OUCH!

Let me preface this post by saying I don't rush my boys to the doctor at the first sign of discomfort.  I usually give it a day or two to let the body heal on it's own before I consider calling the doctor.  So I was a bit hesitant when the nurse told me to take Reid to the ER!!  Here's what happened:

The boys were walking in and out of the front door when the door slammed on Reid's little finger and sliced it open.  There was lots of blood and when I went to rinse it under the sink, Reid screamed as the whole nail flapped open!  Of course this was 5:00pm and all the doctors would be leaving.  I called Josh just to tell him I was taking Reid to the after hours doctor because he probably needed stitches, no big deal.  Well when I called the nurse and told her where the cut was (at the base of the nail bed) she said I needed to take him to the ER because the doctors office wasn't equipped to handle that.  She said that if the cut was that low, they didn't have anyway of saving the nail, whereas the ER did.  Seriously?!?  So the longer I talked to her the more worried I became.  I loaded up the boys in their car seats (blood was everywhere) and away we went to the ER. 

By the time we got there Reid stopped crying.  Connor, on the other hand, was scared and continued to cry! They took x-rays of his hands and I had Reid tell his finger to say "cheese" each time they took a picture.  Long story short (and after being there for 3 hours) the doctor said he had a severe crush injury.  He didn't break any bones but he will lose the nail.  The doctor put him on antibiotics since the finger was so exposed and could easily become infected.

 Showing off his new splint.

 Ironically, his shirt says, "ouch!"

 Thank goodness for TV!!

 He couldn't get it wet so I put a plastic bag around his hand!!

All in all he was such a trooper and tough guy!!  It's starting to heal but still looks really bad and gross.  We go for his well check tomorrow so I'll report back on what the doctor says.

Now I'll patiently wait for that ER bill!! sigh

Update: Here is a picture of his finger about a week and a half after the incident.  It's getting better slowly but surely: