Stitches Episode #8

Disclaimer: Gaping holes and stitched skin ahead

So, yet again, we have another episode of stitches.  I almost forgot to blog about it... they have become so common place in our house that I think they are no biggie anymore.  About a month ago (6/3/12), we were at a friend's house and Greyson was running and fell... while trying to get his pants down to urinate.... not a good mix of things to have happen at the same time.  He and everything else near him ended up sprayed down and he was hurt - physically and emotionally - by the whole ordeal.  I think it is going to provide for great comic relief later on down the road though.  I'm thinking about the times we want to humble and mortify him.... girlfriends, graduation, wedding.  I can hear Ben now... "be nice, Melissa"



Greyson is also comfortable with the whole stitches idea.... I guess when you've been here two other times for the same EXACT thing (3rd set in his chin), you start to know what to expect.



And Thor had his back anyway.



BEFORE:
We have a medical friend that when told about our stitches count mentioned her remedy for large cuts - medical adhesive.  I quickly told her that the "cuts" we have aren't cuts, they are gaping holes.



AFTER STITCHES:
All stitched up.  Two days later, the one on the far right fell out and we put a steri-strip on it. 



THIS MORNING (7/12/12):  See the three different scars?  I'm just glad that they are under his chin!

#7... Seriously?!?

Disclaimer: Stitched skin ahead.



I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't there to see it. At least, we have an answer to who's next in our long line of stitches.  Greyson busted his chin AGAIN!  We were over at a friend's house on this gorgeous day and Greyson and his preschool friend were playing outside while us moms were prepping lunch.  Next thing I know Greyson is coming in announcing he hurt his chin and after seeing the gaping hole in his chin, I thought, "here we go again." I told my friend that he needed to go to the clinic to get it sown up but that we would stay for him to eat a sandwich first.  I think she thought me a little weird; I know I would have if I didn't have so much experience with stitches.  But the boy needed lunch and we'd be at the clinic awhile.  Anyway... he ate up and then we went to the clinic.  Unfortunately, this time it wasn't as smooth sailing as it has been in the past.  Greyson did great and was very brave considering that when they put the needle through the second flap of skin, he *visibly* jumped.  It was obviously to me that it wasn't completely numb.  The nurse tried to play it off as "he felt the pressure of it" but I don't buy it.  They used a shot of lidocaine to help numb it more (freaking the boy out because they are coming at him with a shot to his face!) and then it went much better. After the stitches, the doctor decided to give him his last tetanus booster as a preventative measure.  With Madelyn, shots were never fun but they didn't freak her out.  With Greyson, I'm sure that he thinks the doctor gives him shoots just to torture him.  So, I asked the doctor that if he was going to give one of them to just give him all his kindergarten shots now and finish it out.  Torture the boy once, please.  But all in all, he did great.  I'm so blessed to have children that understand the doctor is the "good guy" and that also trust me when I say that everything is going to be okay.

So, here they are - two stitches and four shots later he is at home and sucking on a Sonic cherry slush.  Whew....  we've lived through another stitches episode. 



Oh, and Greyson has taken to taking picture too and seems to be pretty good at it. He insisted on turning the camera back on me after I took his pictures. :)

needed: bubble wrap

What an accident-prone kid!! Amazing. There we were at a well-supervised children's area of a fitness gym and Madelyn splits open her chin. The poor girl is off school today and I had already taken her to the dentist (which she and Greyson actually don't mind one bit - all they care about is leaving with a new toothbrush). We had planned a playdate with one of Madelyn's preschool friends that she hasn't seen in awhile. That however got canceled since we were instead rushing over to our pediatrician's office. I think the workers at the gym were a little surprised that I wasn't more anxious about the situation. But to be honest after this and this and the front teeth that were almost knocked out in October, this doesn't come as too much of a shock to me. As for the actual clinic part, since I've been through this before and it was lunchtime, I stopped and got lunch on the way (Dino Gyro's - YUM!) and we ate while we waited for Madelyn's chin to get numbed up and then she was bravest little girl EVER while they sewed shut her gapping chin with two stitches. No tears, no whining, no issues. (And Greyson was great too! With his toy car and some books as entertainment, he was much more patient than I would have expected.) After asking about our family history with stitches, the doctor gave me the go ahead to take them out by at home in four to five days. However, if you ask Ben, that would be a bad idea (but don't ask). I'll probably have Ben take them out.


Since it has come up, I might as well fill in some about the almost lost teeth too. On October 29th, 2009, a Thursday, our home phone rings at 8am and Ben answers (which in itself is unusual because he is usually already gone for work but ironically had a dentist appt that morning). I hear him talking to someone and then to Madelyn trying to calm her down. The nurse from school had called to say that she had fallen and that Madelyn was "fine" but wanted to talk to us. (Looking back, I wish I had talked to her.) We trusted the nurse and had her stay at school. When Madelyn got home, I realized that I won't trust this school nurse's opinion again. Madelyn's mouth and top gum were swollen and both of her top teeth were severely loose and sore. Evidently, a boy in another kindergarten class had playfully come up behind her and picked her up around her body and arms and then lost his balance or grip and dropped her forward onto the sidewalk face first. I was devastated. First, simply because it had happened but also because no one really helped her deal with it physically OR emotionally until she got home 6 hours later! She sobbed in my arms for at least an hour. I gave her some ibuprofen and then laid her down next to me to sleep some. I felt that I had completely failed her that day. In any case, since then we have been watching those front teeth closely to see if they were going to be a problem. They both discolored a little but then one returned to normal color but the other has just continued to get darker. She is so close to losing those teeth anyway that I'm not worried about that. I was more worried about how her permanent teeth would fare. The dentist said (after an x-ray in the beginning of November) that the permanent teeth look fine and as long as an abscess doesn't form, she's in the clear. It was interesting convincing Madelyn to not wiggle her loose teeth though. As a kindergarten, she has older friends in her class that are already losing their teeth and she wanted to lose one too! I think telling her that she could be without a front tooth or two for two YEARS convinced her to leave them alone... :) As I said earlier, we went to the dentist this morning, they confirmed that there is nothing to worry about. Whew.

the third time's a ......

Yesterday, Madelyn and I took a trip to the ER. She was playing with some friends at church before service and ended up with her face hitting a wall. I didn't see it so I don't how exactly how it (or she) went down, but I do know that it was deep enough to need some hefty stitches. So, off we went to get stitches for the THIRD time in the past year for a Rhodes child. (I'm starting to wonder if Ben and I are doing something wrong here....) We got there and Madelyn was pretty upset. I finally got out of her why - she thought that if we went to the hospital she was going to have to stay there, like overnight. I assured her "no, you don't have to stay" and she calmed down pretty well. When the doctor came in, she suggested gluing the cut located on her cheekbone instead of stitching it. I'm glad because it was much less traumatic and seems to be well put together to minimize scarring. She also said the one on her eyelid was superficial and didn't need any "stitching". This picture was taken shortly after coming home from the hospital yesterday. Today her eye has the additional hues of purple and red and some swelling. Madelyn is being such a big girl about all of this. She isn't upset about it, although she was a little shocked the first time she saw herself in the mirror after our ER trip yesterday.



Can I be honest for a second? I'm angry... I'm angry that my little girl has gotten this very prominent cut on her face and will probably have to look at a scar on her face for the rest of her life. I'm angry that I couldn't stop it from happening. I'm angry that we didn't deal with some of the issues that could have kept it from happening (like not letting Madelyn run in her sunday shoes). If it happened the way I've heard, I'm angry that she got pushed. I'm trying to confess this to God and allow him to heal this anger inside of me but I'm also having a hard time letting it go. When I really think about it, it's so petty to be angry about something so insignificant in the larger picture of life and love.

God, you are our Provider and Protector. I know, in my mind, that You are sovereign and that You know us better than we know ourselves. Lord, help me to see, in my heart, how you love us and desire to care for us despite all our shortcomings. Help me to see what is really important and not get stuck in the superficial, shallow trappings of this world. Please forgive me.

Two Peas in a Pod

Well, Greyson has now joined the first stitches club along with Madelyn. He split open his chin today while..... I actually don't know. All I know is that there was a big crash in the dining room and I turned around to see (pantless) Greyson chin-down on the floor looking dazed before he started wailing. I thought he might have hurt his teeth so that was the first thing I went to look at but then I realized that this chin was bleeding. I took a look and was in disbelief as I realized that he had a GAPING HOLE in his chin! We were supposed to be on our way out the door to take Madelyn to gymnastics (Ben wasn't home yet). So I cuddled a distraught Greyson for a minute, tried to stopped the bleeding, put a bandaid on it, got everyone's jackets/hats on, grabbed my purse and Greyson's diaper bag, locked the front door and closed it behind us. The plan at the moment was to drop Madelyn at gymnastics (Ben could pick her up afterward) and I would take Greyson to urgent care to get stitches. However, as I reached into my purse to get the keys, I realized that my keys were in my other coat located inside the house and no extra key anywhere..... AGGHH!!! I tried to call Ben at his desk, no answer, on his cell phone, no answer.... call back and leave messages.... then walk down to a neighbor's/close friend's house to get help. When I got there my friend was just getting home. She leant me her car to get Greyson to urgent care and took Madelyn to gymnastics for me. (Thank you, Beth!!)


So here's Greyson playing while his chin was being numbed up. Before the doctor came in, Ben came with Madelyn and a Burger King dinner to visit. He left with Madelyn when the doctor came in to do the stitches. Greyson did wonderfully while getting the stitches! I thought that he might freak out but he laid there very quietly and still while the doctor put them in. I am soooo proud! Just like with Madelyn, the doctor and the nurse were amazed with how he did. Greyson got four stitches, although, I am not as happy with these stitches as I was with Madelyn's. Oh well.... I just didn't feel right telling him to take them out and try again. :)

Quick update on stitches

Madelyn is unstoppable! She jumped right back up on her bike yesterday for our after-dinner walk with NO hesitiation! Then we had to warn her to be more careful! I don't know what to think... [Sidenote: Ben says that it is "brain damage" (to quote Bill Cosby's "all children have brain damage" - hilarious!)] Her chin is healing up fine and she barely even acts like it is there. Thanks for your prayers - they are definitely working!

First stitches!

It has begun... might as well keep with the HMO now. I have a feeling that our kids are daring enough to keep the co-pays flowing. Tonight, we went for our after-dinner walk (such a gorgeous evening!) and Madelyn was speeding along on her bike and fell into a curb. Don't ask us how, we didn't see it all. All I saw was the bike careening out-of-control toward the curb and Madelyn chin-planting into it.... talk about pitter-pattering of my heart! Madelyn wasn't liking the idea of blood coming out of her chin but was able to calm down pretty quickly, especially when the nice elderly woman that lived in the house whose curb Madelyn chin-planted in came out with a wad of paper towels for us (of whom Madelyn later asks, "Was that girl a nice stranger?" :) ) and then used one of her own wet washclothes to clean her hands and face - so nice! Once we got a look at it though Ben and I knew that stitches were in order. :( So, I carried Madelyn home and on the way we talked about how the doctor needed to tell us how we should take care of it. She seemed okay with that, so we headed out to the urgent care clinic right away. She was a little sad because it hurt but did really well on the way to the clinic and decided on her own to ask Jesus to help her feel better and heal her owie. She then did an AMAZING job at the clinic - Thank you, God! I am truly proud of my BIG GIRL too! The nurses numbed up her chin and then rinsed it out. The doctor said she was going to put two stitches in, but then decided, when Madelyn was doing such a wonderful job of staying calm, to put four in to get it shut nicely. Madelyn is now saying, "The doctor made my owie smaller, so that it will heal up faster." :) Now we'll see how she wakes up in the morning! Hopefully her spirits will be as good as they were tonight about the whole thing! If you think about, say a quick prayer for her and the biggest owie she's had yet.... Thanks!