ATV, Tractors, and Ambulances...

For the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to head out to the ranch. I know, we're crazy to hit the road with an almost 4 year old and an almost 3 week old, but hey, we live life on the ragged edge.

Shelly has been taking Matthew to swimming lessons each afternoon, and she generally gets home a little after 6:00 PM. Needless to say, by the time they got home, we loaded up, and Shelly got the baby fed and squared away, we finally pulled out of the driveway around 9:00 PM. After running through Chick-fil-a, and making a stop to feed Jonathan along the way, we pulled up at the ranch around 1:30am. Not too bad (I make it in just over 3 hours travelling alone). By the time we unloaded and got the kids in bed, it was about 2:30 by the time my head hit the pillow.

The day was a pretty full day. Matthew had not been to the ranch since late December, so we had to ride around the ranch in the Pathfinder, then the ATV, then ride the tractor for good measure. We went to town and picked up chicken strips for lunch, then hit the rack for a nap. After our nap, Doc (my father-in-law) took him out to feed the fish while I grilled steaks for dinner.

After dinner was when the excitement started...

We were just about finished with dinner when Matthew had to go to the restroom. I went and helped him. When he went back to the kitchen, he climbed onto the bench that my mother-in-law was sitting on - just as she was getting up from the bench. (the table has a picnic table type bench on one side). Well, the bench tipped over and the sharp edge hit Matthew on the big toe of his right foot, which put the whole house into high gear...

I came out of the bathroom in time to hear the crash and Matthew scream. Doc jumped up and said we needed to get to the hospital, and that's when I saw the aftermath. The end of Matthew's big toe was almost completely cut off. Doc and Shelly wrapped it up while I grabbed my wallet, shoes and Doc drove Matthew and I to town like our butts were on fire. (Shelly had to stay back with Jonathan)

It a moment of sheer brilliance, Ron (our quasi care taker for the ranch) met us in town and suggested that to avoid the long wait in the local ER, that we should stop at the EMS / fire station just as we entered town and let the paramedics check it out. It's good that we stopped because the hospital we were heading to in Killeen wasn't equipped to handle the repair, so the ambulance hauled us to Scott & White in Temple. This place is a level 1 trauma unit, so they are supposed to be the cat's meow for medical care.

Well, long story short, they stitched the end of his toe back on, it's obvious now that the repair didn't work and the end of the toe will need to come back off (they told me that they held little hope that the repair would be successful.) The good news is that they said it shouldn't effect his balance or mobility, so we're thankful in that respect

Matthew has been a little trooper throughout the whole ordeal, and I hope he will continue to do well. We'll call his pediatrician tomorrow morning and get an appointment with him, which will likely just be the beginning of the process. I'm sure we'll get referred to someone else (plastic surgeon?) to repair what can be repaired.

Now for a little bit of a rant...

I'm a good parent. I love my family and am attentive to my kids. I try my best to keep them safe. Shelly does too. We spend more money in health insurance premiums annually than we would on actual medical costs if we had to pay 100% for each visit because we want to have the best available in the case of an emergency. We buy good carseats and they are installed properly. Matthew even wears a helmet and is securely strapped to me when we ride the ATV. Why do I say all this? It's because when we were loaded up in the ambulance about to make the trip to the hospital, a cop opened the back door and refused to let them transport us until he had questioned me about how the injury had happened. I found out later that he had already questioned Doc.

OK, maybe there are some crappy parents out there, but here I am in the ambulance with my son, trying to get the best medical care money can buy, and this asshat is questioning me like one of us caused the injury - he literally asked me if any of us had pushed him or otherwise contributed to the injury.

I've calmed down a little about it and I was nice to the cop and answered his questions, but it still burns me a little...