I arrived home to a disturbing scene: Erin’s white car was parked in the driveway with the passenger side covered with streaks of what looked like blood. I saw Micah swimming in the pool, so I thought that perhaps Erin had hit a deer or another animal on the way home. But then Erin told me the blood was Micah’s.
They had been hiking near to home when Micah decided to sift some dirt with his hands next to the trail and must have slashed his finger on a piece of glass or some other very sharp object. Erin did not see what caused the cut, but she knew that it was bad by the amount of blood he was losing and that she needed to get it taken care of it quickly. She tried putting pressure on it while she drove him home, but Micah opted to hold his hand out the window, thus the blood covered car. Once they arrived at the house she put pressure on his finger until the blood flow stopped, then let him swim while she looked for some way to securely bandage his finger.
When I realized the blood on the car was Micah’s I ran to the pool to check the gash on his finger which had begun bleeding again. Getting Micah out of the pool when he wants to swim can be a challenge, however he did respond to the urgency of the request, and probably to the pain in his finger as he came right out. The cut clearly could use stitches, however the last time he cut his hand and had stitches, the stitches stayed in less than 20 minutes before he ripped them out. Bandages have an even shorter shelf life on his body, he can take off the most elaborate bandages in seconds. We needed a different solution quick. Erin asked if I had any medical liquid glue, but I had not heard of it. I said no, but I always have Super Glue in the kitchen. I ran to get it as we moved Micah to his room where we could put pressure on his cut while he lay on his bed.
Once the blood flow slowed, we applied the Super Glue, still holding Micah in a resting position with no access to touching his injured finger. The glue dried quickly so after a few minutes we let Micah sit up. He immediately tried to remove the glue, but it lived up to its name, and held super well. In fact, even later that evening, when Micah did manage to reopen the cut just a bit, most of the glue held until his body was able to heal up the wound.
I will still look in the pharmacy for the medical glue that Erin referred to, but I am skeptical that it can possibly be as effective a sealant as the Super Glue that saved the tip of Micah’s finger. So this month’s Micah Lens ends with a 5 star review for Super Glue. Every family should have it on hand as you never know when it might be needed for the most urgent of tasks.
Jan Lessard Peightell July 15, 2024