Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Maya's battle wounds

Poor little Maya, she was the first one of the kids to get a black eye, and is now also the first to get stitches. Hopefully none of my kids will break bones, but if any of them do, I'm sure Maya will be the first!

The neighborhood kids were playing outside in the snow, making snow houses. They were using snow shovels to make a big mound of snow. One of the kids swung the shovel to move some snow, she missed and it hit Maya right above her right eye. It sliced through her eyebrow and a little bit above as well.

I took her to urgent care to get her stitches done. They put some gel on the cut to numb the area. We then waited for it to take effect. About 30 mins later the nurse came to see if it has worked. It didn't, Maya could still feel the area. So, she got a series of shots in the cut. That was the beginning of the meltdown. The nurse came back about 5 mins. later to see if the shots had numbed the area. It hadn't. They tried more of the gel stuff, this time, she squeezed a whole bunch right onto the cut. They came back about 20 mins later to see if it was numb. It wasn't. Another series of about 6 shots right into the cut. They came back about 5 mins later to start the sewing.

At this point, Maya is naturally freaked out anytime the doctor or nurse even moves. She is screaming, "NO MORE POKIES, NO MORE POKIES!" We tried to convince her that all the "pokies" were over. I assumed that the area had to have been totally numb by this point. Well, it wasn't. We got her calmed down enough and I told her it wouldn't hurt anymore. She calmed down enough, but was still pretty squirmy. They called in another nurse to help pin her down. The doctor began the stitches and again she started screaming. It obviously wasn't numb. The doctor tries to get the stitches in twice, but she was squirming and screaming to much. They call over more nurse re-enforcements. We now have 4 nurses on top of her and me holding her hands and legs down. They do another series of about 6 shots right into the cut. The doctor tries the stitches again. It doesn't work.

It was obvious that the doctor was annoyed at me and my daughter. He told me that I needed to go to Primary Children's and they could sedate her. That was NOT an option for me. I did not want to drive across town and wait in another waiting room (the wait at Primary's would have been hours long). It would freak her out even more if I told her she was going to go through the whole process again. I told the doctor we would try one more time. I took my coat off, cause I was getting a workout trying to hold Maya still. I sat Maya up gave her a hug and got her to calm down. I then told the nurses to hold her tight, I apologized to Maya, and made her lay down. She screamed each time the doctor put a new stitch in, and again when he was tying the string. We could get her to calm down in between. I was in tears. I felt horrible as a mother that she was screaming out for me, and I was one of the people holding her down during the torture.

She was fine once it was over, until the doctor says, "Alright, we will see you back here in 5-7 days." WHAT?!?!?!? We have to come back to get these things out!?!? What happened to stitches that disintegrate? And I have heard so many amazing things about the glue stitches. Why couldn't we have gotten some of those? Anyways, I will not be going back, I have two friends that are nurses, I'm hoping one of them will take them out for her while she is sleeping or something.

She got an ice cream on her way home and then she got to show off her battle wound to her friends as we decorated our gingerbread houses.

11 comments:

Kathy said...

oh my gosh. marisa - i'm so sorry you had to go through that! i have had many tears over my kids wounds. natalie broke her arm when she was like 14 months (i felt like a good mom) and i was in tears. anyway -tears on her sad day - hope you can get them out when she's asleep!

Stephanie said...

oh my gosh. oh my gosh. oh my gosh. i was literally covering my mouth in horror as i read that. i can't even believe that. i can't even think of what i want to say in response!

RightHahn said...

That is heartbreaking - and it's totally natural to be bugged at the doctors/nurses for not being able to numb her properly. What's up with that? Why is it that we have cures/medicines for hundreds of different diseases, can perform brain surgery through peoples' noses, have thousands of successful transplant patients walking around - and can't numb a cut for stitches!!!!!

Glad you guys survived! Maya does look proud of her battle wound:)

Lindsay

Unknown said...

Holy Cow!! That's a killer cut!! She still looks beautiful, though!!

Brandi said...

How sad! I can't believe the area wouldn't go numb! It makes me think they didn't know what they were doing. And to ask you to get her sedated? For stitches? Are they serious? You stayed so calm. I'm not sure I could have done that. I'm sorry that you and Maya had to go through that.

dishes and laundry said...

Poor Maya! Poor you!! How awful - I can't believe they couldn't numb it. Nothing worse than seeing your kids in pain.

Glad she's feeling better. It's been my experience as well, that ice cream helps in pretty much any situation.

Marsha said...

I'm so sorry!!! I really feel for you & Maya! Andrew had stitches when he was 4 and I was having flashbacks as I read what you went thru today!!! You found your strength and I'm proud of you!!!

Jennifer said...

You were great to hold your ground.

I would report this incident to the clinic higher ups. That is their JOB! If Urgent Care can't handle routine stitches, then that's pretty sad.

I'm beginning to wonder if those glue stitches are just a myth. You hear of everyone else having a friend of a friend whose child's kindergarten teacher's nephew's cousin got the fancy glue stitches, but I've yet to see them myself. Anyone?

By the way, Maya has amazing golden eyes. Is she a Cullen?! hee hee

Amber said...

Wow!!! That is the worst feeling- to be the one holding your kid down for something that scares them and causes them pain. You're very brave!

Nora Mair said...

How Grizzly! Maya you're so brave... You too Marisa.

Robyn said...

Poor Maya! More Mom! What a crazy experience.

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