Friday, November 14, 2008

Rite of Passage

So I didn't post yesterday, but I think you will consider my excuse a valid one. It's crazy how you are chugging along in life, going about your day, and BAM, you're headed for the Emergency Room.



Last night I was giving the kids baths, and Brian had just left to catch a drink and go to a basketball game with a friend, a treat that he had been looking forward to all week. I had dried and dressed David and sat him on the bathroom floor while I did the same to Katy. I gave him a toy, but he quickly tossed it aside and started reaching for the bathroom scale. I didn't think too much of it, until a moment later when I heard screaming, and I looked over to see the blood. Lots and lots of blood.




The next few minutes was a blur of rinsing and applying pressure to David's finger and trying to figure out what had happened. Later we discovered a sharp metal piece on the bottom edge of the scale that was the culprit. But I was pretty sure from my winced observations that David had severed the tip of his middle finger almost completely off, including most of the fingernail. I called Brian, who literally sprinted home while I called the pediatrician. I was pretty sure that we needed to go to the ER, but felt like I should call for some reason. She told me to go to an urgent care. My sister was at my house within 10 minutes to watch Katy so we could go. (Oh, how THANKFUL I am for that. It would've been a nightmare to take her).




It just so happens that our closest urgent care is actually in the Children's Hospital. We attempted to go there, but they took one look at the finger and sent us to the ER. I was so glad that this was a walk through a hallway rather than another screaming car ride with me stroking his face and still squeezing that tiny little appendage. But you know how the ER goes. It doesn't matter what problem you're there for - it's going to take 4 hours. Four grueling, traumatic hours.




This accident happened right at David's bedtime, right before I was about to nurse him and give him some more ibuprofen for his teeth. So through the whole experience, he was exhausted, hungry, and in pain. Eventually I was able to nurse him, but it was difficult to do because I had to be so careful with his hand. The worst part was the times we had to pin him down to do procedures on him - twice for numbing shots, then for x-rays, then for the sutures. The sutures took about 20 minutes, he screamed the whole time, and I just had to look into his face and say, "I'm so sorry, Bubby. It's almost over, Sweetheart," etc, etc. They confirmed that he had cut the tip almost entirely off, but that they had been able to stitch it back together. She said she was optimistic that the tip would survive, but that we would have to be really careful to keep this boxing glove of gauze on his hand clean and dry. Ummm...yeah...about that. He's 7 months old.




Brian and I were incredibly relieved, however, that we live so close to such a tremendous Children's Hospital. If we lived out in the country and had to go to a small adult ER, what are the chances there would be someone there with experience sewing 7 month old finger tips together? The suture tech compared it to sewing together 2 pieces of wet toilet paper. That's pretty impressive.




When we got home, we put a sock on his arm and hoped for the best. We'll go back to the pediatrician on Monday morning, and until then I'll be nervous. Nervous about keeping the bandages on (we've already had to replace them once today), nervous about avoiding infection, and nervous that the finger tip will heal properly. So if you could pray for those things, that would be great.




I didn't sleep well last night with all of those haunting images and what-ifs going through my mind. He was able to sleep today and didn't seem to be in too much pain. And it could've been worse for many many reasons. Now I'll settle in and pray for the best.

8 comments:

bluedaisy said...

Oh Emily- nothing like a little stress right? I am glad that overall, things went well but yeah, I would be really nervous about the healing process too. I will keep lots of prayers coming your way! The bottom of the scale- who would every think about that of all places? All of the things that you babyproof and then something ridiculous like that lands you in the ER...hope that little finger heals up quickly!

Giselle said...

Oh! No! Poor David and poor you! I'm so glad you were able to get help quickly and you didn't have to take Katy with you. But I can't imagine having to watch your baby go through that...

I hope it heals really fast!

Weed said...

Oh my, I am SO sorry you all had to go through that. I'll be praying that things are all as they should be when you go to the doctor again on Monday and everything heals properly.

Pam said...

I'm sorry the poor little boy went through this (not to mention you & Brian!). I'm thinking of you all.
If Melanie is not in town or can't ever help out during emergencies, PLEASE call me. I can watch Katy anytime.

Erin said...

OH SWEETIE!

I'm so sorry. So sorry you had to go through that. And of course sorry for David (but hey, he won't remember a THING about this, so there's that).

I'll be thinking of you. I bet those images replaying in your mind are terrible. Just reading this post made me jittery. Sometimes being a parent is just plain BRUTAL.

Good job pulling through with that little boy though. It's one heck of a battle story to tell.

Mommy Daisy said...

Aww, poor baby. Luckily your husband and sister were both there to help quickly. I will prayer that he heals quickly and completely.

Jen said...

Poor guy! Hope that his hand heals quickly.

We made two trips to the ER for stitches before Jacob was 2 years old...one for a dog bite on his face (plastic surgeon needed) and the other when he hit his head on the coffee table. It is definitely no picnic to hold down your screaming child while someone sews them up. Thankfully, it happened while he was young and he won't remember it later on.

Praying for a quick recovery and a good night of sleep for you!

Kelsey said...

I'm so sorry - that must have been terrible. Any emergency is scary, but ones with lots of blood are especially so, I think.

I will pray for quick healing and I echo what everyone else said - he won't even remember!