We've Crossed Over

We've crossed over into a different status in our family. Now we are a family with a kid who got stitches. Few families get away without it, and we have now joined the majority.
As a matter of fact, I have been surprised and grateful that we have so far defied the odds. Not anymore!

Notice anything different about Gedalya?

He is riding in a carriage and his right knee is bandaged up.

 

And Adi is very excited to have her brother trapped within her reach. So many torture opportunities!

Gedalya was just running in the sprinklers. Nothing out of the ordinary. He does much crazier things. Suddenly he fell, like he does on a regular basis. When I checked the damage, I saw his knee split open like one of those plastic coin purses!

The bad news is that I left my phone at home. Of all the days! The good news is that there was a family in the park that we know, so the mother called Hatzola for us. They cleaned Gedalya up and bandaged him. We weren't sure whether to go to an emergency room or to our pediatrician. I didn't know our doctor's number, or whether she does stitches. And the thought of taking three kids to the ER, plus a carriage loaded with bags really made me dizzy. Luckily, the Hatzola members told me about an urgent care center just a block or so away from the park! So that's where we went.

Gedalya was a brave little trooper. But Adi wasn't. She was so confused and screamed nonstop. I had to attend to her more than to Gedalya!

He left the urgent care with three stitches and instructions not to bend his knee until the stitches are removed ten days from now! How can my little tornado manage that? I don't know.

But there's more. Besides for having to help Gedalya get in and out of chairs, bed and couch, dress him and monitor him every minute, I get to change his bandages every day! Yay! (not)

I had such a hard time getting this last piece of gauze off the wound with all the blood dried up on it.

For those of you who like graphic stuff, here is the stitched up wound up close. Ew.

My brave boy. Braver than me. I still feel lightheaded from changing the bandages.

 

 But Gedalya already got over it and is enjoying some iPad games.

 

 The layers are: Bacitracin, gauze pad, white bandage, Ace bandage,

and a semi-reinforced brace that velcroes on to prevent accidental knee bending.

 Oh, and that dino that Gedalya is holding in some of the above photos? It's a miracle. Seriously. We went to Target the night before and Gedalya picked up this little guy. He carried him around the store. I wasn't going to buy it- we need another dinosaur like a hole in the knee. But when I felt it, I changed my mind. It's really soft and squishy. The outside is tough rubber so it won't break like those 99 cents squishy balls that are filled with air or gel. And those balls gather dust and hair all the time, while this one does not. It's filled with a pebbly type of sand, and it's a pleasure to squeeze.
And it was on clearance for 84 cents!

Squishing the dinosaur helped Gedalya to manage the pain of changing bandages, and during the gaps between Tylenol and Motrin. It really seems to calm him, so I will order more here. They aren't 84 cents, but still a good price for the purpose!