Feeling Stupid

One of the things I hate (yes, that's a strong word!) the most, is feeling stupid. I especially dislike it when someone else makes me feel that way.

Jason was working on his lap top in the kitchen and I was printing out some games I had typed up for our church's Valentine's Dinner tonight. A thump and a loud cry later, I was rushing into the living room where I saw Jason picking Peyton up off the floor. He had blood all over his mouth and hand. We had no idea where it was coming from, so we quickly tried to get it cleaned up. According to Gavin, they were both on the couch together and Peyton somehow fell off. We realized he had cut his lower lip, but also had some damage along his upper gum line. We made the decision that I should take him to the acute care center, nearly twenty minutes away.

After arriving, we had to wait for quite some time to be seen by the triage nurse. Thankfully they had some play things available for the children and a little girl kept him pretty well occupied. It was finally our turn. The triage nurse looked at him and put us into a room to wait. He fell asleep on my lap, sucking his thumb, and looking quite pitiful to me.

The doctor came in and started asking all "those" questions. The questions that make you feel like they think you're a terrible parent, negligent, etc. I understand they have to be cautious and careful, but do you think I would take my child there if it wasn't really an accident? He even questioned how he could have been up on the couch unsupervised, until he decided to ask how old he was. "Oh, so he can walk around and crawl up on the couch." How young did he think he was? And did he ever think to check the chart to see how old he was? He then made ME examine him. He made me pull up his lip, feel his teeth, etc. He never once checked his mouth himself. He checked his head for bruising and bumps "just in case" he hit it on something when he fell. His suggestion? Help him rinse with hydrogen peroxide and water. Are you kidding me? We'd be hard put to get Gavin to know how to do something like that. I should have asked him to show me how to do it - that would have been entertaining.

It continues to bleed here and there, especially when he wants to suck his thumb or if he bumps it somehow. It looks worse now than it did at the beginning, but hopefully it will heal quickly. This was our first major mouth injury with either boy. There's always a first for everything!

God bless doctors, but I hope I never run into this guy again. A little sympathy and understanding would have been nice.