I’m usually tough when it comes to the “gore” of the human body. Once, for a story I wrote on anesthesia, I observed a man having his knee replaced, his leg split wide open, all tendons and bones revealed. When my husband was going though treatment for lymphoma, I watched a doctor drill a thick needle into his pelvis to draw bone marrow. I used to love watching Operation when I had time for TV. But when my oldest son smashed his mouth on our floor in an unspectacular face plant and the blood gushed out of his fat, purple lip, I had a hard time taking it.
The little guy is understandably terrified of blood, so the sight of his dripping out of his mouth was worse for him than the pain from the gash in his lower lip. The gums above his two front teeth were bleeding too, and he asked in between tears, “Mommy, will it bleed forever?”
It was heart-breaking, but of course I tried to remain calm, giving him an ice-cold washcloth to suck on and encouraging deep breathing to mostly useless effect. I gave him some Tylenol and held him while we watched Treehouse.
He eventually calmed down, but I was literally trembling for the next hour at least. And afterward I felt exhausted. It was so awful to see him so scared and so sad and so hurt.
I know it could have been a lot worse—I think of a friend who had to take her little one to emergency after he fell and slashed his tongue with his teeth, requiring dozens of stitches—but I was still taken aback by feeling so shaky. I just want to protect him forever.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of facing a major owie in your little one, how have you dealt with it?