Taking a toddler to the emergency room is not fun. Yesterday was one of those days that goes down in the WTH was I thinking when I had kids category.
I was at church with our 2 older kids when my husband called and said that he was headed to the emergency room and that Zeke had cut his finger really bad. At that moment I went into mom mode. I ran and got my kids out of child care. Thankfully my in-laws were at church with me and were able to take them. I drove like a bat out of hell to the e.r. calling my sister Betsy on the way asking her to meet me there. The lights miraculously were all green and made the typically 20 minute trip in 15 minutes.
read: 10 Things to Know About Taking a Toddler to the Emergency Room
Going into the room, I saw a little boy being held by his dad. My husband Sean was just distraught holding him as tight as he could. Zeke smiled at me, and I thought OH GOOD – he is fine. Izaiah was running around the room, shoeless. Sean ran out of the house. In chaos, nothing matters – except barefoot in an e.r. uhm YUCK. I go over to Zeke and Sean looks like he has been stabbed in the stomach. His shirt and Zeke are both covered in blood. I DON’T DO BLOOD. UGH.
My sister texts and I ran Izaiah out to meet her. I returned to the hall to find Zeke’s door now closed and the doctor was working on him. A nurse emerged and asked that I don’t go in.
The Waiting
15 minutes. That is how long I had to stand in the hall of hell. Right outside of my son’s door and I couldn’t go in. My boy is hurt. Thankfully it’s not life threatening but he still needs me. I need to hold him, though I now know I would be gagging inside the room after learning what he had to have done.
The screams pause as he catches his breath and then the sobbing. I can hear it all like he is right next to me, but in between me and him is a door. “His dad has him” I keep saying that to myself as in pause from prayer.
When your child needs you and you can’t be there – the feeling is indescribable. My heart hurts. I want to hold my baby and hug my husband. The crying and screaming continues. I try to keep calm, so I pace as I pray. “Lord give him peace. Lord keep me strong. Lord please let this be short.”
The door opens, it’s the nurse. He informs me they are dressing the wound now but i’ll be able to hold him soon. He must sense my neediness at this point.
We’ve done a head injury with 5 staples, as well as a neck injury in the ER with my oldest boy. Our daughter has been to the ER with a head injury, hematoma on her finger and pneumonia. We can do this. This will be fine.
The door opens. I run to Zeke and Sean and the first thing I notice is hair all over his shirt. I then realized what happened. He and Izaiah were giving each other haircuts. In addition to hair, Zeke gets a large portion of his pinky cut as well. Great.
Finger Laceration
Official diagnosis is finger laceration. We learn that the pinky cut on his left hand had hit an artery. The had to cauterize the wound and has 6 stitches. His finger was put into a splint and wrapped and then they wrapped his whole little hand. Thankfully the doctor left his thumb free.
This morning he woke up with a smile and said “hurt”. He then cried. Thankfully he has pain meds (in addition to an antibiotic.) Watching him try to adjust to using his right hand (he typically uses his left) is painful but he’s a kid and is resilient. I put on Yo Gabba Gabba and he dances and smile.
No more scissors for you buddy. And please, let’s try to avoid the e.r. again.
We are still somewhat new to the area, moving here just 8 months ago. The last 8 months, we have noticed several stand alone emergency rooms. These are your urgent care facilities, there are emergency rooms, just not in hospitals. We thought it was odd, but then yesterday in our time of crisis, we realized that we don’t live near a hospital. The closest hospital is maybe 10-15 miles away. Things I didn’t think about when moving, but now suggest you do. Thankfully the emergency room we went to was amazing and Sean was in a room within minutes. Everything was performed in a child friendly room by an excellent doctor and nurse. And we get to go back in a few days to get stitches removed, wee!
Update: We are now on day 4 of recovery. It’s a slow go, and he has to keep his stitches in until Sunday. Latest post: Lessons Learned from a Mangled Pinky.
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