Thursday, August 13, 2009

A Visit to the ER

Dr. Joe and Nurse Shawna with Sam
Earlier tonight I sent Sam and Leah upstairs to brush their teeth and put on their pajamas. Jimmy and I were talking in the kitchen.....and we heard a thud followed by Sam crying. As usual, we did not rush to see what happened; we just continued our conversation. After a few moments, I realized that Sam was crying like he was hurt, not just irritated by Leah. I investigated, and found him coming down the stairs, still crying and dripping blood from his chin. I rushed him to the kitchen to let Jimmy look at him. We laid Sam on the counter, and Dr. Daddy gently examined the patient. He held pressure on the wound, and then he cleaned it with antiseptic. Next he closed the cut with three steri strips. Throughout this medical care Sam sucked his pacifier and smelled my hair. I was glad to not have to look! The sight of blood makes me feel faint! Next Jimmy called the ER to see which Dr. was working. Thankfully one of the doctors on duty was Dr. Joe, Jimmy's cousin Leanna's husband. He discussed with Joe whether we should bring Sam in for stitches, or just let the steri strips hold the cut together. We were still undecided about what to do. The whole family gathered around Sam and me in the rocking chair......then one of the children said, "Sam's bandaids are coming off!" Decision made. We promptly went to the ER.
I was delighted to see Shawna working with Dr. Joe. I have known Shawna for several years now.....she used to work at Jimmy's clinic.....and she just began homeschooling her oldest child. Joe's wife, Leanna, homeschools their children too! Anyway, Shawna and Joe were just wonderful. They treated Sam very kindly and put him at ease. Sam proved to be a tough patient! He didn't resist being held down for the numbing injection, and he really didn't cry that much. I found myself squeezing his hand much too tightly while Joe was sewing him up!

All sewn up! You can see the ring where his pacifier was--the brown stuff is the antiseptic.

Feeling much better and enjoying a bedtime snack while we wait for paperwork


Showing off the finished product!


We got home around 11:15, and Sam went straight to bed. I know that all of his siblings will be fascinated with his stitches when they see them in the morning!

10 comments:

  1. I am glad he is okay. Also, glad that Jimmy was home.

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  2. Poor Sam! What a big boy not to cry when he got stitches! I am like you; I get queasy over blood. I am sure he will get lots of love today from the siblings.

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  3. Glad he is okay! I can't believe we have not been there yet, as active as Wesley is!

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  4. What is it will little boys and chins? Ok, I take that back! Kaelan is the only one that we have had to take to the emergency room like that...two broken arms and stitches in the head....not at the same time. She is SO not a girly-girl!!

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  5. Sounds like you had too much excitement last night, but so glad familiar faces were at the ER!

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  6. we had an incident like that not long ago my daughter tripped an hit her chin on our counter and bit through her lip , and off to Patient first we went. no stitches though and I do not do well with blood either.

    Love your blog we homeschool our four kiddos in Maryland, it is so nice to have met you:-)

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  7. I'm so glad he is okay, Roan. I remember when I had a similar scare with my oldest years ago. He ran into a coffee table and split his upper gums. It looked awful but thank the Lord, gums heal on their own.

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  8. Bless Sam's heart! I'm glad he's okay!! These little accidents are so scary to everyone involved!!

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  9. Poor baby. It would be nice to have so many Drs in the family.

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  10. Roan, Sam was such a trooper. He's no doubt in the top 2-3 I've ever helped with!
    Thanks so much for all your words of encouragement - I need them!
    I wish you could have seen Joe after you left.... I don't know if you could tell how nervous he was, but I assured him he did a great job and he was SOOOOO excited about being on the blog:):) I hope Leanna has shown him his picture by now! I'll check with him the next time we work together though.

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