I fought a rock...

and the rock won! (ok, ok.. I know.. it's I fought the LAW and the LAW won, but read on)

I couldn't help but to think about that song last night when my son told me that the implement of destruction that caused the following injury was... a rock.

*Warning... not for the squeamish at heart.... *




*puke*
Well, you can't say I didn't warn you.

Thomas (yes, the same son who just blew away his SAT test) was playing in a creek bed last night and, as he put it, "rolled" a ginormous rock onto his fingers. He pulled his fingers out from underneath the rock, and ripped his fingernail right out of the nail bed. You can see the bump where the nail should be under his skin- it's about half of the nail. The nail is still attached to one side, but most of the nail is hideously on display on top of his skin.

It's about the grossest thing I've ever seen in person. When he first showed me, the nail was pulled up off of his skin by about a quarter inch. I could see all the way back underneath it. The entire nail- and I'm talking about the part that is supposed to be under your skin, waiting to grow out, was almost completely pulled out of its socket. My almost eleven-year-old son has now experienced ancient chinese torture techniques that you read about, and make you queasy just thinking about it.

We spent over four hours at the hospital last night trying to get his finger numb enough to tuck the nail back under the skin and stitch them together, but it just wasn't working. They gave him the maximum dosage of Lidacaine, but it apparently doesn't work very well with his body chemistry. They finally gave up, wrapped it, and sent us home with antibiotics and pain killers. It just wasn't worth the torture to continue to try to save what they could of the nail. They're not sure if it will every grow back, but they are sure the nail that is left hanging on by a thread will eventually fall off.

I know, I know... he's a boy, and things happen to boys.. but DAMN.