We interrupt Christmas memories to bring you our latest trip to the emergency room at Apollo Children's Hospital!
WARNING: Blood ahead
Evie and her friend Aaron, who lives across the driveway from us, love to play on Aaron's enclosed porch, and they love to try to keep Samuel out. Both sets of parents have warned them over and over that it isn't safe to slam the heavy porch door as Samuel's trying to follow them inside. They've been in trouble over it more times than I can count.
Yesterday, the inevitable happened. Evie and Aaron slammed the door just as Samuel put his hand in the frame, and Samuel nearly lost the top of his finger. His middle finger on his left hand was sliced about halfway up the nail bed, and the tip of his finger dangled by a bit of skin. We wrapped his bloody hand with a towel and an ice pack, and John drove me and Samuel to the emergency room at Apollo Children's.
This time, we knew where we were going and how to get there, and that kept panic levels at a reasonable level. (John did sideswipe a truck in a narrow street on the way to the hospital, but nobody seemed to mind that we kept driving.) Olivia, the local nurse who works at the Consulate, met us at the emergency room and shepherded us through the process. She's an angel. It helped that Samuel knows and likes her, too, because he was not pleased to be back in the ER.
The doctor's first thought was that the finger bone had been broken, but X-rays showed that the injury just missed the bone. The tip of his finger was nearly severed, though, and the fingernail was impacted into the finger well below the nail bed. A plastic surgeon had to reconstruct the finger and nail bed and sew it all back together.
If you hate blood, you might not want to look at these photos. I made the worst photos smaller, so if you aren't squeamish you can click on the photo to see it larger. The first is of Samuel's finger before surgery. The doctor had already washed it and moved things back to a relatively correct position. It doesn't capture how bad things looked in real life, so be thankful.
The next two photos are of the doctor performing the procedure. They used a local anesthetic, so Samuel was wrapped in a sheet to keep him still, and John, Olivia and I tried to keep him calm while she worked. Samuel actually did a great job. He cried, of course, but overall he was a trooper.
The next photo is of Samuel's finger after the procedure is done but before it's been dressed. I made this photo small, too, so you'll have to enlarge it if you can stand the detail. Aside from the swelling and the missing fingernail, it looks pretty normal. The doctor said that his finger should look normal again in a year or two. (yikes)
And here's our sad Samuel back at home. I'm glad he hasn't tried too hard to rip off the dressing, because the solution for that was going to be using a sling to pin his arm to his chest. Having his arm free will be a bit more comfortable.
We have to go back to the surgeon on Thursday to see how things are healing. Never a dull moment in Chennai!
WARNING: Blood ahead
Evie and her friend Aaron, who lives across the driveway from us, love to play on Aaron's enclosed porch, and they love to try to keep Samuel out. Both sets of parents have warned them over and over that it isn't safe to slam the heavy porch door as Samuel's trying to follow them inside. They've been in trouble over it more times than I can count.
Yesterday, the inevitable happened. Evie and Aaron slammed the door just as Samuel put his hand in the frame, and Samuel nearly lost the top of his finger. His middle finger on his left hand was sliced about halfway up the nail bed, and the tip of his finger dangled by a bit of skin. We wrapped his bloody hand with a towel and an ice pack, and John drove me and Samuel to the emergency room at Apollo Children's.
This time, we knew where we were going and how to get there, and that kept panic levels at a reasonable level. (John did sideswipe a truck in a narrow street on the way to the hospital, but nobody seemed to mind that we kept driving.) Olivia, the local nurse who works at the Consulate, met us at the emergency room and shepherded us through the process. She's an angel. It helped that Samuel knows and likes her, too, because he was not pleased to be back in the ER.
The doctor's first thought was that the finger bone had been broken, but X-rays showed that the injury just missed the bone. The tip of his finger was nearly severed, though, and the fingernail was impacted into the finger well below the nail bed. A plastic surgeon had to reconstruct the finger and nail bed and sew it all back together.
If you hate blood, you might not want to look at these photos. I made the worst photos smaller, so if you aren't squeamish you can click on the photo to see it larger. The first is of Samuel's finger before surgery. The doctor had already washed it and moved things back to a relatively correct position. It doesn't capture how bad things looked in real life, so be thankful.
The next two photos are of the doctor performing the procedure. They used a local anesthetic, so Samuel was wrapped in a sheet to keep him still, and John, Olivia and I tried to keep him calm while she worked. Samuel actually did a great job. He cried, of course, but overall he was a trooper.
The next photo is of Samuel's finger after the procedure is done but before it's been dressed. I made this photo small, too, so you'll have to enlarge it if you can stand the detail. Aside from the swelling and the missing fingernail, it looks pretty normal. The doctor said that his finger should look normal again in a year or two. (yikes)
And here's our sad Samuel back at home. I'm glad he hasn't tried too hard to rip off the dressing, because the solution for that was going to be using a sling to pin his arm to his chest. Having his arm free will be a bit more comfortable.
We have to go back to the surgeon on Thursday to see how things are healing. Never a dull moment in Chennai!
No comments:
Post a Comment