Yesterday was the worst day of my life, hands down.
But let’s back up. My girls spent the Saturday evening with my parents and their cousins (Telly and Guy) visiting Santa.
(photo credit to my mom)
The cousins were spending the night with my parents and Sassy ended up staying over, too. After church, Sassy wanted to go with her grandparents and cousins again for the afternoon. OMG Becky and I headed to World Market to do a little shopping. And coffee sampling.
The Chocolate Peppermint coffee was yummy!
We had made our way to the back of the store when I took out my phone/camera to take another picture. I noticed I had missed two calls from my mom and a text, “Emergency call.” My heart stopped. I called her assuming the call had something to do with someone else, maybe my elderly great-aunt or great-uncle. When I got her on the phone, I couldn’t understand at first what she was saying. ”She has blood all over her head!” ”She cracked her head open!” ”She needs to go to the hospital!” “Should we call an ambulance?” Things were moving in slow motion, but I know I was moving towards the front of the store. I asked, “Who?!” My world stopped when she replied, “Sassy!”
At this point I was running and OMG Becky was running behind me asking, “Who? What?” I couldn’t answer her. I told my mom to take her to the emergency room at the one hospital in our suburb. I would meet them there. I’m sure I looked ridiculous and people were wondering what my problem was as I went sprinting out of the store and across the parking lot in my church clothes. So thankful I had worn my one and only pair of flats!
I’m also thankful World Market is right next to the interstate. I was able to get on it very quickly and speed two exit down to the ER. During the drive I realized I didn’t have Sassy’s insurance card on me. I had taken a smaller purse to church. I called the girls’ father and miracle of miracles, he answered. When I say the man never answers my calls, I am not exaggerating. He did this time and I asked him to please take a picture of her card and text it to me. He asked if he needed to drive down. (He lives two hours away.) I didn’t know what to tell him. I had no answers.
The drive there was the longest drive, feeling like I was moving in slow motion. I think I was in shock, imagining the worst. Her head, blood, brain swelling. I was praying. I was hyperventilating. I had to keep telling myself to slow my breathing before I passed out while driving.
We arrived at the hospital and I rushed inside. I asked at the desk if a 12-year-old girl with a head injury had been brought in. Not yet. I had beat them. I told them what I knew and we got her intake paperwork going. Then Sassy arrived and it felt like the world was slipping away around me.
She walked in barefoot, crying, covered in blood from her head to her waist. My dad was walking in just his socks next to her, holding a blood-drenched, folded hand towel to her head. God, please help us! I immediately started crying. And she immediately asked if she was in trouble.
The intake lady had Sassy sit down next to me with my dad still holding the compress on her head. I did the best I could to comfort and calm both of us.
Within a minute, a nurse had come out to escort us back to a room. OMG Becky insisted on coming back with us, while my mom stayed in the waiting room with my terrified niece and nephew. Once inside the room, the nurse took the towel off Sassy’s head to take a quick look at it. Blood began dripping down onto my arm that was wrapped around her. Please don’t let me pass out! Please don’t let me pass out!
Sassy was concerned about her hair. She kept asking everyone if they were going to have to shave her head. (They didn’t. They only trimmed a few hairs.) She was also upset that her favorite earrings might get ruined. Such a girl!
The doctor then entered and said they would have to give her shots for the pain around the cut in order to clean it. Shots! In the head! Several of them and they were horrible. Blood was running everywhere, Sassy was screaming in pain and I could do nothing to help her. All I could do was cry. So I did and so did OMG Becky. It was the longest minute I have ever experienced. (My mom told me later that they could hear Sassy all the way out in the waiting room. My mom thought she was going to pass out at that point. So upsetting for all of us.)
The doctor finished the shots and then was able to get a better look at the cut and inspect it for glass. He pulled out a pretty big piece, maybe 3/4″ across, from the gash. He then asked Sassy if she would like to keep it as a souvenir?! She declined his offer. Next he felt around in the cut to make sure it was glass-free. He decided it was and set out to stitch it up. Sassy was finally able to relax a bit. We all were.
After the stitches, the doctor began asking her questions to see if she had any future damage, such as a concussion. Where are you? What day of the week is it? He asked her who that girl (OMG Becky) was? When is your sister’s birthday? Count down from 100 by 3′s. He then asked her to hop on one foot forward and then on the other foot backwards. She passed with flying colors. Thankfully, he didn’t think there was any need for a CAT-scan and advised against us getting one.
Next another nurse came in to clean her up. They laid her on her side and poured peroxide in her hair. It was amazing how quickly the blood just released and ran off! They even advised me to use it on her clothes when we got home. (It worked!) The nurse was amazing! He was so gentle with her, washing her hair and then towel drying it. It was a bit of peace we all needed.
We were finally released with instructions to have the stitches removed in a week at her pediatrician or an urgent care facility. By then it was mid-afternoon and Sassy was hungry. We stopped to pick up lunch, but OMG Becky and I didn’t have much of an appetite. We were exhausted. The adrenaline from this event had come and gone, leaving us ready for a nap.
Once home, we got some Tylenol in Sassy to help with the pain we knew would be creeping in at any time. Then it was time for a shower to really clean up and get into her pajamas. My parents brought over a hair dryer and band-aids. Sassy also suffered a cut on her hand that didn’t want to stop bleeding, but not severe enough to need stitches. She can wash her hair, while trying to keep the wound as dry as possible. ??? We wash around it the best we can and then blow dry it.
(Picture of stitches alert!)
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Sometime during our time in the ER, OMG Becky had talked to their dad. He decided to come down to check on Sassy and arrived about an hour after we got home. He came bearing gifts! Well, ice cream anyway. That made our little patient very happy!
Sassy stayed home from school with my mom today. She still had a headache, pain and “feels like a bobble head.” She is going back to school tomorrow, but no gym class (they’re playing dodgeball and soccer right now!). She is also skipping basketball practice after school. I am hoping she will feel even better tomorrow morning.
After such a scary day, I am very grateful no one else was hurt. The other two kids were in the same area when the rack came crashing down. They were all three barefoot. The glass cut Sassy’s head, but missed her eye. My daughter will have a scar, but it is hidden in her hair. So much to be thankful this Thanksgiving holiday weekend!
Have you ever had stitches? Why?
