1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Stitches

My poor, poor bear....

She has five Danish stitches.

Below her poor little eyebrow.

It all started as I was walking out the door to go get the girls and their friends from gymnastics. I open the front door and find Michaela and her friend out of breath and saying, "Sierra's eye is bleeding all over!!". I was completely confused... How on earth did these kids get here and where is Sierra? Michaela and her friend had ran from gymnastics all the way back to our house.... in the dark rain... because I wasn't answering my phone that was on the kitchen counter and that nobody had called. Michaela thought running home was the best way to get to me quickly. Michaela was very concerned about her sister. It was very sweet of her. I found myself consoling two daughters.

See Michaela, Sierra is one of the most important things in your life... and remember when you thought Scotty got off the bus early and he was lost? ...remember that feeling? See Scotty is one of the most important things in your life too. Andrea will scare you one day too... and you'll realize how important she is to you too...

Turns out Sierra had gotten hurt at gymnastics during a game they were playing as the class was ending. She fell and hit a metal part of the trampoline. : ( Poor Bear.

So I take Michaela and her friend back to gymnastics to get Sierra. As I'm pulling into the parking lot a lady gets out of her car. This other lady has Sierra and our other friend in her car. She had called the emergency room and was taking them there... because we all know you can't go to the emergency room without calling first. She was a very nice mom who offered to drive there so we could follow her since I wasn't exactly sure which part of the hospital was the Emergency Room or "Skadestue". I get Sierra and her friend and off we all go, with Andrea, to the hospital.

From there we called Paul. He and Scotty got a ride over to the hospital with our friends' dad so he could pick up our friends to take them home... since I had made them tag along to the hospital with us. So now our whole family was at the Emergency Room.... and Paul brought dinosaur chicken nuggets and french fries - our great dinner I had made since Paul was supposed to go bowling with all the dads from school.

Once there we went inside the waiting room things calmed down. They calmed down for three hours while we waited. I'm not exactly sure of the process at this Skadestue, but it sucked (and I don't use that word often). People were showing up after us and being seen hours before us... and they were adults with hurt knees and thumbs. Sierra was the only one with blood.

I kept asking nurses when we would be seen because I had three other kids and I needed to figure out a plan for them. I was very nice about it. On my third attempt to find out how many more hours we would be there, the loser nurse finally asked what the name of the patient was!! HELLO?? She had been answering my questions the other times without even knowing who I was asking about. "Duh... Uhhhh... about an hour.", must be a pretty standard answer here in the Skadestue. I hope she falls and hits a trampoline and then gets to deal with this thing referred to as the Health Care system.

Paul finally took Scott and Michaela home. I stayed with Sierra and Andrea. Three hours later I finally went up to the front and said... "My daughter has been bleeding from her head for three hours. She is now dizzy and lightheaded (lie). She isn't feeling well (lie) and I need her seen now." They said in a moment. I think she should go back to wherever she learned English and redefine the word moment.

A half hour moment later we finally had our name called. Now, I have done this exact process in America twice... when Sierra had stitches on her eyebrows before. :( ...both times we only waited an hour at the most... because ummm... My child had a bleeding head wound! ...and she got a stuffed animal out of the deal! To say something nice about this DK time though... all I needed to do was give them Sierra's CPR number (SSN #). They didn't ask for another piece of information or a copay. Although I did ask at one point if I could take her somewhere and PAY for someone to help us.

I was SOOO ANGRY AT DENMARK during the last hour of our wait. UGH. I wanted to yell at every one of those nurses who were sitting around texting each other and flirting with the dumb injured handball players coming in. Handball isn't even a real sport. Soccer or Football or Basketball: Pick one. You can't mix them all together and make up a sport.. I hurt my knee. whaaa whaaa whaaa. Go home and put ice on it. Take some good ole' Panodil.

Back to my Poor Bear story because I could go on...

A nice nurse came in and washed up Sierra's eye and face. She was very kind, this part didn't hurt but I about fainted when I saw the gaping hole above Sierra's eye. The doctor came in and told us that it would need stitches. :( Not happy Sierra.

The doctor gave her a shot near her eye. This part was traumatic for all involved. Good thing I had passed off a sleeping Andrea in a stroller to another nurse to push through the halls... After that we calmed down and waited a bit for the medicine to kick in... then it was easy from there. Phew!!! Sierra did great. . She didn't feel the stitches at all ...and another fifteen minutes later we were done. In four days we'll go to a doctor and get them taken out.

I promised her everything under the sun while she was going through all this. I will now be making reservations at the restaurant Bones and going to the store to buy a High School Musical pen. :) She is fine now and has a bit of a swollen left eye. ...and I will never send my kids anywhere without a cell phone again. ...and I will write many phone numbers in their coats.

I'd put a picture up, but Sierra made me promise not too. I did take some to put with her collection of "eyebrow stitches" pictures. : ) When she was one she fell and hit a frame of a bed. When she was two she fell and hit the corner of a wall. :( Both times... right above the eyes.