Nolan was helping to prune the back hedge after lunch today. When he picked up the pruning shears, he received a cut that dripped blood through the house and soaked multiple cloths, so we decided to take him to North York General Hospital Emergency Department.
Same chair in the same waiting room as when he was here about two years ago for his fractured wrist.It was fairly quiet, and we were registered pretty quickly. I was screened for covid, given a bracelet and told that I didn’t have in/out privileges. If Nolan had to stay, I was staying too (ie, no switching parents).The cut.The doctor took one very quick look and said “Yup, we’ll have to suture that.” He made sure the lights worked and went off to get his torture tools 😉Cleaning with iodine prior to anesthetic.
Three pokes to freeze his finger. Nolan said he didn’t feel the first, but the last two hurt. Then we had to wait 15 minutes for the anesthetic to take effect.
While waiting, we listened with great interest to the happenings in the next cubicle where a man caught a falling mason jar that subsequently shattered in his hand. We learnt that soap and water were best for wounds – no hydrogen peroxide or iodine as they’re too harsh. We also found out that for hand and foot wounds, they generally wouldn’t suture wounds after 8 hours, as there’s too much risk of trapping bacteria already in the wound and causing an infection. Leaving the wound without a bandage results in the fastest healing, so only bandage if you’re going to get the appendage dirty when using it.
It took the doctor about 3 mins to put in the stitches. Don’t play this video if you’re squeamish! 🤢Done! The stitches stay in for 10 days.A bandaid was put on just before we left. It’s to be kept dry (shower with a bag over his hand) for two days, then the bandaid comes off.
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4 thoughts on “Pruning shears and 5 stitches”
Brave gardener. I remember when your father got stitches in his tongue. No anithetic for him (or anyone else with a cut there). Good for a full recovery.
Edward Sissorhands you are not.
Brave gardener. I remember when your father got stitches in his tongue. No anithetic for him (or anyone else with a cut there). Good for a full recovery.
Edward Sissorhands you are not.
Well done Nolan, very brave. The Dr did a lovely job on those stitches.
No gardening for a while.