Squished Fingers

My little 3 year old is bound and determined to out-do his sister's broken collar bone. So far he has not achieved, thankfully. A little over a year ago he injured his foot jumping off of an ottoman (see here). Today he tried with his finger. Josi was riding her bike in the back yard and her training wheels got high-centered, so she was going nowhere, just riding in place. Hyrum decided it was a good idea to stick his finger in and smashed it between the gear and the chain. Mind you, I didn't see any of this first hand. I went running down the stairs when I heard Hyrum crying his real "I'm hurt" cry.

This is Josi's version of what happened: "I was doing my exercises and I just didn't see him and his finger was in the spiky thing." I figured out the rest when I saw the gouge in his finger that was as wide as the gear that only smashed half of it. It looked like it smashed it all the way to the bone, but there was almost no blood. This is the best picture I could get of it. He held really still for the first picture, but the flash was too bright so it was all washed out. When Josi saw it the first time, she just said "eww" with a sickly look on her face. She felt really bad and just kept saying "I'm so sorry, Hyrum".

I gave him some children's Tylenol, then I got it cleaned as well as he would let me and poured hydrogen peroxide on it a few times. Then bandaged it with gauze and tape. He wouldn't let me put a bandaid on it because we didn't have a Spiderman one. It about broke my heart to hear his cries and not to be able to ease his pain. That is one of the worst parts about being a mom. I am so glad I am able to keep a level head and not get sick when it comes to my family. 'Cause it was disgusting looking. He was trying to be so strong and hold back the sobs, but it was just too much for him.

I sang him about 4 primary songs and rocked him while I held his hand above his head to ease the throbbing and he was out. When he woke up from his nap he was fussy again and he wouldn't move his finger. He said it hurt too much when he tried to bend it. So, I decided to take him to the Urgent Care to make sure it didn't get broken. They did an x-ray and found no breaks. It's a good thing Josi is a timid pedaler.

As we walked out of the x-ray room Hyrum said, "Mommy, my pinger doesn't hurt anymore. Well, it till hurt a little." I think he thought the x-ray was supposed to make it better and he wanted it to have worked. The doctor and nurses were really great with him. The doctor was the same doctor that checked his leg out last time we were there. I don't think he recognized us though.

The dent has mostly filled in with just a little hamburger-ish gash left. He doesn't like to leave bandaids on for long, so he keeps telling me that it is all better so that he can take the bandaid off.

So in the end:

2 children's tylenol, a dab of neosporin +pain relief, a gauze pad and 4" of tape - less than $2

tiny finger x-ray, a spiderman bandaid and a little peace of mind- $35 copay

Being able to sing and rock my generally less than snugly 3 year old baby to sleep again - PRICELESS

Karin, I hope it is out of his system now so you don't have to worry when you watch them next week :)