Thursday, July 10, 2008

A mom never worries enough

As a mom, with kids leaving the nest you imagine all possibilities of the things that might go wrong. You worry incessantly about them and the trials they may face starting out. In amongst those many worries you miss one.

I never thought I would be told, “They almost had to amputate my arm.” Not only that, but I didn’t get told of the incident for 2 days!

My middle son, Gage (Khristiaan), moved out a few months ago. He only moved about a mile from home and he waited until he had been working long enough that he paid his first 6 months rent when he signed his lease. Pretty impressive. There was no anger with the move, in fact I helped him. I know he just wanted to spread his wings, or have a girlfriend over. . .you know. Wanting his independence I drove him nuts calling too frequently in the beginning, a mother’s worries you know?

But over the last few months I talk to or see him about once a week and he answers my calls since I don’t call as often. Heck he even calls me now. But I was not prepared for the call I got last week. He told me that he cut his arm.

Of course, my first thought is that he cut it at work, my second that there was alcohol, “messing around” and stupid kids involved. The second choice was the correct one.

A boy, holding a butcher knife was shoved, bumped into, whatever and when he fell forward the knife caught Gage’s arm. A 911 call was made, an ambulance summoned and he was rushed to the hospital covered in blood, where he received 18 stitches and was told that if it had only been a fraction of an inch deeper they would have had to amputate.

Why amputation? Because you could see the tendons moving in his arm, luckily no tendons were severed. If the tendons had been severed apparently they would have had to amputate.

When I asked him how long it was he replied, “2 inches” but what he was telling me I found out later was that the skin was pulled back about two inches - the width, or gap of the cut. The cut itself in truth is a little over 3 inches long.

cut arm


The night he called and told me about this I could not sleep. I lay awake most of the night fretting and worrying and feeling utterly helpless as the mother of an adult child. He almost lost his arm! He didn’t tell me for 2 days! I saw him the next night and he let me snap a shot of the cut. Looks very painful no? Did he learn anything? I hope so.

cut arm


This photo was taken a week after the cut and right before he went to get the stitches out. He now has steri-strips (butterfly bandages) along the incision. And it looks like it’s healing good.

His brother, Haden the king of stitches, is extremely jealous and envious as he has only had 13 stitches at one time. WTF?! I hope I never get a phone call like that one again. And I learned that the one thing you are not worrying about is the one thing that will happen.

Added:  I forgot to say that he had no numbing at all.  He refused all needles other than the one used to stitch with.

21 comments:

  1. ACK! I'm glad he's okay. This post freaked me out way more than snakes or anything else ever could.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa, what a hair-raising call to have received! I know he didn't want to worry you (how well he knows you), but how close he came to a very serious situation indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those pictures made my stomach turn! It hurts just thinking about it. I didn't know severed tendons = amputation. I would have thought loss of use, perhaps, but not amputation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. God, every parents' nightmare.

    The good news is I'm sending you some miss matched socks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. anglophilefootballfanatic.comJuly 10, 2008 at 9:07 AM

    oh, my LORD! That is such a fear. And Haden was jealous???

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my goodness that was a close call. Not sure if he was brave or idiotic having no local anaesthetic before the suturing! Glad its beginning to heal.

    ReplyDelete
  7. OUCH! I'd be worried sick. Geez - Buttercup only had 7 stitches and that freaked me out bad enough. No, I guess a mother NEVER quits worrying.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can't even imagine...Glad it's getting better:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my Lisa, what a terrifying thing to find out! And he didn't want any pain killer, OUCH!!
    Yeah, I hope he learned a lesson. Our Nana tells me, that even though all her girls are 50+, she still worries about them. So I guess, as moms we never stop worrying!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Every parent's nightmare...I am now dreading even more, the day my oldest moves out! I may have to make sure he has a sofa bed with my name on it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh MY!

    I'm glad it wasn't any worse... :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. OMG How scary! It looks awful, but thank goodness he did not lose his arm. Sounds like a typical male though, playing it down! My little boy also had stitches once without numbing. He was very brave and nearly lost his toe. He was only 7 at the time. I think no matter how old they are they will always be our little boys and we will fret no matter what! I hope he heals quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  13. OMG how scary is that. I can't believe he might have lost his arm, that must have been terrifying to hear about!

    I can't believe he didn't have pain killers/anaesthetic!

    ReplyDelete
  14. HOLY CRAP! And now THIS, THIS is why we mother's worry. I am faint of heart and almost gagged when I saw that Lisa! WOW.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That looks painful. Two days later, and well on the way to recovery. My sisters took 6 months before they told my mom my one sister went into the river on her horse down a steep embankment and had a tough time getting out. I worry over my kids too, but once the deed is done, we get photos too, and there is sometimes wound envy;-). Okay, not so much, but we are all oglers and want to see the wound at it's worst. We have photos of the appendix scars and the many head smash goose eggs and the off the treadmill face plant and the hands in the pocket-gravel face plant. Nothing as serious as almost loosing an arm or ones life with a knife. The bigger the kid, the more dangerous the injuries. My day is coming.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh Lisa! This is so scary and it looks so PAINFUL! I'm glad he is okay. I freaked out when I saw this in bloglines, the pics were so POW in my face it made me shudder.
    Oh I just feel for you and for your boy, again I am so glad he is okay! This really makes my wound obsolete. He is such a trooper....NO he is extremely silly for not numbing it. That just sounds very testosterone driven. BOYS!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow..stupid lucky boy. Scary though he's at the point where he doesn't have to tell mom..you know he waited cause he thought you would be upset and he didn't want to worry you..kids.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yikes, that looks horrible, but thankfully he still has his arm. I do hope he learned a lesson!!

    (btw, I love the new site!!)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yikes! Sure hope he is feeling better now.....I think I am glad I had a girl! No anasthesia? WHY?

    ReplyDelete