Trip to the ER

The Partridges are no strangers to Epipens, thanks to the fact that 75% of them have one for nut or egg allergies. We have never had to use one, thank goodness. But Blake took matters in to his own hands today. Literally. When he self injected the auto-inject ADULT strength epipen into his little boy big hand. Chloe called me in a panic and terrified, as she had been left in charge of him and he got a hold of the epipen and shot himself (I kept saying that today and had to rephrase myself) um, he injected himself with a needle in the palm with the epipen. She felt so bad and kept telling me how sorry she was and how bad she felt as I raced home from my drive to Costco (yay for close Costco) and got there to assess the damage. I called my doctor's office, who told me to call poison control, who told me to apply a warm compress and look for blanching and cool areas, which would indicate that the area had vessel constriction. All I could think about was the babies and little kids in the burn unit that were on epi drips and what that did to their poor little extremities as they slowly died from feet to......well, let's just say I pictured his hand turning black and falling off. So I took him to the children's ER. And then I wished that I worked in the children's ER, because I LOVE that rush of adrenaline that comes with taking care of critically sick people. I really miss it. But then I remembered the kind of people that are allowed to procreate, and reassured myself that I was fine where I am. His hand turned out to be fine, although I was concerned with the white streak that is noticeable at the base of his thumb. I was reassured that it would revascularize soon and I needn't worry. He was a very good patient. He will be unscathed by this event. I cannot say the same for Chloe. When I had to leave for the ER and I told her that she was in charge of Olivia, who, let's face it, has never really needed any kind of supervision since she was two and will arrange appointments and is charge always, and I told Chloe that she was to watch her and she was in disbelief that I could trust her to babysit one of my children with her obvious irresponsibility. Some things never change. Chloe has always been cautious and concerned about other's well being, and Olivia has always been in charge.