We had our first medical trauma today. I'd be happy if it was the last but I doubt we'll be so lucky. I was in the kitchen and the girls were playing back by the bedrooms when I heard Katie start to scream. It's not uncommon to hear screams from the girls throughout the day but this one quickly escalated from "you're bugging me" to "something is really wrong!" I went running to the back of the house and met Katie as she was running to find me. She was crying pretty good and holding her finger. Annabelle had closed the bathroom door on it, on the hinge side of the door. Katie kept wailing that she wanted a bandaid on it and I tried to stay calm and assess the situation. Even though I was calm on the outside I couldn't think straight and I just kept saying to myself, "what do i do? what do i do?" The nail was still attached but barely and I knew we would have to take her in to have it looked at. I was trying to figure out what I should do with Annabelle because Katie was so upset I wanted to be able to just focus on her at the doctor's office. Also, I didn't know if I should take her to the ER or what. I knew she wasn't bleeding to death but I knew she needed to have it looked at soon. Fortunately Ben arrived home for lunch about 2 minutes after this happened so he was able to help me think clearly and figure out what to do. I called the Pediatric Clinic where we take the girls and explained the situation and they were able to get us an appointment just 45 minutes from then. Ben canceled his first patient of the afternoon and stayed home with Annabelle so I could take Katie to the clinic. Fortunately, she was calm and even in good spirits by the time we got to the clinic. The doctor was sweet and understanding and took really good care of us. They had to give Katie a shot in the finger to numb it and even though she cried during that part she didn't thrash around or try to pull away. She was really brave through it all. They had to remove the entire nail which was barely attached anyway. My big concern was whether the nail would grow back and the doctor assured me it would. They cleaned it all up and got her wrapped up and now we just have to keep it dry and sterile so it won't get infected. We are going back in a couple days so the doctor can make sure it's healing okay. This has definitely taught Katie a lesson about playing with doors but Annabelle is still too young to get it. In fact, all afternoon she went around closing doors in the house. When I try to tell her firmly "no!" she just laughs and thinks I'm trying to play around with her. Let's hope she moves on from this phase quickly before anymore fingers get caught.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
ouch!
We had our first medical trauma today. I'd be happy if it was the last but I doubt we'll be so lucky. I was in the kitchen and the girls were playing back by the bedrooms when I heard Katie start to scream. It's not uncommon to hear screams from the girls throughout the day but this one quickly escalated from "you're bugging me" to "something is really wrong!" I went running to the back of the house and met Katie as she was running to find me. She was crying pretty good and holding her finger. Annabelle had closed the bathroom door on it, on the hinge side of the door. Katie kept wailing that she wanted a bandaid on it and I tried to stay calm and assess the situation. Even though I was calm on the outside I couldn't think straight and I just kept saying to myself, "what do i do? what do i do?" The nail was still attached but barely and I knew we would have to take her in to have it looked at. I was trying to figure out what I should do with Annabelle because Katie was so upset I wanted to be able to just focus on her at the doctor's office. Also, I didn't know if I should take her to the ER or what. I knew she wasn't bleeding to death but I knew she needed to have it looked at soon. Fortunately Ben arrived home for lunch about 2 minutes after this happened so he was able to help me think clearly and figure out what to do. I called the Pediatric Clinic where we take the girls and explained the situation and they were able to get us an appointment just 45 minutes from then. Ben canceled his first patient of the afternoon and stayed home with Annabelle so I could take Katie to the clinic. Fortunately, she was calm and even in good spirits by the time we got to the clinic. The doctor was sweet and understanding and took really good care of us. They had to give Katie a shot in the finger to numb it and even though she cried during that part she didn't thrash around or try to pull away. She was really brave through it all. They had to remove the entire nail which was barely attached anyway. My big concern was whether the nail would grow back and the doctor assured me it would. They cleaned it all up and got her wrapped up and now we just have to keep it dry and sterile so it won't get infected. We are going back in a couple days so the doctor can make sure it's healing okay. This has definitely taught Katie a lesson about playing with doors but Annabelle is still too young to get it. In fact, all afternoon she went around closing doors in the house. When I try to tell her firmly "no!" she just laughs and thinks I'm trying to play around with her. Let's hope she moves on from this phase quickly before anymore fingers get caught.
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5 comments:
Poor Little Katie!!! We haven't had one of those yet, But I can totally relate to the "What do I do...what do I do..Try not to panic feeling!She held up like a trooper and I bet it will never happen to her again!!
"Ouch!" is right! I hope Katie heals quickly. How sweet that she's reading her Friend magazine (it is the Friend, right?) in her time of trial.
That's so scary! I'm glad Ben came home so soon. Daniel assures you that the nail will grow back, as he has lost one before too.
How is her finger healing? Is she a good sport to leave the bandage on? I hope she is feeling better soon. I showed Russell her finger and his commnet was, "Oh, poor Katie. I hope her finger grows back soon."
wow, traumatic indeed! it's tough to be the mom and supposed to know what to do...glad your hubby was able to help out.
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