A Hole in Cole (images not for the squeemish)

So Jason is building a new gate on our fence. He ripped down old boards and while getting the saw to start on the new ones (and after warning the kids to NOT be playing in that area) Colson stepped bare footed onto a board that had a rusty nail sticking up. Ally ran in the house to alert us to the trauma. Jason arrived on the scene first as I was sure it probably wasn't a big deal ("Cole hurt his foot on a nail" was the report, I think). I went out a little later to see Cole standing still with his foot on one of the old boards with Jason down at ground level looking at the foot. Colson was crying and Jason was pumping out encouraging words. I quickly grabbed a stool and helped Cole sit down while not moving his foot. Jason reported that something must be curved or bent on the nail as he could not remove it and could tell something was poking from the inside when he attempted to gently pull.

We knew we'd have to take the board with us to the ER. Jason had to saw both ends a little closer to the foot so he didn't have a 6 foot board attached to his foot. I called my friend, Andrea, who was planning on coming over a little later, and asked her to come right away, which she did (Thank you Andrea!!). We carefully loaded Colson into the van. Jason had to carry him and I had to stabilize the foot and the board. He was crying but overall was being a super brave boy. We let him spread out in the van and I held his foot and the board on my lap. Here he is in the van waiting to go...

The first place we went to said they only accepted emergencies after 5:00 and they recommended another place. That place said "we'll take a look and see what we can do." After the awkward and painful trip into the 2nd place the doctor walked into the room, gave a weird speech about the foot and told us we'd have to go somewhere else. They recommended an orthopedic ER not too far away in case the nail was in a bone.

It is now more that hour that the nail has been in his foot and we are still driving. At one point he told me had to really go the bathroom - all of a sudden - we were just minutes away but trying to hold it just made his muscles jerk which made his foot pull against the nail and really hurt. Bless his heart, the little guy wet his pants - as if he were not already pitiful enough!

The orthopedic ER was great. They took us right back to a room (instead of making us try to set up in a waiting room and then move again). The were very attentive and quick. We let Cole play games on my phone to keep him distracted. It seemed to do the trick.

They took X-Rays right in the room - what they revealed was the first thing that scared me. There was a barb on the nail that was pointing the opposite direction. The doctor said he was just going to have to pull the nail out but if the barb stayed in, which it sometimes did, he would have to take Cole in for SURGERY to remove it!! He'd have to be put under and everything.

They offered anesthesia, which we accepted. They gave him a shot in the foot. Cole cried. The foot didn't get numb. They gave him another shot. The foot still didn't get numb! The gave him ANOTHER shot of something even more powerful and finally Colson said "My foot feels fuzzy."

The doctor brought in his tools. I had already called, texted, and emailed whoever I could, begging them to pray that entire nail with barb would come out. It's not only the surgery that scared me, it was the price! Remember, we are still unemployed and consequently uninsured.

The tools went in and man, it took quite a bit of pulling, hard pulling, and out it popped. I will never forget the sound it made. That nail was IN THERE. Once the nail was out the Dr. grabbed tweezers and pulled out a second little bit... the barb. I had been so strong, laid back, patient and trusting but once I saw the barb come out my eyes filled with tears. Tears of relief.

The next set of X-Rays confirmed what we were hoping for....

During one of the times that we had to hold Cole and give him a shot Jason had told him he could have whatever he wanted for lunch and asked him what he wanted. He picked Arby's (?!). SO we headed on out of the ER (the fastest ER on the planet) and swung by Arby's on the way home.

When we got back, not only had Andrea taken wonderful care of my children but other friends had brought by a huge basket of snacks and juice boxes for the kids (Millards, YOU ROCK!). I was already so thankful to the Lord for His mercy through the entire morning and then just so thankful for how He blesses us with friendships.

So we're all doing just fine. We have secret plans for the weekend (secret from the kids - plans that might include uncles and grandparents and a place with six flags... get it? A place with six flags?) and am sure Cole's "condition" will warrant a wheel chair which just might mean getting to go to the front of the lines... shhhhh.