sucking Gangrene Out of a Wound

So last year, there was this feeling of incredulousness about Van Helsing's little story about how Jack saved his life! People had heard of sucking poison out of a wound, but actual gangrene? Jack must have used medical equipment right? He didn't actually use his mouth, RIGHT??

Unfortunately for all of you lovely readers, not only didJack suck the "gangrenous blood" from Van Helsing using his mouth , but its very likely Bram Stoker really did mean it in earnest! Because SCIENCE. Those sciencifically minded bros were SO OPEN MINDED!!

I had the unfortunate displeasure of reading excerpts from this book on Victorian medical history, about all the ways doctors and surgeons had to be incredibly quick thinking and open minded as to not, y'know, kill their patients. One of the famous examples given is of Eric Erichsen, chief surgeon at London's University College Hospital, who used his mouth to suck out infectious blockage from a woman's throat. Yup you heard that right! HIS MOUTH.

Literally, a woman came in for surgery because she had a blocked larynx, most likely laryngitis that had gone on way too long. And during surgery Erichsen realized even though he cut through her throat, the offending material was difficult to get out. So he just used his God give mouth and OH MY GOD GROSS. Anyway, she survived the operation??? He died when he was 78 so this operation didn't impact his health AT ALL??? Yeah.

So anway....yeah. Do I think Bram Stoker knew of this case? No, although three of his brothers were medical doctors. People have also suggested Thornley Stoker was the direct inspiration for Van Helsing because of implied spoilers. But I think he had heard of enough similar tales of surgery gone wrong that it doesn't seem too out of place.

Of course that's not even touching the thematic and symbolic importance of blood sucking in a novel all about Blood Sucking....Either way, yes it would have been entirely possible for Jack to really save Van Helsing's life from succumbing to gangrene. Everyone say Thank You Jack!

[krunkestvampireatthedisco]

Idk how to feel about ace x snake 🤔🤔 lmk your thoughts on the ship guys

[theartofthecover]

Gangrene TP (2025)

Art by: Salvador Sanz

[chuckdiesal]

New Music Tuesday returns w/ another packed playlist featuring MorMor, Leon Bridges, Coco Jones, Elmiene, Nyota Parker & Jay Jody, Rome Streetz, Rick Ross, Gangrene and more. From soulful melodies and Afrobeats 2 a second hour full of hard hitting hip hop!

New Music Tuesday: Soul, Global Grooves & Hip Hop Heat