Have you ever experienced That Moment? You know, when there's something potentially dangerous nearby and you know you shouldn't leave them unsupervised, but you've just got one thing to do that'll only take a minute? And then you hear the shrieks that let you know you're The Worst Mother in the History of the World? That Moment? We had one of those on Monday.
Smartie had asked if she could walk on the treadmill for PE, which she's done a few times before. Papa Runner and I have warned our kids over and over not to go near the treadmill when it's on. Smartie had completed a 1/4 mile and the other kids were otherwise engaged when I heard the washing machine buzz. I ran up to move the load over and was on my way back down when it happened. Sassy had touched the treadmill.
She lost the entire outer layer of skin on the bottom of two fingers from just above the second knuckle to the tip. Amazingly, there doesn't seem to be any damage to muscle or bone, thank God. But seeing her shredded fingers was still a heart-stopping moment.
This has been giving me PTSD-style flashbacks to when Sweetie nearly lost her finger to infection. They had to take the skin off from the second knuckle up, and it looked almost exactly like this but with neater edges. She ended up with a lot of scarring. With regular massage and what the doctor called "informal PT," it doesn't seem to affect her now. She has almost the full range of motion, just can't straighten it the last bit, and is learning to write without a problem.
Our biggest concern for Sassy, of course, is infection. In fact, I decided not to take her to the doctor because I'm sure that's where Sweetie was exposed after a minor cut, and that led to a 4 day hospital stay and the word "amputation" being thrown around. I've been keeping them bandaged with antibiotic ointment. The next biggest concern is scarring. I'm already planning to massage them regularly with vitamin E oil once they're healed enough.
We are now 3 days past the injury. She doesn't complain of pain except when we change the bandages, which is an ordeal. She asks Monkey to hold her hand, and he faithfully does. (Twins are awesome!) This morning they were still very swollen, and she couldn't bend them much, but seemed a little better tonight. I'm hoping they don't stiffen and that she'll have a good range of motion.
The injury is to her left hand, and while my other kids were clearly righties from birth, Sassy uses both hands almost equally, the left a little more than the right. I wonder if this will push her into preferring the right or if she'll remain ambidextrous/left-handed.
The bandages back on, and she's happy. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.
