Well, we had a trip to the E.R. last night. The Bug's finger was slammed in a door somehow and the nail was completely lifted off of the nail bed and only being held on by the cuticle. In case you don't know, The Bug is the 22 month old in the family. It was a relatively short E.R. trip measuring in at only 3 hours. The triage nurse heard us as soon as we came in and brought us back as soon as she finished with the person who was already with her. The Bug cried, pretty loudly, for about 45 minutes straight.
Here's what happened:
We were at a birthday party for my friends' son who turned 1. The kids were all playing and going in and out, which was fine since the yard is enclosed. The adults were talking and enjoying each other's company. I hate to admit it, but none of realized that the Bug was out in the back. My friends' husband noticed the door open a crack and leaned on it to shut it. A moment later he heard someone screaming and opened the door. There was the Bug, sitting on the ground, crying hard, with a bloody finger. Within minutes we gave her some Ibuprofen, I called the Hubby, and I loaded her into the car for a trip to the E.R. The Boy and The Princess stayed at the party to play with the kids so I wouldn't have to deal with them too.
The Hubby met us at the E.R. and we took her in. After triage we waited in the waiting room for only a few minutes before they took us back into a room (curtain). That is when most of the waiting happened. After a bit, someone wheeled me, carrying the Bug to the x-ray room and we went through about 20-30 minutes of getting the Bug to hold her finger/hand about 4 or 5 different ways so they could see if she had broken her finger. We waited there while the tech looked at all the pictures, cropped them, sent them back over to the E.R and then he wheeled The Bug back over to our curtain. By this time, she wanted to sit in the wheelchair all by herself and she was calm and actually giggly and playful.
We waited quite a while, and to make a log wait short, eventually a Dr. came in and checked her finger, told us what he thought should be done, left and we waited some more. During all this waiting The Hubby kept The Bug occupied by playing silly peek a boo games ,tossing an inflated glove around and playing with the curtain with her. I don't think I could have done it alone, so I was glad he was there with us, especially when extra hands were needed during the x-rays. I have taken the other two to the E.R. by myself but they were both older. The Hubby hates the waiting.
Anyway, a nurse (male and very nice. I think he was the same person who helped with the Princess's stitches over a year ago) came in and cleaned her finger and then steri-stripped it down to her nail bed. This was the best option because her own fluids are the best healer and this is the least traumatic. The plan is that when a new nail starts to grow in it will push the damaged nail off and take it's place. The whole ordeal started just after 6 p.m., we were at the E.R. from 6:30 to 9:30. Right before she was discharged they gave her a dose of Tylenol with codeine so she would be able to sleep without being in too much pain last night. They said to give her Tylenol for the pain every 6-8 hours as needed. When they let us go, The Hubby and The Bug headed home and I headed over to my friends' house to pick up the other two and let her and her husband (who was feeling really bad about it all) know how the Bug was doing.
Through it all The Bug was amazingly calm, after the initial 45 minute crying jag. I think she has an old soul. When you look in her eyes you can see so much depth (at least I can). She seems to just understand the things going on around her, though she is only 22 months old. She did her best to hold still during the x-rays and she only cried a tiny bit (but kept her hand there) during the last one because it was the most difficult position. She also never cried or pulled her hand away during the cleaning and taping even though the nurse was pushing the nail back a little to make sure he got it all cleaned out. She was so brave! I haven't had to give her any Tylenol, she hasn't complained or anything and she handled being in nursery at church just fine.
As a side note, I officially have a cold. I'm achy, my throat hurts, and I am tired. I just got up an hour ago from a 4 hour nap! I need to focus tomorrow and get the whole place cleaned up really well. I'm tired of the random piles of stuff laying around instead of being put away. Hopefully the Bug will cooperate and I can get it all done.
We were at a birthday party for my friends' son who turned 1. The kids were all playing and going in and out, which was fine since the yard is enclosed. The adults were talking and enjoying each other's company. I hate to admit it, but none of realized that the Bug was out in the back. My friends' husband noticed the door open a crack and leaned on it to shut it. A moment later he heard someone screaming and opened the door. There was the Bug, sitting on the ground, crying hard, with a bloody finger. Within minutes we gave her some Ibuprofen, I called the Hubby, and I loaded her into the car for a trip to the E.R. The Boy and The Princess stayed at the party to play with the kids so I wouldn't have to deal with them too.
The Hubby met us at the E.R. and we took her in. After triage we waited in the waiting room for only a few minutes before they took us back into a room (curtain). That is when most of the waiting happened. After a bit, someone wheeled me, carrying the Bug to the x-ray room and we went through about 20-30 minutes of getting the Bug to hold her finger/hand about 4 or 5 different ways so they could see if she had broken her finger. We waited there while the tech looked at all the pictures, cropped them, sent them back over to the E.R and then he wheeled The Bug back over to our curtain. By this time, she wanted to sit in the wheelchair all by herself and she was calm and actually giggly and playful.
We waited quite a while, and to make a log wait short, eventually a Dr. came in and checked her finger, told us what he thought should be done, left and we waited some more. During all this waiting The Hubby kept The Bug occupied by playing silly peek a boo games ,tossing an inflated glove around and playing with the curtain with her. I don't think I could have done it alone, so I was glad he was there with us, especially when extra hands were needed during the x-rays. I have taken the other two to the E.R. by myself but they were both older. The Hubby hates the waiting.
Anyway, a nurse (male and very nice. I think he was the same person who helped with the Princess's stitches over a year ago) came in and cleaned her finger and then steri-stripped it down to her nail bed. This was the best option because her own fluids are the best healer and this is the least traumatic. The plan is that when a new nail starts to grow in it will push the damaged nail off and take it's place. The whole ordeal started just after 6 p.m., we were at the E.R. from 6:30 to 9:30. Right before she was discharged they gave her a dose of Tylenol with codeine so she would be able to sleep without being in too much pain last night. They said to give her Tylenol for the pain every 6-8 hours as needed. When they let us go, The Hubby and The Bug headed home and I headed over to my friends' house to pick up the other two and let her and her husband (who was feeling really bad about it all) know how the Bug was doing.
Through it all The Bug was amazingly calm, after the initial 45 minute crying jag. I think she has an old soul. When you look in her eyes you can see so much depth (at least I can). She seems to just understand the things going on around her, though she is only 22 months old. She did her best to hold still during the x-rays and she only cried a tiny bit (but kept her hand there) during the last one because it was the most difficult position. She also never cried or pulled her hand away during the cleaning and taping even though the nurse was pushing the nail back a little to make sure he got it all cleaned out. She was so brave! I haven't had to give her any Tylenol, she hasn't complained or anything and she handled being in nursery at church just fine.
As a side note, I officially have a cold. I'm achy, my throat hurts, and I am tired. I just got up an hour ago from a 4 hour nap! I need to focus tomorrow and get the whole place cleaned up really well. I'm tired of the random piles of stuff laying around instead of being put away. Hopefully the Bug will cooperate and I can get it all done.
1 comment:
Poor thing. Hope her finger is feeling better!
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