We only got a block away from the hospital when the phone rang. Molly was calling to tell us that Luke's school called her to let her know he had an accident and needed stitches AND knocked out his front tooth. They couldn't get a hold of Sarah (obviously), or Patrick (in a work meeting.) We deferred from telling Sarah before her surgery.
We took off to pick up Luke. I spent all the traveling time talking to the School, the Dentist and the Doctor's office. We picked up Luke and after talking to the Dentist, decided he needed to go there first because the amount of time you have to replant a tooth is less than the amount of time you have to put in stitches. Luke assured us it was a baby tooth, but I wasn't sure, and couldn't get Patrick on the phone. I REMEMBERED taking a cute picture of him with his toothless smile. Of course the kid was right. He lost 4 bottom teeth but not the uppers. The dentist took an Xray to make sure there wasn't any more damage to his incoming teeth still in his gums. BTW, Boy Genius navigated us to his Dentist's office.
From the Dentist, we went to the Pediatrician. I had concerns about whether or not they could handle it there or if we should head right to Children's Hospital. I called ahead and asked. They said they'd look, and the clinic was on the way to the Hospital. I checked in with him, re-explained the situation, and asked for someone to come out and look at him. After 45 minutes, I returned to the front desk. Fuming. She sent someone out, who put us in a back room and sent for the Doctor. He walked in, took one look, and said, "Children's." I chastised the Doctor about the wait to be seen, and asked that he instruct his staff on how to handle this in the future. I sent Bob and Luke to the car to avoid embarrassment and gave a few words to the front desk about our colossal waste of time with a bleeding kid. ( BTW, they do not have the skill to stitch a laceration that goes from the pigmented lip to the less pigmented skin. Period. They could have told me that on the phone!)
Furious now, we buckled the bleeding swollen kid into the car again, and headed for the Hospital. Two and a half hours later we were on our way home. Wow.
For his part, Luke was very brave. He never cried. He did worry about the actual stitches, but I told him they had numbing stuff and they wouldn't hurt. I never let him look in the mirror. The staff was wonderful! They explained everything to him in the most non-threatening language they could use. They showed him all the equipment beforehand. He spent his waiting time scheming on how to get more money out of the tooth fairy. By his accounting, if a regular 'lost' tooth was worth a $1; then a run into a pole and a 'knocked-out' tooth was worth maybe $10-$20. Or as Luke corrected me a hundred times that day: "A METAL pole."
BEFORE STITCHES.
AFTER STITCHES.
BTW, apparently they were playing a game in the gym that Luke called "Birdie" that involved a METAL pole and a bunch of 6 year-olds chasing each other. And I call that, "An Accident waiting to happen! ........And after a huge delay, Sarah's operation was a success."
