I hate those stories that mothers tell that start out, "We had our first visit to the emergency room..."
And I know it's a joke, usually about a rough little boy, that implies there will likely be more ER visits to follow, but I can't wrap my mind around that. I pray we'll never have a cause to go back.
God please protect my children.
While Bo and I did have cause to visit the ER recently,
there was nothing life threatening about this emergency...praise God.
It all started when my sister-in-law was admiring Bo's sweet toes, as aunts do, and noticed that something seemed to be wrapped around her little toe so tightly wasn't visible.
We got out the tweezers and magnifying glass and I was able to pull off one small fiber but nothing significant. I was hoping I'd gotten what was there and it only still appeared to be bound.
But deep down, I knew better.
But since I have a tendency to think the worst, I decided to wait and watch it awhile.
It's SO hard to balance reacting vs. overreacting with a worried mind like mine.
My mind...sometimes it's torture.
It was after business hours when I decided Bo needed medical attention.
The Physicians Assistant knew immediately what the problem was; she even had a name for it.
Hair Tourniquet
Google it if you dare.
A hair tourniquet, is when hair, or in Bo's case, fibers, get wrapped so tightly around the toe that the circulation is restricted and if not caught in time can be completely cut off due to the swelling of affected appendage. The Physician's Assistant said they'd seen hair tourniquets that had cut to the bone. I'm so grateful Aunt Phyllis spotted it and I'm so glad I brought her to the ER.
My new motto, as far as ER trips go is, when in doubt, just go.
And it was an awful experience y'all. They had to put my baby's arms in a pillowcase, then bind her arms further by wrapping her small body in a sheet. Thank God I had the forethought to remove her clothes before they wrapped her up. To be bound is bad enough but to be bound and hot, that's worse. They had to cut through the binding INTO the toe be sure the material was completely severed. It took me, a nurse, a very large man, and the Physician's Assistant to get it done.
Man that girl is a fighter.
I was barely able to hold myself together.
When it was over Bo had her first popsicle.
Preciousness
She deserved it.
The next day I took her to the doctor for a follow up.
If you look closely you can see how her middle her toe was affected.
Being a Mama is hard.
I don't much care for these character building experiences, but I tell you what, after going alone to the hospital with my baby girl and watching her struggle to free herself as she was cut with a scalpel I feel stronger. I feel more emotionally stable.
Bo feels like she's glad she did not lose her toe.
To protect the innocent:
The reason I was alone at the ER (in Georgia) is because
Chuck was working out of town and my sister-in-law was watching my eldest.
3 Comments
Well I hate that you had to be alone. I remember being in ER with Sunny when she was about 3. It's where the gray hair comes from I think.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was doing a clinical rotation in the pediatric wing the doctors were talking about the hair tournequet on a little baby. She wasn't as fortunate because she had to go into surgery to remove it. It was embedded into skin and skin had actually grown around it. Glad Everything went great for Bo.
ReplyDeleteOh poor baby! I'm so glad my sister in law saw it! The doctors said it had probably only been there a couple of hours or else it would have been much worse.
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