Stitches in the Tongue

Hailey got this little duck and blanket to help keep her calm and happy as she was coming out of the sedation.

Hard to tell...but that is her stitched up tongue. She got 2 stitches on the bottom of the cut and 5 stitches on top.

The doctor had to stop stitching because Hailey was coming out of sedation. They gave her another dose of medicine and let it work before they proceeded stitching again.

Coming out of sedation...Hailey was not a happy camper coming out of it. Once the medicine was fully out of her system, she cried and cried and was trying to pull out the stitches and did not like the feel of the stitches or her tongue. It was so sad to watch her try and try to get those stitches out. She didn't want to do anything, she didn't want to be held, then she didn't want to be put down. She didn't want to drink (and we had to get her to drink something before they would let us leave), she just wanted to get all the "stuff" off of her (IV, wraps, stickers on her chest from the EKG monitor, the oxygen monitor off her toe) and go home!

At home after her experience at the ER. Once Hailey got home she was much happier and was showing everyone her tongue.

Coming out of sedation

See Hailey so sad, she didn't know what she wanted, but knew she didn't feel well at all.

Hailey waiting for the doctor. They gave her crayons and pages to color. She had to get an IV so the nurse could give her medication through it. A blessing...the nurse got the IV in with 1 poke!! We had to wrap Hailey in a blanket exposing only her left hand, I had to lean on top of her so she wouldn't move at all when they put the IV in. The whole time I was praying they would get it in on the first attempt, and they did.

During the procedure. The blank string coming out of her mouth was a stitch in her tongue so the respiratory person could hold her tongue out, so the doctor could stitch it up. She had oxygen on the entire time and they sucked out quite a bit of blood and saliva. The procedure lasted about 40 minutes.

Getting out her crayons to color.

The cut in her tongue. At first glance the doctor said it was about 1 cm long and deep (that is usually the criteria they use when they think about stitching a tongue. only 10% of tongues get stitched), but as the doctor started stitching he said it was a good 2 cm across. The doctor told me that she was right on the border of stitching it or not, I knew the doctor was hesitant because he didn't want to put Hailey under sedation (I didn't was well), but after he started stitches he was glad we made the decision to do so.

Hailey bit through her tongue October 4th. We went to lunch at Artic Circle. Hailey, Kali and Tyler went into the play place as I went to order our food. Another mom came up to me carrying Hailey and said she fell off the step. Her mouth was full of blood. I didn't know if she big her tongue, cheek or if a tooth had come out or what. I was juggling taking care of Hailey, holding Braxton and trying to put my wallet away. The cashier just looked at me and wanted me to sign my receipt. I wanted to say, look...can you help me out. Finally she got some napkins so I could wipe out Hailey's mouth. We got things settled down and I looked in her mouth and realized it was her tongue that was cut pretty bad. I had never seen anything that bad on a tongue before. I knew they didn't put stitches in a lot of tongues. So we stayed and finished eating (the bleeding was stopping)...and all Hailey wanted was the ice-cream!! We left and went home, I kept looking in her mouth and the bleeding had stopped. So I put her down for a nap and would decide after she woke up. In the mean time, I called her doctor's office and spoke to the nurse. After describing the cut to her, she told me that it would be best to go to the ER because if they had to put stitches in it, they would have to sedate her. Jarel was on his way home, which was a blessing (he was done with work) and Hailey was getting up. I looked again and it was bleeding again. So we made the decision to take her in. I took her to the ER at the Riverton Hospital and Jarel stayed home with the kids. When the doctor came, he knew it would need the stitching but didn't want to because he would have to sedate Hailey. But I felt at peace and knew we needed it stitched and it would be okay. In the mean time, at home Neil and Shirley came over to the house so that Jarel could come and be with us. He arrived about 10 minutes before the procedure was done, but was there to help me with Hailey has she was coming out of the sedation. We were there for 4 hours and Hailey couldn't be more happier when we left. The only thing that got Hailey to drink some apple juice so we could leave was to tell her that she could see Grandpa when she got home. That did the trick (she is a Grandpa's girl). But when we got home, Grandpa had taken Zoe home and wasn't there...but Grandma was and that was the next best thing. She snuggled up to Grandma and showed everyone her tongue. But once Grandpa came back, nothing else mattered, she was on Grandpa's lap and didn't leave!! The following days were spent eating popsicles, yogurt and ice-cream. She actually has done quite well with it. I was afraid she would try and pull at the stitches, but she left them alone and they have now since dissolved and the only thing you can see is a small bump and scar on her tongue. The doctor said it could last the rest of her life, or slowly it will go away.

A first time in the ER with a child...