Our Five Ring Circus: ER Take Three

Monday, May 4, 2015

ER Take Three

We're only 4 full months into 2015, and we just had our third ER visit this year. Just for the record, we did go almost 3 weeks between visits. Apparently, Liam thought we were due for another visit!

Unfortunately, I was partially to blame for this visit, and I feel AWFUL.

On Saturday evening, I was sitting on the couch, and Liam was on my lap. I had my hands around Liam's waist. I had to go make dinner, so I leaned forward to sit Liam on the floor, and he threw himself forward.  I didn't have a tight grip around his waist, and was unable to catch him before his face slammed into our hardwood floor. 

He immediately began screaming, and when I picked him up, blood began spurting out of both nostrils and out of his mouth.  We ran to the bathroom, stopped the bleeding, and assessed the damage.  In less than 5 minutes, Liam was sitting up, smiling. His nose looked a bit puffy, but he was acting completely normal.

Even though he was back to his happy self, I felt horrible. 

Shortly after putting him to bed, I noticed his breathing sounded noisy.  He still had a cold, but this was a bit different.  When he woke up, his nose was so swollen.  It was at least twice its normal size, and the swelling was starting to cover the corner of his left eye. His appearance was altered, and his profile was almost unrecognizable. 

We ended up stopping at the Urgent Care, which is only 5 minutes away, for a quick check. 

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The attending doctor was concerned because he had so much swelling, and bruising was beginning to appear around his eye.  He didn't have the proper tools at the Urgent Care for a pediatric xray of the face, so he sent us to the Children's Hospital ER in Pittsburgh. 

Grant stayed home with the older kids, because there was homework and projects that needed to be done, so my dad rode into Pittsburgh with me.  When I got there, I assumed we were in for a LONG wait, because the waiting room was packed. 

Liam was the only injured child there.  Everyone else there was for fevers (I'm sorry, that annoys me! Save it for a pediatrician and make space in the ER for emergencies and injuries!).  Because of that, he ended up getting bumped up to the first on the list, and we were called back within a few minutes.

A doctor came in quickly.  After a very painful exam of his nose, which involved lots of screams, more blood poured out of his nose.  Another doctor came in a few minutes later to do a second exam.  Thankfully, they couldn't feel any breaks in his nose.  Because of his happy demeanor and ability to breathe through his nose, they felt that it was unnecessary to sedate him and expose him to radiation for a scan.  They decided that the wait and see approach was the best choice for him.

The staff was wonderful, and we were in and out of the ER in one hour!

Now, only time will tell.  He obviously has significant swelling and bruising, and is having some difficulty breathing due to the swelling.  We have to wait 5-7 days for the swelling to go down.  If his nose still looks different or if he's still having trouble breathing, we have to make an appointment with his ENT, and they will proceed from there.  I'm praying it heals quickly, and no further treatment is needed!

On top of all that, the poor little dude has an Upper Respiratory Infection!  He got sick earlier in the week; most likely from all the visits to the doctor for Dylan's leg. He ended up passing his germs to me. I was sick with a fever, sore throat, and body aches all weekend, so I now know just how awful he felt earlier this week.  He made it almost a year with only one respiratory infection, and is now dealing with all this at once. Fortunately, he's tough!

Liam

I still feel awful.  I know it was an accident, but his poor little nose!  It's almost unrecognizable, especially from the side, and the swelling and bruising just keep getting worse.  Tonight, it looks even worse than it did in the ER.  It's a normal progression, but I sure hope it heals quickly!

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It looks awful, but no big deal!  He's still smiling!

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It was a long day for my sweet boy.  Hopefully tomorrow is a MUCH better day!

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I think-HOPE- we reached our ER visit quota for the year!

10 comments:

  1. Poor baby!! Happy healing!! Hope you feel better too.

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    1. Thank you! I was so worried about him that I didn't even think about being sick!

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  2. Aww poor baby. :( But accidents happen and it's not your fault Mom. Liam will be back to normal in no time. He still is adorable and smiling through it all.

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  3. Poor little guy, at least he is okay though.

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  4. I felt so guilty when my daughter got a concussion earlier this year. And also like a horrible mom somehow that we keep ending up in the ER. But I think it's inevitable with kids, and honestly they are tough. I'm sure Liam will be fine and bounce back before you know it!! Prayers that he heals quickly and doesn't have any breaks!

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    1. Thank you! When I joked about being in the same ER twice in 2 weeks, the doctor just laughed and said he'd probably see us many times. I sure hope not!

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  5. Poor guy! :( Mama guilt is the worst, but don't be hard on yourself. Things happen. When my son was little, I was shutting the bathroom door to keep him out of there, because I was always paranoid about him falling in the toilet. Well, he snuck up behind me and put his finger in the door as I was shutting it. He ended up losing the whole nail. He cried, and I cried! :(

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    1. Ouch! I would have cried, too. You're right, though...accidents happen!

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