Finger update... hopefully the last

Lucas saw a hand surgeon on Monday. They unwrapped the splint/gauze/tape and said it looked great and the stitches were definitely ready to come out! The doctor poked at it a bit to check for feeling and to look at the nail (that was their only real concern). He said it seems like the nailbed will be ok, but that we won't really know for 4-6 months, when we see how his fingernail grows back - keep in mind he cut it in 1/2... He said it may grow back normal, maybe with a ridge/bump, or even in 2 pieces. It all depends on exactly what the cut hit... But Lucas is young and things many times fix themselves in kids... Or if not, there are things to do to repair it. So, all in all things look good and we're just gonna wait and see.

Lucas was an amazing patient again!!! No tears or whining and fulls of smiles and jokes. While they used tweezers and a knife to remove the stitches, I asked him why he cries at home when I change his gauze, but not now??? He replied "It doesn't hurt, I'm just scared... And you're not a doctor so you don't know what to do." Little turkey! He has just a bandaid on the fingertip now and can resume all normal activities...

The past week in pics

Last Sunday we spent a tame day on the boat with Matt and Beth. Cruised over to Hart Miller Island... chilled on the boat and played soccer in the sand... no swimming on account of Lucas' stitches. Stopped for a late lunch on the way in.
Some mini-golf! Where I slipped and fell in an algae pond trying to get Lucas' ball. Tony got a good laugh!
Visits to the park and track...
Our weekly dinner outing on Mike & Brenda's boat.
And a visit to a kinda lame 4-H fair...
Whew! Good thing I'm caught up from last week before this weekend begins! Check back soon to see what we got ourselves into :)

Choo-choo

Saturday morning was cooler (finally!) and drizzly, so we headed downtown to the B&O Railroad Museum. We also figured it'd get Lucas' mind off the finger. We looked at old trains for about an hour and even got to go on a 30 minute train ride.

Finger update

We're glad to report that Lucas couldn't be doing any better with his injured digit! Since it happened, he hasn't complained once that it hurt or bothered him in any way. The only thing he cried about was when I had to remove the splint/bandage, clean it, and re-wrap it. And even then, he said it didn't hurt, but he was scared :(

Yesterday I took him to a hand orthopedic specialist - just to be on the safe side. I knew he had pulled a stitch somehow and was praying they wouldn't have to numb it and replace it. He took the bandage/splint right off - no whining from Lucas - and said it looked GREAT! And no need to re-do that stitch :) Said the skin was still pink and alive and he couldn't imagine it looking any better considering what had happened/how long ago. Then, he made Lucas do some "finger tests" that almost made me wanna puke. First, and not bad at all, Lucas looked away while they poked different parts of his finger with various items, to test his sense of feeling. Then they made him take the injured/stitched fingertip and press down really hard on the doctor's finger. And then take the fingernail that had been cut in half and press up on the doc's finger. Yup, all without a peep or grimace from Lucas. He said it was fun. - sicko! I told him I never wanna hear him whine again when I change the bandage! Then he had to use the fingertip to press down on some buttons.

I take him next Monday to a hand surgeon just as one last "to be on the safe side" measure. The doc from today will meet us there too. They are sure he will regain all feeling/movement in the finger, but want to surgeon to look at the nailbed ??? Who knows, but I'll keep you posted. They will most likely remove stitches Monday too. And I was complimented on my bandaging abilities! Maybe I'll quit teaching and become a nurse...

And let me tell you, the boy LOVES his medicine. I know parents who have to sit on their kids and cram it down their throats... not this kid. He begs for it. Refuses to let me help, and has to hold it all by himself... he was taking 3 kinds... tylenol and motrin (even though he said it didn't hurt, I wanted to keep those in him til after we saw the doc and were sure they wouldn't have to re-stitch)... he fed himself those from the little cup and dropper. His favorite are the antibiotics that he's on for 10 days. It's expensed in a syringe. I fill it up and he grabs it and happily shoots it down his throat. Over the past few days, I've even caught myself saying "If you don't finish your lunch, you're not getting any medicine". Works every time!

What a trooper

So, our Friday night ended up a little differently than we'd planned... with Lucas' first trip to the ER :( We were outside playing a little after 7. The neighbors were over and we were chatting. The next thing we knew, Lucas was hysterical and there was blood all over his arms/hands/ground. What happened? We were right there... He spun Tony's bike tire around and then stuck his right index finger into the new disc brake. It was awful looking - I get chills/queasy just thinking about it now. It cut diagonal right through his fingernail and the whole finger tip was hanging off. We wondered all the way to this hospital if they could put it back together...

Right after it happened, we applied pressure and held it lower than his heart for a few minutes and had him sit down until we could look and see what it looked like. When I say "we", I really mean Tony. He was calm and rational... I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off grabbing a wet rag, then an insurance card, then tylenol, etc.

We discerned that an ER trip was a must. Lottie was already in bed, so we threw the baby monitor at the neighbors and told them to keep an ear out. Tony drove and I sat in back with Lucas keeping pressure on the finger. He didn't cry at all once we got in the car.

There was only one person ahead of us checking in, but the waiting room was pretty full. The lady taking our info was a moron - as in I had to tell her his name/birthday/address multiple times, and I was sure this was going to be a painful (*no pun intended) ordeal. She assured us we'd be seen right away to gauge the damage. Yeah, ok...

No lie, they called us back in 3 minutes. Did vitals and then took off the rag to see the finger. We felt much better after they said they could fix him up! They took some x-rays next which were a little blurry cause his bones are so small... But they thought he cut a tiny piece of bone at the top of the finger. From there, we went back to the "real area" where we knew stitches would be next.
The physician's assistant and nurse that came in were super friendly and nice. While they looked at the finger and gathered necessary supplies, we explained to Lucas what was going to happen. They took big blankets and swaddled his left arm/legs so that he couldn't move - like a burrito! Then, I laid my chest over his to hold him down... And was prepared to have him wriggle and scream til the end. Tony leaned over too to distract him and try to block his view a bit. He was still but cried for 30 seconds while they gave him 2 needles to numb just that finger. While they stitched, he was fine... talking, making jokes :) We couldn't believe how brave he was! Now it's wrapped up with gauze and has a metal splint on it. We call it "robot finger".
Most amazingly, we were in-n-out of the ER in an hour and 15 minutes!

He went to bed late and got up a few times overnight cause the metal splint fell off. Today, he doesn't act like it's hurting him, unless it gets hit on something. I am giving him tylenol/motrin for pain today, and he gets an antibiotic every 4 hours. In a few days we take him to an orthopedic specialist as a precautionary measure to have it looked at... and stitches out in 10-14 days.
What a trooper!!!

Our 4th of July Weekend Bash

Saturday we went out on the boat to Dobbins Island in the Magothy River with Jeff, Chas, Lily, and Nathan. We thought given the holiday weekend it'd be more crowded, but it wasn't bad at all... Kids played in the sand, swam, and had snoballs! A good day!
Sunday (the 4th) we dressed the kids in their red, white, and blue and took a walk around the neighborhood. For the first time ever, Charlotte walked most of the way all by herself.
After Lottie's nap, we went to Nan and Poppy's pool for some lunch and more swimming!
An hour after Charlotte's bedtime (yikes!), we left the house to head to the fireworks show at Ft. Meade. We haven't been there for the fireworks since 2 years before Lucas was born. Even though it was late, the kids fared pretty well. We walked around a bit, had some popsicles (no pics to post - Tony was standing up taking pics of us sitting on a curb eating them... too much of a view down my shirt - sorry!), and spent quite a while listening to a band. Lucas was dancing and Lottie was clapping - she kept pretty good rhythm!
Then we headed to the open field and picked a spot to lay down our blankets. The kiddos ran around like crazy, aided by some blue cotton candy :) The fireworks didn't start til 9:30, and by 8:45 they were acting a little nutty. So we pulled out some glo-sticks!
Finally, the show began. Lucas held his ears for the first shot, but then was totally into them... yelling - "look at that one", "wow!", and "did you see that?" Charlotte whimpered for the first minute and then relaxed and watched the entire thing on my lap.