Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Yet another ER visit

I have had it with trips to the ER. Since November of 2007, I've been to the ER for the following reasons:

  1. Campbell's head injury.
  2. B's broken heel.
  3. Campbell's possible ingestion of pills.
  4. B's second heart episode.
  5. Campbell's penis incident.

Last night I added trip #6 to the list.

Elizabeth doesn't crawl; she does this funny little crab-like scuttle, and she is surprisingly fast at it. As I was getting dinner ready, she scuttled over to the oven, which was on, and managed to pry open the broiler drawer. She started screaming like I've never heard her scream. I swooped her up and immediately put her hands under running water. Despite the cool water, blisters started forming on her fingers immediately.

I called my pediatrician's office, and the receptionist put me right through to the nurse. I'm glad they know me well there, because I was barely able to form coherent sentences. The nurse told me that since the burns were on Elizabeth's hands and forming blisters we needed to go to the ER.

After I interrupted B's business call to tell him what was going on, I headed out with Elizabeth, who still hadn't stopped screaming. She was so frantic that she refused to nurse.

Elizabeth screamed the whole way to the hospital, which is about 15 minutes from the house, and the whole time I was checking in. She calmed down a bit while watching the fish in the big aquarium, but each calm period only last about 5 minutes.

It took us two hours to see the doctor, and Elizabeth cried most of the time we were waiting. The child-life specialists who work the ER brought Elizabeth toys, and those distracted her for a few minutes at a time. I also resorted to letting her play in the water in the sink.

The doctor looked at Elizabeth's hands and said that everything was fine - the burns aren't deep tissue, so unless infection sets in, no further treatment is needed. He didn't put any bandages on, saying that the blisters are nature's bandages. He did tell me to put neosporin on the burns, but I'm not sure how to do that given that Elizabeth sucks on her hands when she's not scuttling around.

The poor thing passed out as soon as I put her in the car and slept the whole way home. She had a rough night, waking up every time the motrin wore off, but she woke up this morning like nothing had ever happened. She's even scuttling around with showing any signs that the burns are hurting her.

I was a wreck when I got home, though. If I hadn't been on the verge of a migraine, I would have been next door, bumming wine from my neighbor.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth doesn't seem to have learned from last night's trauma. When I set her loose today, she bee-lined for the kitchen and the oven. She's the third baby we've had in this house, but the first who has shown any interest in the oven. I'm going to have to find some sort of latching mechanism to keep her out of it.

I've informed all family members that I'm done with visits to the ER. The next time anyone gets hurt, he or she is responsible for finding a ride to the hospital.

11 comments:

calicobebop said...

Poor little thing! I can't imagine how stressed out and terrified you must have been! I'm glad she made it through ok!

t. Cooke said...

That is such a bummer. I feel for YOU. Watching your child go through so much pain must be horrible. I must admit that I laughed when she went back to the oven!

Cathy said...

that's so terrifying! so glad she's ok now--it's amazing how kids recover so quickly, though.

donna said...

You should definitely be eligible for some kind of frequent user discount at the ER. A reserved seat at the front of the line would be nice too :-) Seriously though...I hope Elizabeth's little fingers are on the mend. And Mom's nerves are too!

Suna Kendall said...

Oh my, that sounds scary. Burns hurt SO much at first--I'd have been screaming and crying, too. I hope she heals well and you figure out something to do with the oven issue. I vote for never cooking again. :-)

Unknown said...

oh crap! nice how it's an EMERGENCY but you wait two hours huh?

Keeffer said...

i was telling one of my friends about your trips to the ER and she said, "my sister and brother-in-law had a similar run. while my sister was at the ER with one child with a broken collar bone, the other fell and broke their leg and had to come in."

Baino said...

Poor little poppet. Can you try baby gates? I bought two when my dog had a knee replacement so that she could be inside but not too mobile, they expand to fit pretty wide spaces and weren't very expensive. Otherwise, looks like it's pan dinners for a while!

ckh said...

You'd think that the crying would have gotten you in faster. Are their hearts made of stone?

I'm glad she's doing better. I just burned one finger in a hot-glue incident and can imagine what it would feel like on both hands. Yikes!

I hope this is the last ER visit for you!

anymommy said...

Oh my gosh! I wish you absolutely no trips to the ER. If possible, ever again. I'm so glad she's alright.

Organic Meatbag said...

Holy geez, I cringe when something includes a painful "penis incident"!