Last night after Cub Scouts we went over to our next door neighbors to chat with her about the dog sitting we will be doing for her this weekend. She is the owner of Bear, Sadie's best dog friend. He is younger than Sadie and still has his razor sharp puppy teeth. Do you see where I am going with this? Jake was throwing sticks for Bear while we were talking and Bear jumped up to get the stick from him right as he was getting ready to throw it...Next thing I know, Jake screams and blood is dripping down off his wrist. Fast forward 20 minutes and we are sitting in the ER waiting. We were pretty lucky we were only there for a total of 2 1/2 hours which has got to be some kind of record. Looking around the waiting room there were just a bunch of people that honestly looked liked they had no reason to be there (which made me happy. I am not a fan of germs, blood, or puke that comes out of anyone other than my own family). No wounds (besides Jake of course), broken bones, or even coughing. Just people with their wristbands on, chatting with whoever brought them. It was kind of strange actually. Usually you see all sorts of creepy or gross things in the ER. Luckily for us Jake's "flesh wound", as he was calling it, was it for blood. Aaron said they were probably there to get out of the heat and into the air conditioning. :)
Jake entertained the hospital staff and us while we were there. The man who checked him out and took our information before being seen was amused when Jake told him he didn't need stitches-just a band aid and we could call it good. The man also asked if Jake had any recent illnesses or infections (no), and Jake asked if the wart on his thumb (that we have been to the doctor 6 times for to have them freeze off and we have gone through a box and a half of the at home freeze kits and large amounts of duct tape. This wart seriously will not go away. Next stop dermatologist..) counted. The man laughed and told him it didn't. :) When we actually got into the room another man (maybe a nurses assistant or something) came in to get more info. and tell us what we could expect. He looked at Jake's wrist and said it needed stitches but because it was a dog bite (more like a tooth slash. Bear didn't chomp down. His tooth just made contact.), they may not close it up because of the risk of infection-they wanted it to be able to drain. Jake was so happy that he might not need stitches and told the guy it really wasn't that bad. To this the man said: "It looks pretty bad to me." When the doctor came in to numb it, she was telling Jake it shouldn't hurt. Jake looked at her and said; "Shouldn't?" She laughed and said: "Oh you caught that part did ya? You are pretty bright, because most people don't hear that part." (It did hurt by the way...) Before the stitches were put in she took out this big bottle (a one liter maybe) of saline solution to clean it out and told Jake she was going to clean out the wound and that it wouldn't hurt but it would be cold. He looked at the bottle and said: "You are using that whole thing?". I guess you had to be there to see his facial expressions for most of these moments but we were all chuckling the whole time and I had to document them. Especially when the doctor showed him the "fish hook" she used to do the stitches after she was done. Jake took one look at it and said: "I don't know how I survived it!" He is one funny kid.
I think his humor and quick wit is a defense mechanism because he had a few moments of tears. Aaron was joking with him in the waiting room about rabies and how they use part of your intestines to treat you for it. We obviously know that Bear does not have rabies (and that intestines aren't used to treat you for it...), but it was more than Jake could take and tears started to well up in his eyes. Which Aaron didn't notice right away because he thought was being so funny. Way to go Daddy. :) Turns out in stressful situations Jake can only handle his own jokes, not other peoples.
To look on the bright side: I was glad to see a coupon that I could use for one of Jake's favorite treats, that was on sale BOGO free (I got it for $1.20 that is 20cents a bar. It tastes even better when it is so cheap.). Out of all the not fun stuff, it is definitely a simple pleasure to let Jake eat a yummy Klondike bar BEFORE lunch and cheer him up.
You can do things like that when you have stitches. In fact it may actually be a mandatory step in the healing process. Jake's sweet face when I told him I didn't just get his antibiotics (you have to take them with a dog bite), I also got him a treat is definitely my simple pleasure. What is your simple pleasure today? It may very well be that you weren't in the ER last night with your child getting stitches. :)
