Tysen's Accident (caution- some bloody images!)

For the past week, Tysen and baby Bryce have both been sick with Bronchitis. It was especially worrisome for me when Bryce caught it. He is still so little- only just barely 3 months now. It has been so hard to listen to him wake up in the middle of the night, coughing and gagging. Fortunately it hasn't turned into Whooping Cough, but we are still keeping an eye on it. To top off the week, on Saturday we took Tysen to the emergency room. The fact that he hasn't been feeling the greatest only made this ordeal that much worse...

This was the first time we have taken one of our children in to the E.R. for a serious accident.

On Friday night, it got down to 21 degrees here at Aspen Grove. So, we had some pipes freeze. Not sure if any broke or not, but Jim went out to shut off some water valves on Saturday around noon (right after the first session of General Conference) and decided to take Aspen and Tysen along to get them out of the house for a little bit. They were down by the pool, Jim was pulling a sewer lid up to shut off the water line beneath it, and he flipped it up on it's side and rolled it- not knowing that Tysen was standing right beside him, directly in the path of the rolling lid. It caught Tysen's left foot, rolling right over his big toe and his 2nd toe. Those lids are VERY heavy. Tysen was only wearing a pair of crocs, and some thick socks- and the lid just sliced right through his big toe, near the end. It rolled over just the end of his second toe and no damage was done to the bone, just some bruising- and he will lose that toenail. But his big toe was severed. Flesh, bone, toenail and all. The skin under the toe was the only thing still connected. It cut through everything right on top of the nail bed. It was awful! Jim came running into the house carrying Tysen & yelling at me that we had to go to the hospital, Aspen was hysterically crying, and Tysen was crying too. Jim set Tysen on the table and ran into the bathroom looking for some gauze. That was the first time I got a look at what had happened. I about passed out. We had one of the girls from downstairs run up to watch Aspen and Madi, and Jim & I took Tysen and Bryce and went to the hospital.

 Yep, pretty bad. The tip was split down both sides and from front to back. It took 27 stitches. The nail bed was split in a star-like pattern rather than just straight up the middle. The tip of the toe bone is separated, as well as another little piece that was removed. The Doc sewed the toenail back on to promote proper healing of the nail bed. We are hopeful that it will grow back as normally as possible. He will lose the nail off the 2nd toe as well.

 My sweet little boy, trying so hard to be brave, but feeling better after the morphine kicked in.

 Fully sedated, while the Doc took a look.

 A look at things after washing away the dried blood.

 All stitched up & looking pretty good. I guess.

Bandaged and ready to go.

Today, it is 2 days later. Jim took Tysen back in to have the bandage changed and so the Doc could take a look and see how things are healing. He was worried about it, because it didn't quite look right. They called in a podiatrist, who recommended we only wrap it lightly in some gauze, and not elevate it too much to try to promote bloodflow. We will take T back in a week to have the stitches removed, and hopefully things will be looking better.  

Here he is, waiting for the Podiatrist to come check things out. My happy little boy, despite everything. 

This one might make you sick. It certainly churns my stomach.

Despite everything, Tysen has been very brave. He has been quite fussy and whiny, and since he is not supposed to walk, we have had to carry him everywhere which is hard for him. Last night in his prayers, he prayed that his foot would get better quickly so that he could play again. It's hard to watch my own little boy go through the pain & difficulty this has brought him, and as a parent I find myself wishing over and over that it could be me instead of him going through it. But I know it could have been a whole lot worse, and I am so grateful that we were able to get him to the hospital right away. Fortunately, guys don't really care what their toes look like so much. He won't have to worry about getting a pedicure, or wearing sandals or anything. Sure do love this little kid!