It was Pumpkin's first visit to the emergency room (well aside from when
he was born) and I'm still catching my breath. Pumpkin splashed some (supposedly less toxic than the run of the mill stuff) household cleaner in his eye this morning, and after trying to flush out his eye (as it says to do on the bottle and on our handy dandy emergency card) we realized he was an uncooperative almost two year old and most likely we were out of our league. I called the doctor, who said it would probably be fine, but to call poison control. Poison control sent me to the ER.
Our morning was crazy, me on the cell phone and calming Pumpkin, Honey on the house phone making preschool arrangements and getting Peanut ready. Once everyone got where they were headed, things calmed down a bit. The ER was quiet; we barely had to wait. All of the hospital staff were patient and wonderful with us. Once we had a plan, the Physician Assistant explained what she would do and how I could help. I explained it all to Pumpkin, and helped him understand that he would be uncomfortable, but it was necessary and I'd be here the whole time. She had to put drops in his eye, stain it and then look at it with a light to see if there had been any damage. She tested the pH of his eye. She looked in there again, she put some more stain in to see the other side...
So basically, he had multiple things going in and shining in his eye for like an hour. He complained, but he bounced back after every prod with a little snuggle, binky, and a snack. Just an aside -the staff was super intrigued with his
bento box lunch which I thought was pretty funny since everyone I know uses them, and were thrilled at the healthful meal choices inside. Makes me wonder what they usually see. Pumpkin was fascinated by the
pulse oximeter, and loved the little red light on his toe. He kept hiding his bracelets inside each other, and he loved looking at the fun pictures on the wall, especially the monkey.
When all was said and done, he was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion - he probably rubbed the cleaner into his eye when it first hit. We were given some ointment and we have a follow up with an ophthalmologist tomorrow. As we got ready to leave, the PA complemented me on how well Peanut did, and how I interacted with him, telling him what would happen and helping him stay calm. She was effusive in her compliments, and even said what a great mom I am, which really almost made me cry. After your kid gets into cleaning supplies, you do question your ability to parent to some extent, and hearing this was just what I needed. For a day I had always dreaded, the first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER was clearly a success. I'm so glad it's over. And yes, the cleaning solution is back safely in the closet where it belongs.
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