Michael's first ER visit

Me and Wayne were on our way to see 'Grease' at Brighton High School (my sister Serena is one of the Tech Managers). On our way there, I got a call from my brother Seth who was watching Michael, mind you we were only gone for about 15 minutes, to say that Michael was chasing the cat and fell down the stairs. He originally thought that Michael had a bloody nose because he was bleeding, but then blood started gushing out of the side of his head. Seth freaked out a little when he discovered that Michael cut his head open on the baseboard (our baseboard sticks out half an inch- supposedly it's an upgrade, but really it's a danger zone!!) He applied pressure to the wound then called me to say sorry, but you need to come home. I felt so bad for Michael and for Seth for having to deal with that. I told Seth where the Tylenol was for Michael and he gave him some.

So, we turned around and headed home. Michael was not crying by the time we got there, but running around acting like himself. Seth said that once he took the Tylenol and some water he instantly felt better. (A side note: according to Michael, water is magic! When I don't feel good, he will bring me a glass of water and tell me to drink and that it makes you fell better) He is so stinking cute!!

Seth took Michael's clothes off because they were covered in blood, poor kid! So, I put a button up shirt on and some pants and we headed off to the ER. My poor brother Seth feels so bad, but it wasn't his fault. He said that Michael was so excited to see him that he was showing off and it went all wrong!

We spent a good three hours at the ER, waiting, and waiting some more. Michael was actually in good spirits running around and laughing in the waiting room. He was still bleeding, slowly, but had blood crusted in his hair running down. Oh, I guess I should tell you where the gash is... it's on the right side of his head about 2-3 inches above his ear.

The hardest part was holding Michael down as the nurse gave him the numbing shot. Michael screamed and screamed and I just wanted to cry right along with him. He really was very brave! After that, it just bled and dripped all down his neck. Michael hated it when I wiped it up because he was afraid that I would touch it again and all he remembered is that it really hurt!

Then, an old boyfriend from High School shows up to clean the wound (that was a surprise!) It was really sad because after he cleaned the wound and sanitized it, he shot water right into it which created a huge lump, then it would bleed all over the place. He did that about three or four times to clean it out. Michael didn't like that very much.

Then again we waited for the DR who brought out a staple gun. They don't like to do stitches on little kids because it takes too long and kids fidget. Before she stapled his head together, she had to feel around the wound to make sure that the skull wasn't fractured, which it wasn't. It was a really clean cut (straight) so it would staple and heal good with little scarring. The cut was actually really deep, a lot deeper than I expected. I was teasing Michael saying that I could see his brains, but in reality, it was cut down to the bone! How sad!!

5 staples later, with ice cream, a sucker and some milk we were finally able to go home. I don't think Michael wanted to stay another minute. He was ready to ditch us and run home :)

Of course he fell asleep on the way home, being that it was after 10:00 pm. I did sneak some pictures of him as he slept. It's hard to see, but there are 5 staples there. He has to have them in for a week. We go back to the Jordan Valley Hospital ER next Thursday to get them pulled out.
This is where Michael cut his head open. It's amazing that those spots of blood aren't any bigger. Seth did a really good job of saving my carpet :) I wouldn't have cared though if there was a bigger stain. If you have a choice to get the baseboards like this, DON'T!