Luke had a trip to the ER last month (his third ER trip, in his 8 years of life). Just minutes before I was about to walk out the door to head to YW, Luke ran into the corner of an open door. I didn't hear Luke crying, but I heard Caden yell for me, from upstairs, that Luke was hurt bad and bleeding a lot. Now, our Caden has a tendency to exaggerate, so typically I would have walked (probably while rolling my eyes), but for some reason I ran up those stairs. David had just gotten home from work and was ahead of me. When David reached Luke, with concern in his voice, he said, "Heather!" David is the epitome of calm, so if he was concerned, I had a second to wonder what I was going to find when I reached Luke.
What I found was blood. Caden was right. There was so much blood all over his face and hands that it took me a couple of seconds to figure out it was coming from his forehead. When I did figure out the source, I thought there was a large open flap...like open to his skull kind of a flap. I quickly realized it wasn't as bad as I first thought...it was a nice, straight, clean wound. When I later told David that I had originally thought there was a flap and he responded that he thought so too. I think we both somehow mistook the nice goose egg beneath the wound for a flap.
Anyhow, as I tried to calm Luke down, David ran for a cloth. As I held pressure to his head and let him know that we were going to need to go to the ER to have his head stitched up, he totally lost it. He had seen the blood and was already worried, and I am sure he was in a little bit of shock. On top of that he was hurting...he kept complaining that I was putting too much pressure on his already painful head. Learning that he was going to need stitches (he was afraid of the pain of that) was just too much. The poor boy started hyperventilating. It was all I could do to coax him to slow his breathing down so he wouldn't pass out. He eventually reached a calm state so we could head to the ER. And I did take a minute to clean the blood out of my bedroom carpet before it was set in for good.
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David took this picture after most of the blood was cleaned up, but obviously Luke is still in a bit of distress about heading to the ER.
Stitch #1 completed.
Unfortunately, Luke did feel the pokes (this guy went deep with his stitches!), but not nearly as much as he would have without the gel. He was calm and did really well during the stitching process, with only a minor flinch or two.
Anyhow, as I tried to calm Luke down, David ran for a cloth. As I held pressure to his head and let him know that we were going to need to go to the ER to have his head stitched up, he totally lost it. He had seen the blood and was already worried, and I am sure he was in a little bit of shock. On top of that he was hurting...he kept complaining that I was putting too much pressure on his already painful head. Learning that he was going to need stitches (he was afraid of the pain of that) was just too much. The poor boy started hyperventilating. It was all I could do to coax him to slow his breathing down so he wouldn't pass out. He eventually reached a calm state so we could head to the ER. And I did take a minute to clean the blood out of my bedroom carpet before it was set in for good.
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David took this picture after most of the blood was cleaned up, but obviously Luke is still in a bit of distress about heading to the ER.
All bandaged up, but still not liking where we were headed.
At the ER he was resigned to his fate.
I asked for a plastic surgeon since this was his face and all, but was told they wouldn't come down for this. I knew his cut was straight and should heal well, but thought it was worth a try to get the very best. Ah well.
I was happy that they got us right in without a wait. The only time I have been in an ER where I didn't have to wait was when we rushed Luke to the ER when he was having an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. At this latest visit, his nurse told me there is rarely a wait at their ER. She didn't understand why other Emergency Rooms can't get patients in just as quick. Hmm.
You can't tell in this picture, but he was relieved to learn they were going to numb his head with some gel. The gel sat under this clear bandage for 30 minutes. After that 30 minutes, he was told he wouldn't feel a thing.
Under the bright lights and getting ready to be stitched.
Unfortunately, Luke did feel the pokes (this guy went deep with his stitches!), but not nearly as much as he would have without the gel. He was calm and did really well during the stitching process, with only a minor flinch or two.
Three stitches and done.
He was all smiles after that.
Day 5 was stitches removal day.
The ER doctor said waiting longer than 5 days would result in scars where the stitches were. So we got them out. I wasn't going to pay his primary care doctor to remove them when I could remove them myself. So that's what I did. His finger placement in this picture makes me chuckle...I think he was a little nervous about the removal, but was surprised to find it didn't hurt a bit.
Stitches all out.
Goofy picture, but here is how it looks a month out.
He has a twin scar above the right eye from his 2nd ER visit, only it's a little shorter. The ER doc glued that one shut. It is barely visible, so maybe this one will fade and blend in too. It is actually more visible than this picture shows, and people are still asking him what happened.
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