Sunday, September 12, 2010

Not exactly how I wanted to spend Sunday afternoon

Todd and I were looking forward to a relaxing Sunday at home. He went to watch the USC/UGA football game at a friend's house yesterday and I had a friend and her 2 girls come to spend the night. They left this morning shortly before noon.

After we had eaten lunch, Katie went down for her nap and the three of us were just unwinding. Katie slept for about 2 hours and Todd got her up out of her crib. Michael heard her and went upstairs to see what she was doing. She made it halfway down the stairs with Michael following her.

Next thing I know I hear a big boom, followed by Michael crying hysterically. Todd and I both get to him at the same time. He seems to be OK so I ask him where it hurts. He puts his hand up on the back of his head and so do I. Both of us pull our hands back and they are covered with blood. It's at this point that I lose it and so does Michael. We are both the same in our dealings with pain and injuries. The smallest injury causes us to make a big production. But this was the real deal this time and it was a big gash!

We took him into the bathroom and tried to move his hair to see where the blood was coming from. He didn't want us to look at it but he finally let us. We asked him what happened and he said he slipped and hit his head on the baseboard on the stairs. After Todd looked at it, he said that we were going to need to go to the doctor for stitches. I called the nurses' line and they advised that we take him in. So we loaded everyone up in the car and headed to urgent care. By this time, Michael was pretty calm (thanks to a popsicle and sitting with Todd).

Michael got in to see the doctor within 30 minutes. The nurse took a look at his head and then called the doctor in. She agreed that he would need staples so they began the prep work. Michael got dressed in a hospital gown and the nurse put some medicine on the cut to numb it. He wasn't too happy about having to have that pressed on his cut. The doctor asked if we would rather she give him a shot of lidocaine, clean the cut and staple it shut. We thought this would be best as this would be the quickest way to get it done.

The doctor wrapped him up papoose-style to keep him from trying to put his hands up on his head. This caused more crying and screaming than the actual procedure. It was at this point that I left the room with Katie for 2 reasons. One, I didn't want Katie to try to get up on the exam table and agitate Michael further and two, I do not do well with shots, staples, and injuries in general. While we were out in the hallway, I heard screaming and Michael asking if it was done yet. Within minutes from the procedure being over, he was feeling fine and asking me where his treat was. I pulled two lollipops out of my purse that I had put in before we left the house.

Tonight, Todd put Neosporin on it before Michael went to bed. He asked about the things in his head that were a little pointy. I told him that they would make his cut heal. He asked how they were going to get out. I told him the doctor would take them out next week.

All in all, he did pretty well considering what had happened. 5 minutes after he got the staples in, he was running around the waiting room with Katie and played outside with one of his friends when we got home. And he felt well enough to eat a brownie with cream cheese icing.....that sounds OK to me!

6 comments:

Joanna said...

Oh, poor Michael. And poor you. I'm glad he's doing well.

Stacey said...

Man, that's horrible. Sounds like you guys handled it really well though. I hope he continues to heal quickly.

Beth said...

Man--sounds like you handled it really well, considering. Hope the staples coming out goes okay, too! Hugs!

Kara said...

Poor Michael!! We had our first ER visit about a week ago too! Kylee just got her stitches out Friday and it was rough.

If it helps any at all when Kendall had her surgery to remove the dermoid cyst on her head they used staples. Staples come out so much quicker than stitches. Well at least that has been our experience. Hope it is yours too!

So glad to hear how well he is doing with it. Kids are so tough!

Carrie said...

OH MY!!! How scary! Poor boy!! Sounds like he was tough though!

Mel said...

Oh wow! Not a good way to spend the afternoon, for sure! Glad he pulled through like a trooper, though. The brownie sounds nice!