The plus side of the emergency room

Chance was taken to the emergency room today. He shut his finger in a kitchen window. Most times when my children get gashes or cuts, I end up analyzing the wound to see if it may need stitches. Chance's wound was so, shall we say obviously gashed, there was no question that we needed the help of a professional. I could see more layers of skin etc. than I knew existed inside a finger.

By the time we got to the insta-care after hours clinic, Chance was in obvious pain. He told me he thought he was going to throw up and he was shaking. I asked for a blanket for Chance and we wrapped him up. Chance is not a wimpy kid. He has weathered two implant surgeries where his head was cut open and drilled into. He did not complain. Whenever Chance has gotten shots, the nurses gush about how brave he is and how most kids his age cry. I knew that if Chance was complaining about pain and flopping around on chairs, he must really be hurting, so I asked if he could have some pain killer.

The doctors at the after care facility were nervous about tendon damage and nerves since the cut was as deep as it was, so they sent us to the hospital where a doctor specializing in hand work would be.

We headed over to the hospital where the happy shots began to kick in. Chance began to sit upright and show interest in the fish in the waiting room.

The emergency doctor came in and introduced himself as Dr. Shelton. Then he said "I see you have seen the other doctor Shelton at the U of U. " The doctor Shelton at the U of U is the implant surgeon.

"Oh, you know him?" We asked.

"I know of him. Not many doctors do what he does. There is no relation, we just share the same name."

So, he knew what implants were and he TALKED TO CHANCE. He asked Chance what happened and explained to Chance as he went along what he was doing. He told Chance that he would be giving him 4 shots around the finger that shouldn't hurt too much but the last one would sting. Then he said, "OK?"

Chance got it apparently because at these words his head flopped over to the side and his eyes filled with tears. He was brave though and held my hand.

The doctor talked to Chance and told him what was going on as he did it. He did not speak to us as though Chance was not there.

Chance told Dr. Shelton he could see his bone inside his finger. The doctor explained that it was not a bone, but a tendon that Chance saw. Chance was amazed by this. I distracted Chance during some of the procedure, but Chance was also interested in watching. The doctor had to assess if their was tendon damage in which case Chance would be taken up to surgery to repair it.

Luckily, the tendons were in tact so the doctor stitched Chance up. Chance watched in fascination as the stitches were put in. He kept saying, "I can not feel that! I can not feel what he is doing!"

At the end, the doctor cut off some of the fat that was still hanging out and Chance, not showing any sense of repulsion or anything watched fascinated. "That is so weird! I can not feel my finger!" At one point Chance touched the top of his hurt finger to verify that he could not feel any sensation.

The doctor didn't have that much contact with implants, he told us when we asked him. He seemed to have an understanding though that Chance could hear with them. and was respectful of Chance talking to him and explaining things. The doctor asked how Chance was doing with the implants - if he seemed to have any delays. He said it was great that they were working so well for Chance. Chance mentioned to me as the procedure went on that he had seen x-rays on television. The doctor asked Chance if he wanted to see some real x-rays. Chance enthusiastically said yes. So the nurse showed us x-rays of feet, hands and spines when the stitching was done.

As the doctor wrapped up and got up to leave he turned and said to us,"You have a special little boy here."
We think so too. We had a special doctor tonight too that treated Chance like any other patient not seeing Chance's deafness as his main attribute, but seeing a little boy. Which is how Chance sees himself so it worked out well.

As for the window, we have told the kids not to open and close that window many times. I think Chance's wound may have said more about the dangers in playing with the window than we could convey through words:)