June 06, 2007
ER Update
Now that I am calmer, I will elaborate on the stitches. Since the Boy got four stitches about 1 month ago, I didn't want to take him to the same ER for fear of too many questions. That was my first mistake.
My second mistake was taking him to a Hospital which in my mind I thought was the better hospital.
The third mistake was not questioning why no x-ray of the boy's eye socket was performed, as if you saw him you would think something was likely broken. Well, I can fix that here is the before:
So anyway, where was I? Oh yes.
They put topical anesthesia on his face for the stitches. I kept asking if his face was numb and he kept saying no. Thinking he knew not of which he spoke was my fourth mistake.
The doc, fresh from med school and calling himself "Dr. Dave" was my fifth mistake. Seriously, when he walked in and told my four year old - "I'm going to put some special bandaids on your boo-boo" I should have asked for a different doc. or I should have said, the Boy knows we are here for stitches on his cut! I don't talk to him like a tiny baby. The whole special bandaid thing just confused him.
The doc. stitched him and the boy cried, a real cry. I knew at that moment that it hurt him. So what does Dr. Dave the wonder doc do? He straps my baby to a "papoose board" so he won't squirm and then starts again. Before sticking the needle into my baby's head, he said, "when I did this last time did it hurt?" My panic stricken boy looks at me first with a look that screamed "is this guy an idiot" and with wide eyes he shook his head yes. Now comes my sixth, seventh and eigth mistakes: Dr. Dave the wonder doc gets out the shot form of anesthetic and proceeds to poke and prod the boy inside the cut *makes me squirm too* He of course is screaming bloody murder but can't move because the Wonder doc has strapped him down. I believe the doc hurt him more with those pokes than the whole ordeal put together as he was now bleeding a lot, crying a lot and screaming a lot.
Well, I looked at wonder doc and bit my tongue and said to him curtly, "finish quickly".
With that, wonder doc only put in two of the requisite three stitches and said "that will do, you can go". I yanked the now bleeding but stitched boy out of the papoose board and gave him a hug as he whispered, "take me home NOW!"
My ninth mistake was not giving wonder doc the boy-child a piece of my mind.
I will not be back at that ER, not for the boy. The last ER gave him a boo-boo bear, a popsicle and stickers. This one gave him pain and more pain and finished it off with a side of pain.
He is good though and will live, but he is not as proud of these stitches as he was of his last set. These ones were not pleasant.
So, after the ordeal, we got ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery, we got a cool toy at Toys R Us and we snuggled and watched tv till 10. But seriously, I hope he waits for more than a month before needing stitches again!
Posted by Oddybobo at June 6, 2007 08:02 AM | TrackBackOh what a horrible experience. I hope he's not in pain any more. The good thing about children is their amazing ability to forget everything, pain & all.
Posted by: michele at June 6, 2007 08:29 AMIt happens, but I hate to hear that it was so horrible because he'll remember that the rest of his life. :( [Trust me]
Hope he's much, much better!! Ice cream and a new toy went a long way to helping, I'm sure of it. :D
Posted by: pam at June 6, 2007 08:52 AMOMG - I've worked with doctors like that - I HATE them. The ones who don't give two hoots about how much they hurt the person they're working on... ARG!!! I want to strap them to the papoose board and start sticking away!!!
With kids, it's difficult to tell how they'll react. Some kids are fine with talking about stitches - others go into screaming hysterics (along with their parents). So, the "boo-boo bandaid" doesn't bother me nearly as much. But you can speak up and say - "he knows about stitches, so you can talk to him like you'd talk to me".
No - what really bugs me is the stitches part. I would write to the head of the ER. Your son's cut should have been anesthetized properly before he took one single stitch. Period.
Obviously this guy doesn't have a clue as to how to use proper anesthesia before stitching a child's wound - and the head doctor of the ER should know about this.
The hardest thing to do is to speak out to a doctor treating your child - there is always the niggling doubt that maybe you'll be wrong. That's okay - be wrong - make them work to assure you they know what they're doing - that's their job! If they can't assure you - tell them you want a different doctor!
{{{HUGS}}} to the boy.
Posted by: Teresa at June 6, 2007 09:05 AMSend a copy of this post to the head of that hospital, along with a note that says "Fix this!"
Posted by: Rob at June 6, 2007 10:12 AMYour poor son! How awful, to get stuck with Dr. Moron! I agree with the others - complain about what happened. And I'll keep my fingers crossed there won't be a need for more stitches anytime soon!
Posted by: Theresa at June 6, 2007 10:38 AMWhat a brave boy!
And what as ass of a doctor and hospital
Posted by: Quality Weenie at June 6, 2007 11:48 AM While scars are tatoos with better stories I do believe that your boy has enough stories for a while.
Hope he's okay today.
Yeah, what Rob said.
Lots of prayers and hugs to you both!
Posted by: Mrs. Who at June 6, 2007 01:32 PMOh MAN!! Poor little guy. Dr. Dave is on my sh*t list for sure. Dumba$$.
::Leaves a roll of buble wrap to re-package Boy::
::and a helmet::
Give him smooches for me. ;^)
Posted by: Richmond at June 6, 2007 02:50 PMI agree with Rob! Make sure the head of the ER is notified! Without parents speaking up, they have no idea what is going on on the floor! There is no reason a child should be made to go through something like that.
Posted by: Michele at June 6, 2007 02:53 PMOH, NO!
Bless his heart (and yours, too).
I hope he is doing much, much better.
Posted by: Christina at June 6, 2007 05:19 PMOh good God. I was squirming as I read this. :( We all learn... we mothers do not make that mistake twice...
Posted by: Bou at June 6, 2007 10:21 PMHe's gonna be a linebacker for the Steelers as a result of that last ER visit. Nothing will bother him as in Jack Lambert "not bothered".
I know it's tough, really tough, when your child is in pain. Nobody wants, or wishes that on their child or anybody else's, but, lookit, boys will be boys. They're gonna get roughed up, by somebody else, or themselves and it's gonna hurt.
Sometimes, the cure hurts as bad as the initial wound. I'm not saying anything negative, and I hope you dont' take it as such, but, hey, the injury had to hurt like hell after the fact of "I'm injured" sunk in, especially around the eye.
I agree somewhat with the assessment of doogie howser, but keep in mind, initially, I think they don't want to hurt the child, so they start out with the "topical" stuff, but when that doesn't work, they've got no choice really other than stickin' the needle in, which I've experience, and it aint fun, or goin' Rambo on the kid. Either way sucks. You can't kiss that kind of pain or wound away. Sometimes the cure hurts as much or more than the injury. I'm just sayin'. I've had more than my share of stitches throughout my young life, and more than my share of broken bones. The injury happens so fast it doesn't hardly hurt. It's the "fixin' it" that does.
At some point in my life, I learned, if I do X, I gonna break/cut/twist/sprain/tweak/pull something, and "the cure" ain't gonna be pleasant. That was 'bout the time I started, at least, tryin' to think twice... I still haven't perfected that yet. I was tryin' to play some football with some kids in the street a few months back, and the next week or two made me realize that, for me, football truly is a spectator sport.
Congrats on the ice cream/toy/snuggle treatment, that, IMHO is what Mom's are for. When they can't kiss it and make it better, they support you while they're feelin' your pain right along with you.
Dad's really aren't that bad at the last part either.
Then again. I ain't a doctor, or a mom.
that looks like it had to hurt like hell
Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at June 8, 2007 09:58 AMThis is a good life lesson for the little guy since nothing permanently bad came of it.
I once stuck my arm right into the spinning 10" propeller of a LARGE model airplane engine and still bear the scars from that whack. I never did it again though and always give spinning whirling sharp machinery the proper respect it deserves ;->
Posted by: Purple Avenger at June 11, 2007 07:14 PM
