We needed both of us to get her to the hospital, Dode applying direct pressure and me driving. We didn't want to leave William home with the kids alone for who knows how long so we loaded a bike into the van for Dode to ride home once we knew what was going on with Miriam. While Dode held direct pressure and I struggled to get the bike in the back, Miriam kept screaming, "No! Let's just go now!" I finally got it in and were on our way with a very unhappy girl.
We drove up to the Arlington hospital (less than a five minute drive) and were soon in our very own treatment room. Dode reached around in his pocket and announced, "Miriam, I got you something at work today." He'd found a key chain on the side of the road and thought she'd like it.
It said "Seattle" and had dangling ferry boat, space needle, and whale. She spent a lot of time looking at it and playing with it while we waited. (She liked it so much that the next morning I found her asleep on the couch with the key chain cradled against her cheek in her hand. Good timing on finding that key chain!) The doctor came in, looked at it, and said a few staples would work perfectly for closing up the wound. Dode left us in their capable hands and set off for home.
They tried to make it more bearable for Miriam by first numbing her up with a topical ointment and then injecting her with novocain.
The gauze is holding the topical numbing cream against her head in the back. Doesn't she look pitiful!?
The hard part was as soon as they finished injecting the novocain they reached for the staple gun, not giving the skin any time to actually numb up. The nurse held her down while the doctor gave her three staples. I held her hands while she screamed over and over, "I WANT to go HOME NOW!" She was screaming and crying but she held perfectly still for the doctor, one brave girl.
We got home and by then the novocain was working fine. She felt pretty good and was soon engaged in a typical night of activity. The novocain wore off in the middle of night and she was once again a very sad girl. Jacob woke up with her and helped her with ice for her head, got a movie started for her, and slept on the couch downstairs to be with her in case she needed anything else.
It's been a few days now and the wound is tender but not painful. She had a stiff neck and shoulders for a while and said, "I think there is a string that goes from my feet to the back of my neck because when I walk, it pulls on that string and hurts me."
This is Miriam's third ER visit for a head injury.
June 2006
Family vacation to Yellowstone park.
We stopped at Dode's friend Collette's in Billings for one night. We had Miriam sleep on the floor. In the middle of the night, she tried to get into bed with us but tripped and hit her head on the bed frame. I never saw it in the dark, just lifted a crying girl into bed with us and got her to sleep. When we got up for a 4:00 am departure on a day we'd planned to make a long drive towards home, we saw that both Miriam and I were covered in blood. We had to drive a half hour in the wrong direction to find the nearest hospital. Thankfully it was a slow night and we were in and out in about an hour. Our visit earned Miriam some steri-strips and a scar she bears today.
August 2009
While on my first single mom vacation with the children, Miriam falls down inside a lava tube and earns herself three stitches. More details here.
November 2012
The doctor talking with Miriam about the treatment plan. She's looking down at her key chain, feeling really sorry for herself. Miriam was impressed with how many people she saw during our hour long visit in the ER. Three different RNs, a doctor, and a ER Tech.
After receiving her staples she told me, "Getting stitches is a lot easier!" I think she would have endured the staples a lot better if they'd waited for the novocain to take affect. I'm hoping the staple removal next week won't hurt her too badly.
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