The One About C That Has Nothing to Do With Her Heart

Sunday was such a lovely day. The weather here, as usual for March, is just perfect. I can almost forgive the 6 monthers and tourists their insatiable desire to vacation here, clogging up the roads, restaurants and doctor's offices with unbelievable traffic, when the weather is so beautiful...almost.

So, we were getting ready to go out on the boat. Due to our completely crazy schedule with the kids we do not get out as much as we would like. Well, that and the fact that the price of gas is totally insane. I know, all the people who live with snow are sending me dirty looks and rolling their eyes right about now.

Anyway, we were all getting ready to go. The boys were getting their bathing suits, shirts, shoes, etc. on and getting their back packs loaded up. Pretty much chaos. For all who know us and spend any amount of time with us, you pretty much know that we live in a constant state of chaos. Mostly because the boys are pretty lively and apparently my daughter has no fear. Ahem.

In our house, the doors to the rooms in which the little girl may not go remain shut. She is very quick and very sneaky so you must be quick about getting in and out of an area she in not allowed in. One such area where she is not allowed is the boys' room. In exchange for letting them have and play with the 1 million teeny, tiny Lego pieces they insist on having, they must make sure their door is closed. Cannot have the little miss choking on a miniature Star Wars Lego light saber. Oh how the force would not be with us then.

Todd, doing more or less exactly what he is supposed to do, goes to slam the door bedroom door shut. We do not allow door slamming in my house. There are way too many little fingers and toes around. Unfortunately, this time one did get caught. Little miss had her hand on the door to keep her brother from shutting it in her face. Todd, not looking, closed it right on her finger. Her pinkie finger on her right hand. On the back side of the door, right above the hinge. The absolute worst area to get your finger caught. Ugh.

As I walked over, C was not screaming or hysterical, just crying a little, I thought man, what is he doing. He knows we do not slam doors. I had no idea that C had her finger caught that bad. Fortunately for C, he immediately opened the door, never really completely shutting it, when he heard her cry. Had he shut the door completely, her finger tip would have been cut off completely and more than likely, no way to reattach her finger. When I got to her and finally looked down she was sitting there, holding her hand and there was blood. Did not look like a lot at first. Then I got a good look at her hand. Oh man. I freaked. The end of her pinkie finger was dangling at a very weird angle. I thought for sure it was completely severed. At the time, it did not really hit me. I freaked thinking about her heart. Could her heart take this kind of traumatic injury. The one thing I worried the most about was the one thing that I did not need to worry about.  Thinking back on the event now, I cringe a lot, turning slightly green while my stomach turns over.  Ewwwww.

After picking her up to find Kevin, and of course trailing blood all over the house, we wrapped up her hand and put ice on top of it. We quickly got her to the ER. The whole time, she was calm, not really crying and just sitting on Kevin's lap. By the time we got to the ER, thankfully a 10 min drive from my house without speeding, yea me, she was hurried back immediately and the ER pedi doc started right away. We had already talked to her cardiologist and because she did not need to be put under any anesthesia he told us treat her like a normal kid. Really?

So they did. He shot her finger with lidocaine and sutured her right up.  Essentially reattching the end of her pinkie figner.  Then we were told we would have to wait and see.  C did fine.  Of all the things I have seen with C and all the procedures she has had where I have to hold her watching her finger being stitched back on is by far one of the hardest, most stomach turning things I have watched. I do not know how the doctors and nurses do this every day.

She had a follow up with the pedi ortho surgeon Monday and he actually gave us even better news. Based on what he saw in the xrays, C's injury was actually at the best possible spot. The door actually caught her finger right above the nail bed. All the crush pressure/damage was on the top of the nail and forward. He said the most devastating part of the injury is the force and pressure of the door closing on that part of the finger, saying the crushing effect is so, so bad. Although C almost completely lost the end of her finger, she will be fine. The ortho said little kids rarely get an infection (of course we have to be extra careful with C) and because she got smushed above the nail bed she will more than likely grow a normal nail back. Even better not only will she not lose the end of her pinkie (it will reattach just fine) she will more than likely have full feeling as the nerve in the end of her finger will regenerate. Again, because she is so young.

So, there you have it. A hospital visit and an update about C that has absolutely nothing to do with her heart.

I'm not sure I am going to survive my children being young.

Just for the record, Todd is fine. He felt and still does feel really bad but he knows we know it was just an accident. And C is doing fine. She came through this whole ordeal with hardly an issue. She is using her hand and still crawling around and pulling up on everything. She barely recognizes there is something wrong with her finger. The only time she gets agitated about it is when I change the dressing at night after her bath. Then she sees it and starts whimpering a little and holding her hand out to me like she wants me to kiss it. Once the dressing is back on, she totally forgets about it and keeps going. Should be interesting next Monday when ortho removes her sutures. Ugh. So not looking forward to that. I think this will be a two parent job.