A Rite of Passage

Noah experienced his first real finger cut with a pocket knife. We were at the Father's and Son's camp-out and Noah's favorite thing to do when we are camping is carry his pocket knife. We decided that we would find some roasting sticks to carve. We each found a stick and each starting sharpening the tip, while Deeken watched on. Before I knew it, there was a pause, followed by a quick look at me, followed by onset of the pain. Noah cried out and started shaking his left hand. Blood started to splatter on his shirt and on his face. I quickly grabbed his finger and held pressure, and we started back toward camp. As we walked in to camp, I asked one of the other doctors in our ward if he felt like doing some suturing. We washed it up, got a good look at it, and decided that this cut would be better treated in the ER instead of stitched in the field. I did have some lidocaine and suture with me, but knowing Noah, I thought it best to have other medications for relaxation and amnesia on board. We loaded up and made the 20-30 minute drive to the hospital. Noah was crying for Amy, so I called her and she met us there. The staff at the peds ER were fantastic at diverting Noah's attention and the Versed worked wonders. Noah was pretty chilled out after the Versed took effect! The lidocaine injection was a little painful, but a strong assistant was holding Noah's arm down. Five stitches closed the wound nicely. It really was a pretty deep cut, and was about 2 cm long. He cut through the corner of his nail, so a couple of the stitches were a bit tricky. A little trauma, a little drama, and now just another one for the memory books!--Written by Dad