First of Many

Dear Ty,

Two days ago was Valentine's Day and we spent the morning in the ER with you. You see, you happened to drop a 5 lb. dumbbell on your big toe and it popped the nail off. By nail, I mean the entire left big toenail, it's attached cuticle and the hidden nail under the skin.

As soon as it happened, I was on the phone with the doctor's office, while daddy put the nail back on and held a cold washcloth over it. We were told to head in to the ER, where you sat and smile at all the nurses for about an hour. The tech came in and cleaned it out, put vaseline under the nail, only to have the doctor come in and tell her to take it all off so she could burn a hole in the toe nail. Obviously communication was lacking in the ER.

Anyways, back to burning the hole. The doctor didn't have the foresight to HOLD YOUR FOOT DOWN and instead came at you all reckless. Of course, you flinched as the procedure started, which cause the nail to rip off completely again and bleed everywhere. The doctor, two techs and two nurses couldn't figure out how to get the nail back on and fumbled around frantically as you screamed bloody murder for about five minutes until I finally said: "JUST STOP. Stop trying to get the nail on. It's fine, just wrap it up!!!"

WTF.

Daddy put it pretty much into perspective when he said, "It's not often you leave the ER worse than when you came in."

You are doing okay in spite of the traumatic experience. We've kept you in footie p.j.'s all day and you'll probably be sporting the look all week, but it's the only way you keep can keep a sock on the dressing.

Ugh, it was quite possibly, one of the most horrific things I have seen happen to one of my kids. A Valentine's Day massacre for sure. However, I suspect this was just the first of many trips to the ER for you little man. I better start preparing mentally for the next one!

Love you,
Mommy