You see, we were having a pretty ordinary Wednesday afternoon. Then, it feels like all hell broke loose.
Somehow, as JT was running out the back door, the latch got caught in his mouth and caused about an inch long tear through the corner of his mouth and cheek. I heard him crying, then I got to the kitchen and saw blood in the floor and thought, "Oh, he's bloodied his nose." Then I got outside and saw his face and just absolutely freaked out.
Thankfully, Casey happened to be home that afternoon and was standing in the middle of the driveway talking on his phone. JT is a bit dramatic when he's injured, so Casey didn't think anything of the crying until I screamed like a crazy person. I do remember screaming for him, and then just repeating hospital, hospital, hospital. I was in full panic mode. Literally, it felt like I was trying to run and my feet wouldn't move. At that moment, I couldn't remember where Patty was; if she was inside or outside of the house. Luckily, Casey is a better reactor than I am; thank you combat life saver training. He very calmly asked for a towel, I ran back into the house, grabbed a handful of paper towels, and my mom who happened to be at the house went for a towel. Then I managed to get car keys and phone while she and Casey guided JT to the car. It was quickly decided that I would sit in the back and apply pressure while Casey drove like a bat-out-of-hell to the ER.
That was the longest car ride of my life. We live about twenty-five minutes from the hospital, I don't know how long it took us that afternoon. But, we by-passed a line of cars at a stop light, and got pulled over for speeding. It definitely made me rethink waiting for an ambulance. But, as we got on the parkway, I am pretty sure JT was trying to pass out, so I'm glad we were on the way to the hospital. I don't think I could have held it together if we'd had to wait at our house. I can remember climbing into the back seat and JT asking for a band aid. Honestly, he was calm as can be considering the pain he had to be in. I felt like I was falling apart.
The hospital was phenomenal. My hands were covered in blood and the security guard filled out that first little piece of paper for us. Before she had it completed, there was a nurse checking his injury and telling us we were heading strait back to an exam room. Within minutes, a doctor was there looking at the damage. I will never ever complain about emergency rooms, because those folks were super heroes.
The plastic surgeon was paged and JT dozed off as we waited. Then, just before the doctor arrived, JT's head rolled to the left and blood ran out of his mouth. Like, a lot of blood. I didn't know it until the plastic surgeon arrived minutes later to check the wound, but the artery in his cheek had been severed. Have you ever seen an artery spraying blood? It's not something you want to see coming out of your child. It was like something out of a horror movie. Seriously.
I always knew there would come a time when one of the kids would need stitches. But, I was not prepared when the doctor said anesthesia and surgery in the same sentence. Our freak accident went from OMG to Holy Shit in a matter of seconds. Just the thought of having JT taken away from my side, no matter how necessary, absolutely scared me to death. Still scares me to death.
Then, the real work began. The completely wonderful anesthesia team came and scared JT to pieces. He was bleeding and I was trying to hold the gauze to his mouth. I honest to goodness felt like I was going to pass out. After much crying and fear, the anesthesia team called me out to the hall and basically said, we're going to go in, hold him down and give him a shot in his leg, it'll zone him out and we'll take him back to surgery. And that's exactly what they did.
And then the really hard part began. The waiting. It was horrible.
I'm not sure exactly how long he was in surgery. It felt like a thousand days. But, finally the doctor was finished and we were called back to speak with him. That's when the seriousness of the accident really emerged. It's not good when the doctor refers to it as a freak accident and says that a dog bite would have been preferable. The rip tore through his muscle, the one you use to pucker your lips, the nerve, and the artery. The doctor said he took his time so the scar would be less, but that if the lips didn't match back together perfectly, JT would be facing reconstructive surgery. There was mention of permanent muscle and nerve damage. It was a pretty scary conversation. Scariest conversation of my life.
And then there was more waiting. Surgery was over, but we still had anesthesia to deal with. I think that was the worst part of the whole night. It felt like an eternity before we were finally reunited with JT in recovery. And he was fine. I think that speaks volumes for the nurses who were with him. He had one final task before we could leave: urinate. He was still very groggy from the anesthesia, but his stitches looked great. Casey had to pack him to the bathroom because his little legs couldn't carry him. But, he took care of business and we were on our way home soon after.
The accident happened just before 4:30, and we were home around 11:30. Seven of the most gut wrenching hours of my life. I seriously want to wrap him in bubble wrap for the next decade.
I was on a mission. The latch was going bye-bye as soon as Casey got home, and the new pneumatic thingy was going on before bedtime. This is the one I bought, the heavy duty one. I am going to start giving these things out as baby shower gifts. No home should be without one.
JT had his one week recheck and other than not letting the doctor remove the stitches, we got a good report. The stitches will come out on their own, but the scar would be better if the doctor could have removed them. I'm not really worried about the scar. I'm just glad that the muscle and nerve seem to be healing properly.
We were instructed to use scar gel (not Mederma), to massage the scar, and to come back only if there was a problem. I did have just a little bit of trouble finding the scar gel. The not-so-helpful secretary said look for "scar gel" but checking the ingredients told me that the store brand of "scar gel" is the same as Mederma, and that is exactly what the nurse said not to get. I really have no patience for secretaries who think they know enough to give out medical advice. I like to speak with the nurse or the doctor, and most doctor's offices don't allow secretaries to speak to patients about medical matters. Thankfully, the pharmacy had Kelo-Cote and it met the nurses ingredient instructions.
Oh how relieved I was to see that beautiful smile!
