Pierce and I showed up for our pediatrician's open clinic hours (my mom watched Harper). I hadn't seen the gash since around 1 am. Mark cleaned it up really well and covered it with a band aid. When I took the bandage off for the nurse to see, I noticed the band aid was covered in blood and the cut was oozing. It looked worse than I had thought, and I figured our ped would recommend stitches. She came in and took one look and confirmed he'd need stitches. Being where the cut is, she felt like it would heal much better with a few sutures (and butterfly strips/steri-strips wouldn't work b/c since it's situated over his eye/eyebrow, blinking would just pop them off). They don't do stitches in her office (don't have the supplies or the man power she laughed--oh no that really scared me) and he'd need to be referred out. I asked if I should take him to the ER and she said a CareNow facility would be just fine. I told her that since it's on his face, I'd rather a plastics guy do it. She agreed...... On the way out the door, she had her partner look at it who also agreed he needed stitches. We left with promises to return for her to remove the stitches and with good luck wishes.
I called Mark and he got in touch with a colleague who does plastic/reconstructive surgery. He said he could fix him right up in his office at 10 am. It's times like these that I'm so thankful for Mark's profession and for professional courtesy! Mark was doing everything he could to rearrange his schedule to come be with us. I got to the office and checked in. I filled out some paperwork while a nurse came out to the waiting room to apply a cream to help numb the area (we had to put a headband on him to keep his long hair out of the way). It was just a short time later that Pierce told me his tummy didn't feel good and he proceeded to throw up everywhere in the waiting room. Fortunately they have a sink in their waiting room, and I ran him over as quick as I could to try to minimize the mess. The office staff wasn't phased and quickly set about cleaning it up and ushering us into a examination room. The doctor (who I've never met) came in and introduced himself. Although he doesn't work with kids, he was at ease with P. He held him in his lap while he checked out his wound. He wiped all the numbing goo off and also confirmed he would need stitches. He put some more numbing stuff on and left the room until go time. P was an angel the whole time!
Just as I was snapping a pic with my cell phone (about 30 minutes after the first application of numbing cream in the waiting room), he walked in to start. He laughed at me marking this milestone with a picture. P got up on the exam table and I stood at the end of the table above his head holding his hands. The doctor and nurse were also helping hold him. And then there was a knock at the door--Mark was there! He got there at the perfect time. Pierce and I were both so glad to see Dad. So we rotated positions a bit. Mark held P's head, I held P's right hand and night night bear, the nurse held his left hand while the doctor began the worst part--the local anesthetic injections. I think he gave him about 3 shots. It was so scary watching something so sharp penetrate so deeply and close to Pierce's eye. This was the only time the whole day that he cried. The doctor gave us a quick moment to comfort him before he started to sew him up, and he calmed immediately. I surprisingly kept my composure, but I knew I needed to for Pierce. P held perfectly still and was so brave for the suturing. And I'm not just saying that b/c I'm his proud mama, Mark, the doctor, and the nurse were all amazed at how well he did. He got 4 sutures--they're disolvable so we won't have to go back to have them removed. Pierce is quite proud of his battle wound. He was treated like a rock star. As you can imagine, they don't treat many children. We got Chick-Fil-A (his favorite) on the way home as a reward for his bravery. He's still numb right now, and will be for a few hours, but the doctor said we could give him Tylenol for pain.
Here are some pics of my brave man (don't scroll down if you get queasy by this sort of thing......)
getting ready for the stitches with a hairband and topical anesthetic (I'm not sure why he felt the need to pull his shirt up for the pic):
and at home enjoying his nugget reward:
We are supposed to keep it dry for 24 hours and can cover it as long as no tape covers the sutures. Also, we are to be very careful with it b/c if he bumps it again, it'll pop right back open.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I couldn't have done it w/o you all (and Mark's impeccable timing)!
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