Carl had a major coup in the family medical expenses sweepstakes today: First one to spend medical dollars in 2009! First child to require stitches! And, bonus stealth ear infection!
I don't know exactly how many stitches he got. "A whole bunch!" said the plastic surgeon. The story of the cut is that we went bowling this morning, to celebrate or kill time on the last day of winter break. Carl somehow tripped and fell as he was walking toward the lane from the ball return machine, and landed on his face. I thought he'd just had a good jolt and maybe bitten his tongue, but when he finally lifted his head off my shoulder, there was blood running off his chin but none near his mouth. He lifted his head a bit, and there it was, a horizontal gash on his chin that was an inch or so long, and the sides were at least 1/4" away from each other. Best we can figure, he hit the pointy part of his chin on the sharp edge of the little step up to the wood-floor bowling surface.
To Carl's credit, he calmed down pretty quickly, and it didn't bleed much. Rod, Mr. Prepared, had a big ol' band-aid in his car. But Carl wouldn't go back to bowling. I had nervously phoned the doctor's office for guidance and was waiting for a call back when Carl firmly announced that he needed to go to the doctor.
When my kids say they need to go to the doctor, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and take them. So, we left Ruby bowling with a friend and headed out. Of course, the doctor's office was closing for lunch, so Carl and I went home to wait for a while first. By the time it was time to go to the doctor, Carl was acting pretty normal and I figured he'd just be getting a fresh bandage from the nurse and I would look like silly hysterical panic mom again. In fact, Carl apparently confused the doctor with the dentist, because when I asked him why he wanted to go, he said, "to get a toy," and around here, the dentist hands out toys, not the doctor.
But, for once, we were vindicated! In fact, the nurses took the band-aid away and left Carl with a gaping open wound on his chin. The doctor took a look and then starting phoning plastic surgeons to deal with it, most of whom apparently took today off, so it was hard work. But she found one, and booked us an appointment, pausing only to also diagnose an infection in the ear Carl said had "too much wax" yesterday. He had absolutely no symptoms of an ear infection, not even a runny nose, I swear it. How in the heck am I supposed to know he's sick, huh?
Carl and I drove off and then spent quite a while waiting on the plastic surgeon, Carl eating the lollipops the office staff gave him and sculpting with the wrappers, me reading him tidbits from JAMA and Harper's Bazaar (note to self: stash some waiting room amusements in the trunk for this sort of emergency). Finally, the doctor arrived, glanced at the bloody hole, and called for his Minor Procedure Kit. Thanks to the wonders of topical anesthetic, Carl didn't seem to be feeling much, and he held amazingly still for a giant injection of something-caine, and then a lot of sewing, a layer of glue, and some steri-strips. He is to avoid splitting it back open (like that's a risk we can really control for) and he goes back to have it checked next week, and his ears checked the week after that. Yay for insurance!
Carl looks and acts basically normal now. I don't have a "before" photo, but the "after" one is decidedly non-dramatic (ignore the Cheeto residue that I haven't completely photo-shopped out):
So, I still don't know exactly what a cut that needs stitches looks like. I can tell you it doesn't necessarily bleed a lot.
Oh, and Ruby would like the world to know that she won the bowling game. Another milestone: she just finished reading a whole chapter book silently to herself for the first time, which she did over the course of several car rides. She has resolved to keep books in the car this year so that she can keep doing it.
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