So, tonight, during the course of bike polo, and well before I’d arrived, Timmy wacked the back of his head against a concrete pillar. Whe I first saw it, I thought it wasn’t that bad, but after a second look, I realized the wound, while small, was all the way through the skin and really needed some kind of closure. I jokingly said I could stitch it up if we could find a needle and thread.

Now, I do have some pretty good first aid training and experience under my belt, so when Timmy actually wanted me to stitch it up, I thought, ok, no problem, told him it would hurt, but we could do it. So we all went back to grant’s house, and we got out a needle and thread, I sterilized it in bleach, and we waited for grant to get back from the store with some peroxide to clean out the wound. Before you even think it, yes, I know that peroxide robs the tissue of oxygen, but iodine is harder to get in the middle of the night.

We all go into the dining room and I lay down a towel and pour in the disinfectant. It’s a little cut, but it really needed like two stitches to close it and keep out infection. It wasn’t going to close on its own. So, I stick the needle in. It goes through with a little pushing, and then refuses to come out the other side. So I pull it out, bend the needle some more, and try again. Still no joy; the point is just too dull.

We talk about taking him to a doc-in-a-box clinic, and Grant is looking up phone numbers when somebody brings up the possibility of super glue. I don’t remember who, but I’m still kicking myself for not thinking of it before I tried to stitch him up. It’s perfect for little out of the way wounds that need to be closed but can’t be sutured for whatever reason (lack of insurance and sharp needles this time). So, Grant goes to the store again, gets some super glue, and the cut is fixed up better than the ER would have done in about five seconds.

Moral of the story: Don’t forget the super glue.

Posted by Matt on 2009-03-27T00:00:00Z GMT