It's been 2 weeks and 1 day since we had to take Jack Jack to the ER. I could have blogged about it earlier but I just wasn't ready. I think enough time has passed that I can keep my composure while retelling the story.
It was the day before father's day and we (Jack and I) were getting ready to go to the grocery store to shop for the father's day feast the next day. I was in Daniel's office getting money from our gun safe and he was standing next to me, apparently with his finger in the safe's door jam. I closed the door (unknowingly of course) and (here is where it gets hard) had to reopen the safe to retrieve the tiniest little tip of Jack's finger that had been pinched right off. He was screaming, bleeding all over, I was freaking out, panicking. I called Daniel and he was just putting his airboat in the water (luckily he wasn't already boating or he wouldn't have heard the phone ring). He said to get in the car and meet him at the hospital.
What a whirlwind I was! Grabbed my boy, with his little tip of finger on ice and drove faster than I ever have in my whole life. I was motivated by my little boy, still hysterical in the back seat. On our way Daniel called and said to meet him at the turnpike entrance, we were going to Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital in Orlando rather than St. Cloud Hospital. When we met up with Daniel we, together, wrapped up his finger a little bit to stop the bleeding (the bandaid I had applied earlier was long gone) and Daniel gave him a blessing that he would be calm, comfortable and feeling no pain. And the trip up to Orlando was peaceful! He wasn't crying anymore and was even a little cheerful.
We got to the hospital and had a great experience with the entire staff of medical professionals that served us. It was a really good experience there. They x-rayed and examined him, cleaned him all up, wrapped his finger up, taught us what we should do and sent us on our way. His entire nail was intact, the bone was fine and just the pad of his finger was gone. The doctor said the skin would grow back and the finger would be just a little shorter than it normally would but that he'd probably never notice a difference in it.
He is doing just fine. He was just fine since the blessing. Never seemed to be in any pain. It certainly hasn't slowed him down! Keeping the finger wrapped has been a bit of a challenge but for the most part he keeps it on just fine. We are down to just a bandaid now and besides being a little purple and scabby, his finger seems like it will make a full recovery.
Of course you can see how for awhile I was racked with enormous guilt. I'm doing better about it now and realize that I was blessed in many many ways that day. It could have been far far worse.
In many ways my testimony has been strengthened because of this experience. I have become closer to my Heavenly Father through prayer. I saw the power of the priesthood before my eyes. It is real. I was able to recognize and use one of my gifts of the spirit in which I knew that Jack's finger would heal just perfectly. And I can testify that Christ can truly take our pains and burdens from us. Can I also mention that earlier this week, as I was buying a few more first aid supplies, I ran into a women from church who had just shut her grandbabies finger in the car door accidently. It had split the nail and she just didn't know what to do, it was bleeding a lot and she didn't know if she should take her to the hospital, she didn't think there was anything they could do. And I knew exactly what she needed to do. I think she left there feeling confident and I felt like my experience was all part of a plan - sort of.
Here are a few pictures of my little trooper!
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