He said... She said... aka The Jeff and Amy Show

What is in a word?

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Stitches in Mexico

Abby had 2 weeks off of school for something called Holy week. It is called Semana Santa and it is like Easter Week. Friday before she was to go back to school we thought we would take a relaxing day get away. We went to Zihautenejo and checked into Hotel Irma. We headed straight for the pool, and an hour later in our room we were all rinsing off and changing cloths. Abby was "looking" at the concrete shelves while standing on the bed (I think she was trying to climb into them from the bed). She fell and hit her chin and bottom lip on the concrete shelf. Jeff and I were in the bathroom when we heard the scream. I saw a little blood and immediately grabbed some tissues as Jeff caught 2 drops of blood (important because through it all she did not get blood on her pretty fairy dress) I covered it and did not want to look. I felt like I already knew how bad it was. She had cut a little more than a cm wide below her lip, but it was deep and gapping open. The top of her bottom lip was also bleeding and her chin had abrasions on it. I told Jeff she had to have stitches. Now remember we had all been swimming. Abby was the only one dressed, so we quickly threw cloths on everyone and Jeff went to ask where an urgency clinic was. Abby was still crying and did not want to go to a hospital. We loaded up and found a place by the grace of God and a nurse standing on a corner. We walked into URGENCIA where there was 4 chairs and a drunk man sitting in one of them. We waited 10 min. while a doctor and nurse were taking care of a man before us in this emergency ROOM...one room. They finished the patient and as he left they turned their attention to us. The doctor confirmed she needed a couple of stitches. Abby was still crying. Jeff was kind enough to let me stay with Abby as he went out and sat with the kids and the drunk man (and you all know he is gifted at talking to drunk people. He actually had a spiritual conversation with this guy). I promised Abby I would not leave and I would tell here everything. She seemed to really calm down. They had to do the lidocaine injections, so I said "they are going to put some medicine in your cut and it is going to sting". I left out the words injection or shot. The doctor told her to close her eyes. HA. Is there any child that would actually do that and keep them shut? I covered her eyes with my hand. He did a couple of injections and she cried a little but did not move. He waited and did a couple of more. We could tell it was numb because she didn't make a sound. He then cleaned her up with some soap then some iodine. She did great. Then he lay a sterile towel over her head with a hole open where he would be working on the stitches. I kept one hand on her forehead (under the towel) and held her hands with my other. He put in two stitches and her lip was already pretty swollen and it was in a U shape so it was hard to approximate. The second stitch seemed to kinda hurt her and she started crying. During the second stitch I was watching and feeling so sad for her. I found it difficult to hear all of the sudden, and realized I was getting woozy. The doctor finished, and We felt exhausted.
When we were finally leaving Abby said "It hurt worse to fall than to get the stitches", and in a strange way, that made us happy. On the way to the hospital Jeff had promised ice cream when it was over, so when we got in the car Abby said " Can I have ice cream now?" She got chocolate.
And after that there was no more pool or beach time, because she could not get it wet or sandy. Jeff and I decided that evening the next time we want a relaxing get away we will leave the kids with a babysitter.

12 Comments:

At 12:45 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

I am SOOO sorry! Poor baby! We have not had stitches yet. I always worry that I will not know we need to go get them but people tell me you just know. Sounds like you made it thru. Add it to your list of adventures in Mexico!!

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger tim rush said...

I would have never known how to spell Zihautenejo.

Who'd have thought Abby would need stitches before Cooper.

So leaving the kids huh? I'm thinking Guanajuato!

 
At 4:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Gearharts! I find my way here quite frequently via Sarah's blog. She is my son's tutor. But this is the first time I have left a comment. First off let me say that you have precious children. Second, my oldest (now 11) had to get stitches when he was 3 1/2 after he fell onto the front of our brick fireplace. The nurses restrained him so tightly(because he was so scared) that he not only left with six stitches above his left eye, but two black eyes. He strained so much he burst tons of capillaries in his face. I am glad to hear that Abby did much better. Now however Mark is quite proud of his battle wound. Strange what kids treasure.

 
At 7:37 PM, Blogger Su said...

Oooh, I can say as someone who works in wound care, that lidocaine gel is great stuff. Works wonders.

 
At 9:29 PM, Blogger The Gearharts said...

Heather..She is doing well. She already has them out. However, it would be great if we did not have to do that again, in any country.

Tim..I would never know how to spell Guanajuato. Will you please be our friends in 5 years from know when all the kids will be old enough and we could really leave them for a long period of time and you guys and us take a cruise or something? Wait you are already taking a cruise...ok pick something else.

Elaine...Good to see you! I was really surprised by my daughter. I use to work in an emergency room so I have experienced children and stitches before, but never my own. Sounds like your son had a really frightening time. I am glad he thinks his battle wound is cool.

Su..Yeah we use to have liquid cocaine where I worked. It had a different name, but they used it for little kids for stitches. I asked the doctor if he had anything to put on it topically before or instead of the injections. I think he snickered at me. He did squeeze some of the lidocaine out of the syringe onto the wound before he started injecting. I had not seen that before. Does that really do anything?

 
At 10:27 AM, Blogger The Harris Family said...

Kiss Abby for us too! Sorry to hear about your "excitement". Sounds like you handled it great, I would have totally checked out, blank stare! Anyhoo, Jason and I would like to be included in the cruise plans with you guys in 5 years! If I get a choice of where, I would say somewhere that would dock us in Lisbon for a while. What do you think? Hope you don't mind us Harris' inviting ourselves, seemed kinda okey to me, but Jason said it wasn't. I know - AIM-A-PALOZZA 2012 CRUIZZZEEEE! He he he. Love you guys.
M-

 
At 10:38 AM, Blogger The Gearharts said...

Michelle.. I think you are on to something. If we started planning this now, I beat we could get several of us on a cruise. And Portugal sounds lovely we'll need to have a official meeting when you are in Mexico. That is priority! Let get this party started:)

 
At 3:51 PM, Blogger tim rush said...

Forget the cruise... do they cross the Atlantic?

Let's just say Lisbon. I've always wanted to take Kim. And since I remember NO Portuguese and probably wouldn't be able to find my way around, the Harrises HAVE to come!

 
At 7:15 PM, Blogger Su said...

"He did squeeze some of the lidocaine out of the syringe onto the wound before he started injecting. I had not seen that before. Does that really do anything?"

Well, some of our patients say it does. Could be a mental thing.
Liquid cocaine? Really? I know the "caine" drugs are all related in some way, but this is an interesting thought to me.

 
At 10:03 PM, Blogger Lisa said...

I want to be a child growing up in the Gearhart Family. Amy would sooth my wounds, take my bag of shoes to let me rest for a bit, while jeff shines my shoes and makes me feel all better again. I want to move to Mexico . . . How do I move to Mexico??? Adopt me Gearharts, adopt me!!! I'd totally make it worth your while. Oh, fine. Just love me and I'll be content with that. *smooch*

 
At 9:58 AM, Blogger The Gearharts said...

Jeff has brought our main computer back to life, so I will try to post pictures of Abby's stitches today.

Tim...I will go anywhere, lets make it happen!

Su...That makes me happy. I will take a placebo if it helps:)

Lisa..thank you for saying that, but I am sure our kids already have a bag of shoes. I try, but I have had some astounding failures as a parent. I pray God fills in my gaps, and helps me be better. However, I would love you to come for a sabbatical. I am sure we could give you some good writing material. And you need to get rid of that bag:)
Amy G

 
At 10:14 AM, Blogger tim rush said...

Lisa, this is how you move to Mexico... First, you go to Guadalajara where there is a great language school a 10 minute walk from the Rush house! Spend 6 months to a year, then you go to Lazaro to let Jeff shine your shoes! Sound like a plan?

Also, did you know the Church of Christ is in the very first episode of 24, season 1!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home