E.R. visit = successful: Ben's chin = 5 stitches
My boy's butt is skinny. It does not effectively hold up his pants. When his shoes are on, they act as, well, corks for his pants. Once we got home and pantsshoes are deposited at the door...well...less so.
Ben was walking down the hallway quickly, went THUD, and started to cry. He cries relatively little over falls anymore--most of them are funny to him now--so I went to check, and there was a gaping wound on his chin. It was immediately clear that he was going to need stitches, so I cupped it with toilet paper to staunch the bleeding while I had him wash his hands, then had him hold new tissue on it while I washed my hands and got bandages. The bleeding stopped VERY quickly, which amazed me because I do NOT stop bleeding easily. Ben cried and cried, talked about how it hurt, and I was slightly concerned he was not going to be cooperative at the E.R.
We left Elf here with Olive and went to the E.R. Ben was calm by the time we were halfway there and he watched TV in the waiting room and was quiet and still. He was scared of the unknown but I promised him we'd tell him all of what was going to happen and he let me hold his hand and was just generally his usual sedate self. By this time he was saying it just didn't hurt except a tiny bit now and then. He was calm and blase and unfazed.
They finally took us back to an exam room and our nurse, Amanda, was lovely. Ben explained, quiet articulately and un-self-consciously, exactly what had happened and how he had fallen. She left a wrapper for a bandage out and Ben threw it away to tidy up for her and she was TOTALLY charmed. I followed her into the hallway to explain that part of his tidying and precision was the autism and that perhaps there should be a sign on his door. *grin*
We turned on the TV and Ben found Mythbusters and was thrilled. Amanda came back and Ben was TOTALLY, AWESOMELY cooperative while she cleaned out the wound, especially after she squirted him with the syringe to show him she wasn't sticking him with it, just squirting water to flush it out.
The doctor came in to look, confirmed that it would need stitching and not glue due to the bumpiness in the damage to the layers under the dermis (although he only sliced through the dermis) and asked them to find a papoose (baby straightjacket) in case they needed it. I asked if we could ask what Ben would prefer and if he thought he could lie still for them, especially after he was so good and still with the cleaning. They were fine with that and I explained, while we waited, what they'd be doing, then they explained, and told him he could raise his hand if he needed a break. Ben, while they stuck him with the lidocaine, like, six or seven times IN the wound, was PERFECTLY STILL and didn't whimper or twitch or anything. He was amazing. He was totally still while she stitched it too, even though they draped him so he couldn't even see the TV.
They wanted to keep him and have HIM as every patient for the rest of the night and told him he was their best patient all night. He was just unbelievably brave and calm and steady. They even let us stay in the treatment room for the last 12 minutes of Mythbusters so we could watch the Bulls in a China Shop bit and watch Adam and Jamie throw bullets, aerosol cans, and a beer keg onto a fire so they could all blow up. It was awesome.
Then Ben and I got him McDonalds for dinner. (And he now has a glow-in-the-dark band-aid on his chin.)
On their way to bed, I heard the kids (get this) comparing war wounds.
Elf started it by talking about how she was brave enough for the glue because she lay EXTRA STILL. Ben was bragging that HIS laceration was "too BIG" for the glue. They're honest-to-god comparing E.R. visits with all the Total Seriousness of 7- and 8-year-olds but like they're talking about Serious Injury in, like, combat or something.
Oh, my children.
Ben was walking down the hallway quickly, went THUD, and started to cry. He cries relatively little over falls anymore--most of them are funny to him now--so I went to check, and there was a gaping wound on his chin. It was immediately clear that he was going to need stitches, so I cupped it with toilet paper to staunch the bleeding while I had him wash his hands, then had him hold new tissue on it while I washed my hands and got bandages. The bleeding stopped VERY quickly, which amazed me because I do NOT stop bleeding easily. Ben cried and cried, talked about how it hurt, and I was slightly concerned he was not going to be cooperative at the E.R.
We left Elf here with Olive and went to the E.R. Ben was calm by the time we were halfway there and he watched TV in the waiting room and was quiet and still. He was scared of the unknown but I promised him we'd tell him all of what was going to happen and he let me hold his hand and was just generally his usual sedate self. By this time he was saying it just didn't hurt except a tiny bit now and then. He was calm and blase and unfazed.
They finally took us back to an exam room and our nurse, Amanda, was lovely. Ben explained, quiet articulately and un-self-consciously, exactly what had happened and how he had fallen. She left a wrapper for a bandage out and Ben threw it away to tidy up for her and she was TOTALLY charmed. I followed her into the hallway to explain that part of his tidying and precision was the autism and that perhaps there should be a sign on his door. *grin*
We turned on the TV and Ben found Mythbusters and was thrilled. Amanda came back and Ben was TOTALLY, AWESOMELY cooperative while she cleaned out the wound, especially after she squirted him with the syringe to show him she wasn't sticking him with it, just squirting water to flush it out.
The doctor came in to look, confirmed that it would need stitching and not glue due to the bumpiness in the damage to the layers under the dermis (although he only sliced through the dermis) and asked them to find a papoose (baby straightjacket) in case they needed it. I asked if we could ask what Ben would prefer and if he thought he could lie still for them, especially after he was so good and still with the cleaning. They were fine with that and I explained, while we waited, what they'd be doing, then they explained, and told him he could raise his hand if he needed a break. Ben, while they stuck him with the lidocaine, like, six or seven times IN the wound, was PERFECTLY STILL and didn't whimper or twitch or anything. He was amazing. He was totally still while she stitched it too, even though they draped him so he couldn't even see the TV.
They wanted to keep him and have HIM as every patient for the rest of the night and told him he was their best patient all night. He was just unbelievably brave and calm and steady. They even let us stay in the treatment room for the last 12 minutes of Mythbusters so we could watch the Bulls in a China Shop bit and watch Adam and Jamie throw bullets, aerosol cans, and a beer keg onto a fire so they could all blow up. It was awesome.
Then Ben and I got him McDonalds for dinner. (And he now has a glow-in-the-dark band-aid on his chin.)
On their way to bed, I heard the kids (get this) comparing war wounds.
Elf started it by talking about how she was brave enough for the glue because she lay EXTRA STILL. Ben was bragging that HIS laceration was "too BIG" for the glue. They're honest-to-god comparing E.R. visits with all the Total Seriousness of 7- and 8-year-olds but like they're talking about Serious Injury in, like, combat or something.
Oh, my children.