Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Bad Luck Comes in Threes? I Hope So.

This has not been a good year for Jonathan. I know many kids have many multiple trips to the emergency room by the time they are 9-years-old. Jonathan just saved his up for one year.
Back in February Jonathan was playing in the sunroom and split open his scalp. Three stitches later he was as good as new. Fast forward to November 3rd. Jonathan fractures his ankle in a bounce house. A bounce house for Pete's sake! Another week and a half and he should be able to wear two shoes again.
While this last accident did not involve a trip to the ER, it had the potential to be the worst of them all. Jonathan told me Saturday evening that his left eye was bothering him. It felt like something was in there. I looked at his eye and saw a spot in the center of his pupil. The only way I know to describe it is that it looked like eye gunk. But it was stuck in the middle of his eye. Strange. I put Visine in his eye to try to wash it out. Didn't budge. I suggested that he try to gently wipe his finger across his eye to get it out/off. He couldn't do it. Water splashed in his face did not help either. I questioned him about what he had done that day and we decided that maybe he had scratched his eye on a sticker bush while playing in the neighborhood that afternoon. Finally he went to bed.
Sunday I asked him about it. The spot was still there, but he did not complain about it very much that day.
After school on Monday he said his eye was bothering him so we went to the eye doctor. I really thought it was probably just a scratch. The doctor came in and looked at his eye through his microscope and said, "I am glad you came in when you did. This is one tough kid. I am pretty sure he has a piece of steel in his eye. It has started to rust." STEEL?! In my baby's eye?! RUST?!! I felt sick.
The doctor got the speck out. It looked like a fleck of black pepper. When you are talking about your eye, that is huge. The he had to work on the rust stain in Jonathan's eye. I'll spare you the details.
We have several different types of drops to put into his eye several times a day. His "bandage" is a contact lens. He will probably have to take a steroid to help the healing process. He will probably always have a slight stain in his eye that only a doctor will be able to see.
Bottom line: he is going to be OK. Once again he has been lucky considering what could have been.
We have no idea how this happened. I have threatened to dress him in bubble wrap, a hard hat, and safety glasses from now on.

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