Lola's Stitches, Take 2: A Guest Post by Samantha

My day started innocently enough when I casually volunteered to take Lola to the doctor for her stitches removal. A minor scheduling snafu with a relatively easy fix was my thought but oh, how wrong I was! Aunts and Uncles everywhere, heed my words - Think before you speak and for goodness sake, don’t (for even a second) believe you are more capable than you truly are!!!!

With those warnings in mind, let’s recap the trip: Pick up from daycare was fast and efficient. Lola was thrilled to chatter about her day, especially her field trip to watch a Dental Show. Next, we talked briefly about what would happen at the doctor’s office: little scissors, a little pain, and then freedom from stitches and an ear as good as new.  We were ready! After a slight detour to the wrong building (I forgot to write down the actual street address), Lola and I arrived at the doctor’s office happy and nerve-free. The first hint (okay, let’s be honest, the second hint – see above) that I wasn’t as prepared as I thought came when the doctor asked when the accident happened. I honestly couldn’t remember and Lola’s memory is even worse than mine so she was absolutely no help.  With a shrug of the shoulders, I guessed Monday or Tuesday (the wrong answer in case you were wondering). The doctor wasn’t all that worried about the timeline and after handing me a lighted magnifying glass he proceeded to remove stitches. The first few came out easily enough with only a couple of whimpers from Lola but then disaster struck (okay, I’m exaggerating).  He wasn’t able to remove the stitch in the inner curl of her ear so he called in backup from a nurse.

To set the scene: Lola was on her side facing a mirrored wall; I was in the middle with the nurse on the left and the doctor on the right. The doctor asked the nurse to hold Lola’s ear in a certain way so he could remove the last stitch. She gently grabbed Lola’s ear and asked, “Like this?” Imagine my horror as I watched Lola’s ear start to re-tear and blood start to flow. The doctor shouted, “No, you’ll split it open,” Lola started crying, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts,” and I started sweating. We continued to work on the ear but I kept getting hotter and sweatier, my throat started to tighten, my eyesight grew blurry, and I realized that I was going to faint if I didn’t sit down immediately. I feebly said, “I need to sit down, I don’t understand, I don’t usually have a problem with blood.” The nurse took one look at my face and forced me into a chair and gave me a glass of water. The doctor graciously attributed my almost faint to heat and heightened emotions and asked for the door to be cracked open for fresh air. Lola continued to cry and the doctor decided to leave the last stitch in for a few more days.

To conclude the story: the doctor tells me to make another appointment for Thursday, wraps a small band aid around Lola’s ear with instructions not to remove it, and sends us on our way. He does warn me that Lola might or might not need plastic surgery when she is older to repair the small dimple created by the original stitches. (He thinks it will depend on what kind of parents she has; I think it will depend on whether or not Lola’s ear actually re-tore or if I’m truly exaggerating how bad it was.) In the end, Lola’s tears were cured by two princess stickers from the nurse and I mentally prepared myself for the upcoming conversation with Krystal and Eric all the while hoping that I didn’t get lightheaded again on the drive home.  

P.S. Lola is fine and seems relatively unfazed. I, on the other hand, will remain worried (and mentally scarred) until I hear how the follow up appointment goes on Thursday.