$550.00 Glue
Who knew glue could be so expensive? A few weeks ago William had a pot fall on his head, which caused a deep open hole. It was after 10pm, which meant the Urgent Care was closed. There was blood gushing everywhere, but it was a wound I am very familiar with -- I have seen it many times before, on Daniel. As I stopped the bleeding, I had to determine what to do next. It was a little too open to just put a bandaid on, and I was worried about infection. After some inner conflict, we decided to take him to the Emergency Room.
William was a total trooper, and after the initial shock from the pot falling on his head, and seeing all the blood, he stopped crying really quickly. He was a little shaky, but this kid is tough-stuff.
After some waiting, the doctor determined all it needed was glue. We watched as the Doctor pinched the forehead skin together, and smeared glue on William's head. It was a very poorly done glue-job. I have seen many, and I knew it was no good. I just kept thinking that it was really unfortunate we had to go to the ER, just for glue!
A few days later the glue started peeling-off, and the wound was open again. (It was a really bad glue job!) I treated the wound by keeping it constantly covered with Neosporin, to try and reduce scarring. I have been treating it like that daily. It is looking a lot better.
A few days ago we got the bill from the Emergency Room, and the little fiasco cost $550.00! Just for GLUE! That same procedure would have cost us a $25.00 copay at the Urgent Care.
I have come to the conclusion that I need to take some basic medical training, so I can learn how to properly super-glue wounds back together. I mean, really? $550.00?! I could have closed his skin together, and done a much better job with the glue.
I wonder if you can buy that medical glue somewhere…? Or be trained how to do basic things like glue and stitches…? Seriously, with 3 boys, who knows what kind of flesh wounds we have in store!
Anyway, from now on, all wounds in this house must take place between the Urgent Care hours of 8am-8pm.
No exceptions!
My aunt is well trained and very experienced nurse. When Susie split her chin open last year (deep enough cut that we could see the fat..gross..), she told us what to do to avoid urgent care. Wash it with hand soap, rinse well, and use SUPER GLUE. No kidding. She told Steve to glue it back together with super glue. He did, and it healed up really well. Super glue!! Coincidentally, I split my chin open in the same place when I was a kid. I went in and had stitches. My scar--way WORSE. You can see where every stitch was. Luckily it's not on a very visible place. Glad William is healing up!
ReplyDeleteThere is always major sticker shock when you see those bills! It's pretty outrageous. With 4, not so very cautious boys, I don't know how we've gotten by without broken bones or even cuts that require any kind of stitching or glue. The only reason we've gone to the ER is for croup and an allergic reaction to antibiotics. I better knock on wood when talking about my boys being pretty accident free for 11 years. I don't know how that's happened!
ReplyDeletewell that's a bummer for sure! aren't there 24-hr urgent cares out there somewhere?? ER bills are the worst. URGH!
ReplyDeleteOuch! (The cut, AND the bill.) I like the super glue idea for the right kinds of wounds. I just looked up some guidelines for usage; here's the site if you're interested- http://www.ehow.com/how_4450308_use-superglue-cuts.html
ReplyDeleteKayla - I know where to send the kids when they get hurt from now on -- to you! ;-)
ReplyDeleteRachelle - it is a MIRACLE that your boys have avoided injury like they have! Knock, knock, knock on wood!
Erin - I could not find a 24 hour Urgent Care? I looked, but no luck!
Rachel - thanks for the site link! I am still nervous determining whether or not it is safe to glue wounds myself. Yikes!
My boy ran into the bottom of a bright yellow drinking fountain last summer. Still not sure how he did that... I probably should have taken him for stitches, but a friend had super glue, and suggested that I try it. It was awesome. He has a scar, but you can only see it after I cut his hair. I'd definitely invest in some. Especially since you can use the other $545 on something else! Like a vacation!
ReplyDelete