Monday, August 20, 2012

Conor's Boo Boo

We should know better than to make plans because that's when they unravel. Yesterday, we had plans to go to Conor's swim lesson, have Annika's buddy over for a play date, and then go to Annika's swim lesson. Easy, right?

As we headed up the stairs after Conor's swim lesson, our little man's foot slipped off of the stair and he landed face first on our tile stairs. I immediately swooped him up and got him into the kitchen so I could give him some TLC and a boo-boo bunny. It took all of a half second to see the blood, which I feared meant he bit his tongue. As soon as I looked in his mouth, I knew his lip was the culprit.

I grabbed an ice cube for Conor to suck on (much to his delight .. this boy would probably rate ice cubes as his favorite food). I got a good look at his lip and knew it was more than a generic owie; I told Eric that I thought he needed to get looked at. Eric stayed home with Annika and her friend while I carted Conor off  to the local ER. The entire drive (all three turns) to the ER, I kept telling Conor to chew on his ice cubes (now in a red washcloth to keep him from seeing the blood). My heart was RACING and I was on the verge of tears, but knew I needed to hold it together to keep from scaring Conor.

When we got to the ER, my heart sank because the ER parking lot was full. I knew that meant we'd be in a crowd in the waiting room and it would be hours before we were seen. Not so much. There was not a soul to be seen in the waiting room. (I adore NW Hospital's ER! They have an amazing staff and we've never waited to be seen in their ER.)

In the triage room, the nurse looked at Conor's lip and guessed it would require sutures. In the exam room, another nurse looked at his lip and guessed it would need sutures. The doctor (after giving Conor a glove that he blew up and drew a face on) said it definitely could use sutures, but he wasn't going to do them because the trauma of doing them would outweigh the benefit of doing them. He further said, if the gash had been in a visible place, he'd recommend stitches. Conor's injury is inside his mouth, and who really cares if they have a scar inside their mouth?? SOLD!!! 

Conor's on soft foods for 3-4 days, Tylenol for any discomfort, and popsicles to help the lip feel a bit better. Our little guy was VERY brave throughout the whole ordeal. His mama, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, but is slowly recovering. :)

Conor in the waiting room watching cartoons and sucking on ice cubes

All done at the hospital... ready to go home

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