Medical Emergency #2
So is was an easy Sunday afternoon, I was working on my assignments for the day, TheWife was in the bed snoozing like a pregnant lady and TheBubster was playing all over the house. making little messes here and there. TheWife got up for some food and gave TheBubster a glass of chocolate milk. She sat in her rocking chair to drink it, and some how fell out, breaking the glass and cutting her finger, the middle one on her left hand. I grabbed a towel and put pressure on it, then I began directing the support staff to fetch clothes; TheBubster had just gotten out of the tub from playing in the water for a while; and help me dress her. Then we made certain that we’d be prepared to be able to get back into the house and I walked out the door carrying our little girl. It’s ten minutes walk to the hospital, although I had to rest for a moment- currently I have a strained intercostal muscle on my right side, this is due to an overly aggressive workout regime.
We walked in the ambulance entry and there was a Doctor who happened to be walking through the halls at that exact moment, I showed him the wound and he calmly directed us to the front where a Triage nurse guided us into a room with a bed. TheBubster and I sat on the bed while TheWife read stories. Since our doctor’s office is in the same building, they had the medical records for TheBubster already available in the rolling computer desk that the Administrators worked from. We only had to sit in the bed and take care of the brave little girl in our arms.
Then there were some quiet calm discussions with doctors, and a couple rounds of calm introductions with nurses. We made certain that TheBubster knew everything that she wanted to know about what was going to happen before it happened. The Doctor came in and we had to lie TheBubster down and I had to use my leg and both arms to make sure that she did not jerk and move while they injected right into the wound, cleaned it out and sewed up the cut. TheWife had to do most of the pain management coaching as there were times when I had to really work hard to hold her down while she screamed, “I WANT TO LEAVE HERE, PLEASE!!”
Afterwards, we got the medicine and instructions before heading over to get some ice cream. We have now cleaned up the living room so that it no longer resembles a crime scene, all in all we are thankful that we have healthcare insurance because of TheWife’s job, that we live within walking distance of a teaching hospital for the Harvard Medical School and that she got lucky enough to have not damaged any of the tendons. Everyone should be so lucky- Universal Healthcare is a necessity for a safe and secure nation.