I had the best intentions of getting some serious blogging done last week. But then...life (in the form of a serious injury) happened. On Monday Michael, Xander and Max were playing tackle basketball on our trampoline. Yes, you read that right. One of our basketball hoops is over the net of the tramp and the boys were playing. Well, one thing led to another and Michael's tooth went into Max's head.
Ian and I came home from dinner to see that Max had about a half inch vertical cut in the middle of his forehead. We discussed it and decided to tend to the wound ourselves. Ian cleaned it really well, sealed it shut and bandaged it.
On Tuesday we thought it looked a little swollen. By Wednesday afternoon Max's whole face was swollen. Trina suggested I take him to Banner Desert because they have a children's emergency room. We waited less than an hour and got outstanding service. The ER physician yelled at me for sealing the wound shut because I guess human bite wounds are one of the worst, most infectious things. He admitted Max. I don't know if you can tell from this picture how swollen Max's face was:
I am so thankful for my dad and Darrel who came to the hospital and gave Max a blessing. It calmed me and Max. Max was freaking out about getting an IV and having surgery the next morning. They numbed his hand for the IV so he didn't feel a thing. He was his normal hilarious self. When he found out that he got to stay in bed while they moved him to his room he lit up like a Christmas tree! He loved being the center of attention. I stayed the night and early the next morning a peds plastic surgeon drained the abscess on his head and took cultures. Then they packed and bandaged the wound. A friend of mine who is a surgical PA was telling me that by packing the wound they prevent it from closing quickly and that allows the wound to drain and get rid of the infection on its own. They wanted to show me how to pack the wound but I made them wait until Ian could get there. No way was I doing that.
Yesterday I took him back to the plastic surgeon - we have to keep packing the wound until it closes and then he will go back for scar therapy. I just want to thank all of the friends and family who called, texted, came by, brought Max goodies and basically just showed us support. We are so lucky to have a good support system. The highlight was a bag Laura brought. She put the hospital symbol on the bag and filled it with different kinds of skittles. Max said, "I wish Laura had been my nurse at the hospital!"
One of the hardest things for Max has been not being able to play football or basketball. I'm praying he will heal quickly so he can get back to his normal, active self.
