Pow! Right in the Kisser!

Well, just north of the kisser, anyway.

Our Christmas Day was dominated by a trip to the hospital. After opening presents on Christmas Day, the boys and their cousins all went outside to go sledding. Brogan and Braden, while riding together, hit a tree at the bottom of the hill. Braden just bumped his shoulder, but Brogan hit the tree with his face.

The boys helped guide him to the house, and Aunt T. carried him the rest of the way. When we took his hood off, his face and coat were covered with blood. It was hard to see where he was hurt, but within minutes his nose started to swell and we worried he'd broken it. Auntie T. wrapped him in a blanket, and we drove to the urgent care center, located right next to the ER. That was handy, as I wasn't sure whether this was an urgent care - type visit or an ER visit.

The doctor we saw was wonderful, and the nurses brought stickers and a giant stuffed bug (either a caterpillar or a centipede. We couldn't decide.) for him to cuddle as we waited to be seen. The X-ray tech was fantastic, bringing him a wheelchair so he could ride in style, and then patiently positioning him for 5 X-rays. That was very hard, as Brogan couldn't stay in position because his lip stuck out so far it would hit the machine and make him hurt.

Brogan's forehead was cut, as was the tip of his nose, and the inside of his mouth. His nose took a big hit, and swelled up so you couldn't see any contours of his nose. His upper lip swelled up and stuck out almost past his nose. Brogan didn't break any bones or sustain any serious head trauma, thankfully. A couple of his teeth were loosened, but haven't given him any trouble. He has a lot of swelling and has a couple of very colorful black eyes, but is doing fine.

He's a bit self-conscious about his face, and spent a few hours this afternoon wearing a Spiderman mask over his face. He's nervous about going to church on Sunday because he doesn't want people to laugh.

We're so thankful that his injuries weren't worse. He is doing fine and his bruises will heal in time.

Here's what he looks like normally: (Boy on the left)



Here's what he looked like 48 hours after the accident. We started to see more color, and his lip was not as swollen anymore. He was still pretty sore. Poor guy!


Here's his picture today. The swelling around the nose has gone down some, and it's starting to turn black and blue. But the startling thing is his eyes. The purple color started underneath, but now is spreading up and around to his eyelids. Here I'd gotten him to pull up his Spidey mask and smile a bit. It hurts him to crinkle his nose, so his smile is a bit awkward.