Losing It

We love living in the country.  We don't have neighbors right on top of us.  We can be loud if we want to be.  We enjoy our huge yard and two ponds, full of wildlife.  Deer are common. Occasionally we have a flock of turkeys on the property.  And we also have pesky squirrels.  They jump from pine tree to pine tree and get our dog worked up.  If he could climb a tree, we wouldn't have any more squirrels because he rids his property of trespassers.  A little over a week ago, Elliott decided to get his new slingshot and try to pop the squirrel with a small rock. Stone in hand, out he went.

In he came, saying the stone hit his thumb. Boy did it ever.  Instant black nail. I had him ice it then hold it in ice water. He said it was throbbing.  I knew it was. I would have cried.  He seemed okay with the pain. I asked him several times that night how he was feeling.  He said fine.  After numerous checks on the thumb, he went to bed.  However, the throbbing kept him awake until he asked for some pain medicine.  Once taken, he fell asleep quickly.

Thankfully it was his thumb on his left hand that was injured.  This is what his poor thumb looked like the next morning.

 His thumb was even bruised on the other side.

I ended up taking him to the doctors as I was concerned they might have to relieve the pressure. After the examination, all was fine but we were told to watch it.  IF it got worse, he would have to come back in.  We waited and I checked daily.  I was concerned because of the swelling at the cuticle area.  No need to worry though. My little nail bitter, while sitting in class, started nibbling on his thumb. He tasted blood and noticed he opened up the side of his nail.  He got up and grabbed a kleenex and pressed all the blood out.  He was so proud of that. I barely got in the door that night and he was yelling to me about it. That boy of ours! And last night, he showed me his nail. It is starting to come off.