How did you celebrate the last day of school?

School let out at 10:45am. The boys were pumped to start their summer vacation. The weather was great and we were going to have some lunch then hit the beach. I jumped on the computer to do some work and Joseph headed to the kitchen to make some victory pain au chocolat. Then there was a scream and yelling. I KNEW Joseph had cut himself. I ran to him to see how badly. It was bad. There was blood all over the counter. I grabbed some paper towel, wrapped it around Joe's thumb and talked to him to calm him down. I told him I would have to take a look at it to see if he would need stitches. As soon as I pulled the paper towel back I knew we were in trouble. Greta and Edwin were now in the kitchen, I told them to put their shoes back on because we had to head to the doctor. That's when they started crying. 

We rushed to the medical clinic. I held Joe's wrist tightly as well as his thumb then raised them above his heart. After waiting in the clinic for 15 mins the doctor was able to see us. He nonchalantly stated that he would take a look at the cut and said it might need stitches but possibly only stereostrips. When he pulled back the towel, he looked over at me and asked how I was doing. He then asked if I could handle the blood. I told him I could. He had me look into the wound... that was still gushing blood. As he quickly swabbed away the blood he showed me how the cut went deep right toward the tendon. He said that he would have to send us up to the hospital. As we left the clinic I decided that it would be rather inconvenient to have Greta and Edwin in the emergency room with me. Luckily, I have family that lives near by. I raced over to James and Tracy's home to drop off E & G. Thank you Tracy for watching my kids. 

Joseph and I then headed to the hospital. We had another 20 min wait, despite the fact that the clinic doctor had faxed up an admittance sheet for Joe explaining what happened and what needed to be done. I had left my cell phone at home and felt that I should give Ryan a quick call to let him know what was going on. Just as Ryan answered and asked "What number are you calling from?" the nurse appeared and told us it was our turn. I quickly blurted out to Ryan "we are at the hospital. Joseph sliced his tendon. I have to go." Not the best way to break the news!

We went into triage and the nurse asked us to explain what happened. She then proceeded to tell me how lazy clinic doctors are and how he could have done the stitches himself. Once we were settled, the nurse looked at Joseph's thumb and called the doctor over. Every time a doctor or nurse looked at Joe's thumb, they would poke and prod it and it would bleed all over. 

Joe was so patient, calm and brave. The doctor felt that he needed to call in the hand specialist. The specialist came down and determined that the tendon was ok but he had cut through the ligaments into the joint.

She stitched up the inside of the thumb then stitched up the outside flesh. I tried to keep Joe's attention away from what was happening. We talked about books we've read, what Joe wanted to do for his birthday and made summer plans. 

The specialist then build a half cast around Joe's thumb and wrist to help with the healing. And then told us our plans for the waterslides and beach weren't going to happen for awhile. 

So, Joe was in a cast for 2 weeks. During this time the weather really heated up. We couldn't resist the call of the beach anymore. For Joe's birthday, almost two weeks after the accident, I wrapped Joe's arm up in a bunch of plastic bags, and off we went.

This is how Joe would one-arm swim.

Despite all this, Joe has been so patient about all of it. He kept apologizing for ruining MY summer! Sweet kid. Always thinking of others. 

 He had a sleep over with two of his cousins. Greta had to join the boys too.

 Joe has now graduated to a plastic split that he has to wear for 6 weeks. He will be free of it on Aug 22nd! Just in time for school to start. He still isn't supposed to get his splint wet. I bought a plastic vacuum bag at a med store to keep his hand dry so he can do some swimming this summer. Once the splint comes off Joe has to do a round of physio.

Our sweet Joe-Joe is now 10 years old! He is such a wonderful boy. We are so blessed to have him as part of our family. He excels at academics. He loves basketball, swimming, skiing and reading. Joseph is responsible, kind, a great example for his family, a peacemaker and he has a great sense of humour.
We love our Joseph. Greta prays for his thumb everyday.