Stitches!

As much as Tyke bumps his head I'm really surprised it took this long before he finally split his head open.  Last night while Chad was getting Tyke ready for bed, the little stinker darted away from him, lost his balance, and slammed right into the night stand.  I was in the living room and heard the big thud and thought nothing of it, it's normal in this house.  When Chad hollered at me that there was blood I panicked and ran in to see what had happened.  Tyke had split his eyebrow and good!  I couldn't make myself squeeze it to see just how deep the cut was but I knew that it needed to be checked out so at around 9 p.m. we loaded up and headed for the emergency room.

We walked in to see familiar faces, (since we were here the week before!  These bills ought to be fun.) and I told them what had happened and that we weren't sure if Tyke needed stitches or not.  Dr. Rosenbeck was the on call doctor.  He came right out to check Tyke's cut and within two seconds confirmed that we needed stitches!  We were taken back to room 2 where we spent nearly three hours for the whole process.  Tyke didn't really want much to do with me, he just wanted his Daddy!  Chad was the only one that could console him.

With Tyke being so little and so upset around doctors and nurses we decided it was best to sedate him while Dr. Rosenbeck stitched him up.  We had two option, a shot that would knock him out until morning (cheap), or an iv that would put him to sleep quickly and he would wake up quickly (expensive).  We opted for the iv because we didn't want to see Tyke completely sedated.  The nurses had a really hard time getting an iv in.  The first try they commented on how tough Tyke's skin was. They finally poked through but lost the vein.  After digging around for what seemed like forever they finally gave up and picked on the other arm.  Poor Tyke cried harder for this than he did for his bump on his head.  Finally they got the iv in and put Tyke's arm in a brace so he couldn't bend his arm.  He did not like that at all and tried his hardest to rip it off.  He cried a lot but we finally got him distracted by walking down to see the fish tank.

We waited a while for the anesthesiologist to come so we could put Tyke to sleep.  By the time he got all of his equipment and the medicine rounded up Tyke had fallen asleep.  Chad layed Tyke on the bed, which made him mad, and the anesthesiologist gave him the medicine, Propofol.  Within seconds Tyke was passed out.  It was a little creepy watching him just go limp so fast.  An oxygen monitor was put on his finger and a nasal canula was put on his face.  Talk about major surgery!  Dr. Rosenbeck came in and got right to work.  He cleaned the wound, numbed it and then stitched Tyke up.  He also commented on how tough Tyke's skin was.  I guess that explains why we haven't had more cuts to deal with.  The cut wasn't very deep but it definitely needed stitches.  It took three stitches to get the job done!  It was a quick process and Chad enjoyed watching every second of it.  I on the other hand had to sit in the corner and ignore most of it.

After the stitches were done, the anesthesiologist stayed with us and monitored Tyke.  After a few minutes he said that the medicine had worn off and that it was time for Tyke to wake up.  Well, he wouldn't!  We had kind of figured that it would be hard to wake him, he was exhausted from crying and putting up a fight plus it was bed time.  We tried and tried and tried to wake him up and he just wouldn't.  I started to feel a little panicky but knew that all was well.  Tyke coughed a few times, weird coughs that scared Chad and I.  The first time he coughed it sounded like he was gurgling/choking on something.  Chad immediately re-positioned him while I ran out to the get the anesthesiologist!  After that he pretty much stayed in the room  with us.  We wiggled Tyke and clapped and talked loud and shook him to try and wake him but he wouldn't.  His body was still limp and he was out!  Dr. Rosenbeck told the anesthesiologist that he was nervous and that Tyke needed to wake up before we could leave.  The anesthesiologist took Tyke from us and took him out into the hallway where he and the doctor really picked on him.  He finally opened his eyes and scrame at us all for a few seconds before snuggling into Chad.  That was enough to get the OK to go home!

Tyke slept really well last night and woke up this morning happy as can be.  He has payed no attention to the stitches, which I'm glad, and he barely had any bruising.  We have to take him back Sunday night/Monday morning to have the stitches removed and then we're good to go!  This boy is going to keep us on our toes!


Update 3/30/14: We were supposed to take Tyke back to the hospital either tonight or in the morning to have his stitches taken out.  We could only imagine the screaming fit he would throw and how difficult it would be.  As he was napping late this afternoon we decided to see if we dared to take them out ourselves and the next thing we knew they were out and Tyke was still fast asleep!  His eyebrow has healed up nicely!