Elijah's ER Update

So, I had just finished writing the last e-mail when Elijah happened. But that last e-mail was done, so I had to send it off cause I thought it was funny, the timing of it all.

No sooner had I finished the e-mail when Elijah, who was running around like a madman fell down. Not a big deal, really, since he'd done it 5 minutes before and was fine. But he comes to the doorway crying really hard. I look over at him and he's got a hole in his head. I can handle bleeding. Kids bleed. But I wasn't prepared for a gash in his head that doesn't bleed at all. It was just a black hole. Bleeh. (It did start bleeding, like a minute after. Only bled for a couple minutes, if that, and then just oozed slowly after that. It would only bleed when messed with. It was so not bloody that I trusted Elijah to hold his own rag on the way to the hospital.)

So I called C in desperation. She took D, Miciah, and Teancom and I drove Elijah down to Children's. Rob met me there cause I was a little frazzled. By the time I got there my nerves had calmed down, but I was glad he was there. We got in pretty quick cause a nurse walked around the waiting room looking for a kid with an open would. She said she was a suture technician "shopping" for business. :) Good for us, anyway.

X-ray showed no fracture. They were a little worried about that. Elijah was a pretty good patient until they washed out the wound with water. I thought it was going to be this gentle washing. No. They like power-shot water into the wound. He was NOT happy about that. Fortunately, I brought the secret weapon: his binkie. He only has his binkie for bedtime these days, and, apparently, for ER visits. It came in handy.

Anyways, he only got 3 stiches. The wound wasn't really long (like half an inch) or wide (like 1/8 inch), but it was deep (about 1/4 inch). Ick, ick, ick. It's on his right eyebrow and a little above. So most of the scarring will be under his eyebrow, and that'll be nice. Shouldn't scar too bad anyway, since he's only 3.

I'm not really sure how he got a wound like that. He was running around with wooden puzzle pieces in his hand (think 6 inches long, an inch thick and with corners). I think he fell down on top of one. In which case, we're probably lucky he didn't fall on it half an inch lower and hurt his eye. Miciah, who also wasn't looking, said he fell and hit the wall. This seems fairly improbable to me considering the severity of the wound and the area where he fell. But, who knows. The real concern isn't how he got hurt, but rather that he did.

We got out of the ER 3 hours after we got there and took Elijah to McDonalds where he pigged out on french fries. He probably now thinks getting hurt is a way to get french fries.

... We've told a couple people about the visit. Told them how it happened. Elijah, running around like a madman, fell and hit his head. They've just said, "Welcome to having little boys." ... I won't mind going back to the ER. Just so long as I don't have to do it tomorrow. I might just cry.

Tamra