Thursday, January 20, 2011

A Harrowing Day

We've got another snow day today!  I think this is the snowiest winter we've had in a while.  I'm actually looking forward to having a laid-back day.  I need to recoup from yesterday.

Yesterday I spent six hours in the doctor's office and the emergency room with Pinkerbelle.  It really didn't seem like it was going to be that big of a deal.  A couple of weeks ago, she smashed her finger in the car door.  Eventually, it got infected and just wasn't getting better.  So yesterday, I took her to the doctor, who took one look and sent us directly to the emergency room.

In fact, it really was a minor procedure, but it sure seemed like a big deal.  At the ER, they took x-rays to make sure there wasn't a fracture (there wasn't) and then a team of five (!) professionals came into the room.  They hooked her up to monitors...


(A couple of people have mentioned her red fingers; I should clarify that what you see in the photo is actually iodine.  It's the tip of her index finger that is a mess.)

...and administered nitrous oxide (which did not make her laugh, but more or less knocked her out)...


And then they lanced and drained the wound (ugh!).


They gave her a popsicle for being a trooper.  They did not have treats for moms who manage to keep it together through the procedure.  Of course, because I'm not good with this kind of thing, I had Craig meet us there, so I did have a support system.


Let me just say how profoundly grateful I am that our children are healthy and this was only our second trip to the ER ever in 13 years of parenthood, and that hospitals in general are foreign to us.  We are blessed.

17 comments:

Cheryl said...

I am so glad that they took such good care of you. It can be so scary. I hated it the day that my little man broke his first arm. We did the whole E.R. routine and had his arm set. Then of course to weeks later he tripped and broke the other arm while protecting the first one.

Thank heaven for good medical care and teams that work so hard to prevent children from having a terrifying experience that will leave them frightened of medical care in the future.

I hope she has a good night tonight. :o)

Cheryl

http://ldsmomtomany.blogspot.com/2010/08/strange-run-of-luck-two-broken-arms.html

April Westerhold said...

Wow! How scary was it to be told to head straight to the ER. What a brave girl you have!

Anonymous said...

holy moses!!! whew i can not imagine! we have had a few trips to the ER with my son and his dumb asthma! it has a mind of its own. sometimes it hits him hard and sometimes i can control it! it has landed him a few nights in the hospital on 2 separate occasions! she was such a trooper!!

Paula@SweetPea said...

Poor little Pinkerbelle! I hope her finger will feel much better soon.

Anonymous said...

Awww poor girl! Hope she's feeling better now!

Richella Parham said...

Sweet girl! Sounds like you were both troopers!

I am glad for you that you've had few trips to the ER. I was thinking the other day that I've actually always loved hospitals (it's true--ever since I read the Cherry Ames books as a little girl). It's a good thing, because they're certainly not foreign soil for our family.

But the ER? As much as I love hospitals, I don't much care for Emergency Rooms. I'm glad that even in a family like ours ER trips are not common occurrences!

Unknown said...

A dr recently told me that hand and finger wounds are particularly prone to infection and need to be treated promptly and vigorously. Guess that's because we use our hands for so many dirty jobs and touch all kinds of things all day. Glad she (and you) made it through. And congrats on not visiting the ER much. We were on a first name basis with most of the ER staff when my son was a teenager!

Miss Obara said...

Being a parent is tough, right?! Everything is MAJOR!! Glad everything went well...

DeeGeeRN said...

You little girl was sure a trooper..
My hubby had a scratch on his knuckle years ago which got red pretty quickly. As an ICU RN I sent him to the ER. The ER nurse knew me, called and said that they were having a hand surgeon look at it. Freaked me out.. Luckily all he needed was oral antibiotics.
Word to the wise.. You don't mess with hand injuries as they can have lasting disabilities.
I took care of a 16 yr old w "just" an infected toenail who died days later from septicemia.
Those little fingers look really red in the photo... I'm just saying that it's not always best to be a stranger to ER s


I also saw a 16 yr old die from becoming septic from an infected toenail.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Poor Pinkerbelle!!! :( ER trips are such an ordeal. I am hyper sensitive about anything doctor, medicine, surgery, sickness related. I'm just a mess about it. No fun to watch your kids have tests/procedures. So happy that you all made it through. :)

FrouFrouBritches said...

Bless Pinkerbelle's little heart! That doesn't sound fun AT ALL! So glad she's better now and y'all made it through okay. I understand as I have seen my share of E/R visits, MRI's, and x-rays. UGH! Sooo nut fun! Glad she's okay.

Melinda said...

Glad to hear that all is well and that YOU are ok. :) Glad Pinkerbelle is too.
I'm not a fan of hospitals but they are there when we neded them.
Hope the healing is fast.

Good Luck!


Melinda

The House Creative said...

What a brave little girl! Hope it heals up nicely now. :-)

Mrs Mary Joy Pershing said...

Oh no!!! I am so glad that Craig met you there! It is so good to have a support system to get mama through these kinds of things...she looks so sweet and fragile there...but it looks like you had a really good team taking care of her! Yay for that! What a relief to have it taken care of. I am sure that it was very scary watching your baby girl go through all that. You did it mama!!! I am so proud of you...you made it through and so did your precious girl!!! God is so good to us!!! Praise God you got her in before it got any worse. Good job!!!

I will keep her continued recovery...and yours from the experience...in my prayers this weekend. Keeping those things clean is a challenge, I know!

Blessings friend!

Mary Joy

pve design said...

Poor thing....we have had our fair share of ER's and wonderful nurses and doctors. I am always amazed at how brave little ones are!
Hope she is all better. ( and you too...it can be so frightening for us Mothers!)
pve

Sarah and Jack said...

Poor sweetie!

I wish we were strangers to the ER/Urgent care, but alas we are not. (I am kind of surprised they sent you to the ER though, I would have been shocked to hear that from the ped!)

Wendy @ Ramblings from the Sunshine State said...

Poor girl! Glad she will be getting better soon though!