My Fearless Boy & a "lost"ear

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Well I got to ge on the other side of the fence this past week. My 12 yo decided to leave just 1.0 cm of his ear attached, Fx a clavicle and a finger. How? On his bicycle!! We have dirt bikes, quads and jet skis..he did this doing jumps on his bike!!

Thankfully ?? A stick pierced his ear & kept it in place until we got to the ER.

After being transferred to a trauma center he recieved Hyperbaric Txs which I must say I was sceptical about...he is doing well. The ear is intact and hearing is fine. The tx's made an incredibly awesome difference, visibly after just 2 hours!! :balloons:

Things I found interesting about this experience....

1.) He refused his sisters request to go in the house until I arrived because he didn't "want to bleed on moms floors" even though he was shocky at 160/100 and shaking like a leaf on a tree in a wind storm.

2.) He did a crab walk up the gurney at the ED because the resident had on "dirty" gloves and insisted that he change his gloves before he touched him. It was Betadine on the gloves LOL :rotfl: Can you tell he is a Nurses son??!!

3.) Once the nurses at the recieving facility found out that I was a nurse they spent LESS time with him assuming that I would meet his needs. Even though I empasized that this was NOT my area and bowed to their knowledge.

Anyway, he has one more reconstructive surgery to undergo...he is rather asymetrical at this time and then all will be well. Boys will be boys right?! So because his bike was wrecked we decided to buy another dependant on passing grades/catching up on schoolwork. What are ya gonna do? LOL

Can I please stress the importance of helmets here? even on "just" a bicycle!!

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Specializes in Critical Care / Psychiatry.

Awwww poor kid!

I hope he heals well.

That's hilarious about the dirty gloves!

A true nurse's kid for sure! :chuckle

Shel

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what a crazy thing! i am so glad he is on the mend. what a kooky kid :) ( i say this with affection) first the floors then the gloves....even in shock he keeps his wits about him!

PS:

i am the helmet police with my kiddos....thanks for a scary :uhoh21: story to push my point. I'll save it for a rainy day.

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Specializes in ICU.

(((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))) to you and your son and pass on to hem that we think he is a great kid!

I am such a helmet fan since the day I got a kid admitted and the helmet had a complete tyre print on it!!!! The kid was a bit concussed but otherwise fine!

They have actually legislated that anyone on a pushbike wears a helmet.

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I'm so glad this scary event is mostly behind you guys. It's nice to be able to joke about it now, isn't it?

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Your boy sounds like a real trooper and a big goof, to boot! Hope he heals up quickly!

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

Sorry to hear this happened. Glad it's working out ok. Some friendly advice... buy the helmet BEFORE the bike! :-) Make it a condition of being able to ride the bike, no matter what.

Best Wishes to you & your little "Evil Knevil". ( He was a daring stunt bike rider many years ago!) :-) An American actually! :-)

Oh.....and, NEVER let on that you are a nurse! The reasons are many & varied, and you experienced one of them first hand in this instance!

Cheers Grace

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

Oh man....I am glad that it isn't that bad! But get that kid a helmet!!! My DD hit a mailbox head on and if she hadn't had on her helmet she probably would have been doing the VonGogh thing too!

I love the dirty gloves thing :chuckle

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Specializes in Gen Surg, Peds, family med, geriatrics.

Yeow!! Poor kid. I hope he's better soon...although from what I read, I suspect that not much will stop him and he'll be up and doing jumps on something else before long. :chuckle He sounds like such a great kid! Imagine not wanting to bleed on mom's floors. Man, MY 12 year old (and 14 year old too come to think of it)would not only bleed on my floors but roll around in it making my house look like a crime scene out of CSI.

And yes, I too am a great fan of helmets.

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My son did a similar trick while still in grade school. All he remembers is the trip in the ambulance which was "cool". As for hyperbaric, I have cared for two kids with detached ears, surgically replaced. We ended up using leaches on one client because the ears are so vascular and choke up with blood quickly. So instead of hi-tech hyperbaric, we went to middle ages type tx. The good news is, her ear survived the trama and the treatment. Hate those wiggly things, though.

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.

I'm glad your son is ok! Sounds like he was a real trooper about the whole thing! I'm still cracking up about the "no blood on mom's floors"!:rotfl:

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Thanks for all the positive thoughts. If it was one place I knew would understand about the "Nurses" kid I knew it would be here!

As for the helmets, we have a plethera of them! I have shelves that are devoted to them. I worked for a long time on a vent unit and have seen many no helmet/seatbelt casualties. Unfortunately he got a case of let me show off it will never happen to me-itis, and Mom wasn't there to provide a spoonful of common sense.

I was trying to picture a nurse coming at him with a leech, :rotfl: ended up spitting my coffee all over my shirt!!

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