Life with...a teenager
We Mellmanns enjoy a good adventure, a little thrill now and then, and some good ol' excitement, but life with a teenager (boy no less) is keeping this mom hopping.
Last week, as we were wrapping up the last day of school before winter break (which is this week), Patrick slammed his finger in a door at school. Over the next couple of days, he developed this nice bruise under his nail. We started to speculate on what would happen (lose the nail or not), but figured the best course of action was going to be to let nature takes its course and let the body do the healing.
We would later learn that this type of injury is what medical professionals refer to as a "crush injury", and the resulting nail color is called "subungual hematoma". As the weekend progressed and the bruise continued to develop, so did the pressure, swelling, and pain. By Sunday words like "doctor", "drain", and "don't wait" were being used.
So, first thing this morning I called the doctor and we went in to have the finger looked at. After a little looking (NO touching) the doctor referred us to the local clinic for an x-ray to make sure there were no broken bones (lest he develop osteomyelitis...an infection in the bone), and for possible nail bed trephination (draining the blood through a hole in the nail).
The x-rays revealed no breaks, although Patrick was labeled "a regular" in radiology when they saw, in his medical record, that this was his third set of "films" in less than a year. (He was there a year ago for a BB in his arm, and last fall for an Osgood-Schlatters Disease diagnosis). So, with no breaks, we prepared for a draining.
Things started out okay, but quickly turned painful as the doctor stuck him six times at the base (all the way around) of the finger with a lidocaine injection, to reduce the likelihood of him experiencing shooting pain when the squeezing and pressing began.
It's hard to watch your kid suffer.
And there are moments when you want to sail across the room and rip the torture device out of the hands of the doctor who is causing such pain for your baby.
Then there's that moment when you realize that you've been holding your breath this whole time.
The doctor used a tiny blow-torch type device to burn a hole (yes, the room filled with the smell of burning fingernail) into the nail in order drain as much of the blood as he could. He was pleased with the amount of blood that he was able to express from the finger, and gave us some follow up instructions before turning us over to the nurse to clean the finger, bandage it, and send us on our way.
We're home now. I have a few new grey hairs (although who can tell by now?) and Patrick is telling his story to anyone who will listen.
Last week, as we were wrapping up the last day of school before winter break (which is this week), Patrick slammed his finger in a door at school. Over the next couple of days, he developed this nice bruise under his nail. We started to speculate on what would happen (lose the nail or not), but figured the best course of action was going to be to let nature takes its course and let the body do the healing.
We would later learn that this type of injury is what medical professionals refer to as a "crush injury", and the resulting nail color is called "subungual hematoma". As the weekend progressed and the bruise continued to develop, so did the pressure, swelling, and pain. By Sunday words like "doctor", "drain", and "don't wait" were being used.
So, first thing this morning I called the doctor and we went in to have the finger looked at. After a little looking (NO touching) the doctor referred us to the local clinic for an x-ray to make sure there were no broken bones (lest he develop osteomyelitis...an infection in the bone), and for possible nail bed trephination (draining the blood through a hole in the nail).
The x-rays revealed no breaks, although Patrick was labeled "a regular" in radiology when they saw, in his medical record, that this was his third set of "films" in less than a year. (He was there a year ago for a BB in his arm, and last fall for an Osgood-Schlatters Disease diagnosis). So, with no breaks, we prepared for a draining.
Things started out okay, but quickly turned painful as the doctor stuck him six times at the base (all the way around) of the finger with a lidocaine injection, to reduce the likelihood of him experiencing shooting pain when the squeezing and pressing began.
It's hard to watch your kid suffer.
And there are moments when you want to sail across the room and rip the torture device out of the hands of the doctor who is causing such pain for your baby.
Then there's that moment when you realize that you've been holding your breath this whole time.
(I'll spare you the gory "drill hole" picture.)
The doctor used a tiny blow-torch type device to burn a hole (yes, the room filled with the smell of burning fingernail) into the nail in order drain as much of the blood as he could. He was pleased with the amount of blood that he was able to express from the finger, and gave us some follow up instructions before turning us over to the nurse to clean the finger, bandage it, and send us on our way.
We're home now. I have a few new grey hairs (although who can tell by now?) and Patrick is telling his story to anyone who will listen.
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