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| no more drama in my life |
| 09.10.06 (9:28 pm) [edit] |
Sing it, Mary J!Oy, the drama. I don't even know where to start, but reading one of Flea's old posts reminded me of "stitches" so here goes. Jacob started back at school on August 30th -- a Wednesday, don't ask me why. We were pretty geared up, between the enormous shopping list (everything from crayons to calculators, pencils to tissues) and the lunch plans. Jacob was nervous but not as much so as camp or school last year -- we already knew that certain of his friends were in his first grade class. That Tuesday night, I came home at a decent hour and ran an errand or two, then was nabbed by Alberta as I walked in the door. Benjamin, she said, was trying to launch himself over the crib rail, and would I please lower the mattress all the way? So I set about taking everything out of the crib and lowering the mattress. As I was reassembling the crib, I heard various noises coming from the living room, and Danny came running in. "I make a meth!" he said. "So, clean it up, honey," I replied. I figured it was Legos or something. And Alberta was near the living room, so how bad could it be? I finished the crib and went into the kitchen to wash my hands. And that's when I heard Jake's piercing scream. Now, what you have to understand is that Jacob, while being your basic, active boy, is touchy about some things and tends to make a lot of noise when he perceives he's been wronged. So I tend not to race to him when I hear that scream -- if anything, I cringe and await the tattling. But this time, Alberta came running to get me. "Jacob --- he step in sumting!" she gasped. So I head to the living room, where Jacob is standing, flamingo-style, next to my rocking chair. He's clutching his left foot, which is dripping -- no, draining -- blood into a decent puddle on the floor. I shout for Danny to get out of the room, scoop up Jacob and rush him to the bathroom. I prop him on the edge of the tub, turn on the water, and instruct him to try to hold his foot under the cool running water. He's crying but robust, so I tell him to hold onto the counter and try to hang on. As I race to my phone, Alberta tells me a light bulb was in a cup of various craplets, and Danny had apparently knocked the cup to the floor, where a barefooted Jacob stepped on the light bulb. Marvy. She goes to clean up the mess(es) while I call the pediatrician's, and try to explain that no, they haven't actually seen this child yet but the other two, and I can't see well enough to tell if there is still glass in his foot but it's gushing blood and what do I do? One of the doctors comes on the phone, calmly asks me a few questions, and says while I'm welcome to bring Jake to them, he thinks the ER is a better choice because they may need to extract glass, etc. and will have better methods for finding any (shudder). He says to hold a dry washcloth gently against the wound while we transport him. So I bundle up Jake -- putting an old washcloth on the foot, and carefully putting one of my slipper socks over it -- grab his copy of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and race out the door. Unfortunately, I know my way to the Evanston hospital's ER pretty well (DH's head and rib injuries, Danny's allergic reaction), so we're there in a flash, and I carry Jake inside. They're great with kids at ENH, so they fasttrack us and get us into a room, by which time the bleeding has slowed quite a bit. Jake was calm while they cleaned the wound, and curious when they wheeled in an X-ray machine and took a few shots of his foot. It was decided that nothing larger than a centimeter was still in there, so they'd clean it up and bandage it, and just watch for possible infection. They said it was a crapshoot whether to stitch; they figured stitches would hurt worse and take longer to heal. So with instructions to keep it clean, dry and bandaged, we headed home. "This was not how I pictured spending your last night before school starts," I said to Jake on the ride home. Little did I know, that was the easy one. This past Wednesday, I was actually driving back to Evanston for a meeting with my web guru Charlotte, and got a call from school. It was the Health Clerk (I don't know why they can't call her a nurse). "Mrs. JT, I have Jacob here, and he's bleeding quite a bit. I think he may need stitches." Oh, phooey. I called Charlotte to postpone the meeting and thanked G-d for letting me be halfway to Evanston already. I swooped in to pick up Jacob. He was sitting in the health office, holding a makeshift ice pack to his head, where a bloody gash now appeared over his left eye. The health clerk gave me forms that detailed the accident and how to file a claim against the school's insurance policy for secondary coverage. On our way out, Jacob showed me where he hit his head. The details were VERY fuzzy -- something about this other kid playing something and he bumped Jake as they were headed out the cafeteria's back door to recess. What Jacob hit his head on was a big, rectangular piece of metal that is part of the locking mechanism. We headed back to the ER. Jacob was pretty calm at this point, but I was nervous. What if he did need stitches? What if he was concussed? What if they called DCFS because my kid landed in the ER twice in seven days? Luckily, I was given no strange looks or suspicious questionings. They fasttracked Jake again and in no time we were back in Jacob's honorary hospital room -- AKA Exam Room 3. A nurse came in and gently washed the wound, which had finally stopped bleeding. Then a physician's assistant came in and checked it as well. She wanted the doctor to take a look -- she said it needed closing, but stitches would cause more of a scar then Dermabonding (aka medical SuperGlue). Meredith the PA went to find the doc, and I was left with Jacob -- now high on adrenaline and bleeding above the eye again. I managed to refrain from collapsing in a chair with my head between my knees, and made it through without passing out, but it was safe to say that I was taking this a bit harder than Jake. He turned on the charm for the hospital staff, who thought he was just adorable. The doc came in and took a peek at Jake's head before confirming Meredith's plan. The cut needed closing, he agreed, but stitches would indeed make more of a scar than gluing. He warned gently that while the glue doesn't hurt, it can get warm while it's drying, so Jake might feel weird with a warm spot on his head. And then he stepped out, and Meredith got to work. I held Jacob's hand and deliberately didn't watch. He was totally fine while she did her thing -- drawing the wound together and gluing over it (blech), but at one point he began to scream and pull away from her. We still don't know what happened; was the glue actually hot? Did his hair get pulled? Dunno, but for a few minutes I practically had to lie on him to hold him down. Finally, it was done. Meredith put a bandage loosely over the wound and sent us on our way, with warnings about possible concussion symptoms and a reminder to have him seen by our pediatrician before he's allowed to play sports, run around, or basically be a boy. If he whacks his head again, they said, there will be no avoiding the stitches. And after seeing him react to being glued, I definitely don't want to be holding him down for that one. Those were the highlights of my week -- other than mild work craziness, a few staff members falling off the face of the earth, that pressure to triple enrollment within a year, and various snipy arguments with DH. I'm hoping to start fresh tomorrow -- September 11th (yikes) and Danny's first day of preschool. |
posted by: FinalyFree (reply)
post date: 09.11.06 (4:13 pm)
lol, I thought I was the only one that worried about DHS and multiple ER trips. My son is nearly 15 and he's the most accident prone child around. He broke his hand once playing with a silly balloon--jammed it into the wall. Oh and he once broke 6 pair of glasses in 11 months. I pray this isn't just the beginning for you, lol. Good luck!
posted by: JT (reply)
post date: 09.11.06 (7:03 pm)
Can you imagine, with three boys? I hope they have a frequent patient plan.
posted by: FinalyFree (reply)
post date: 09.12.06 (11:03 am)
Reply to: JT
Oh ya I can imagine, I have 3 step-sons! Luckily they're not as accident prone as mine. As I said before, good luck! lol
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