THE CANADIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

Well, yesterday afternoon Rory (my lunatic 4 year old!) decided to run into the corner of the wall in our basement and slice his forehead open!

When i say slice his forehead open - i really mean SLICE his forehead open!

Picture the scene - really deep 2 inch gap fom the bridge of his nose to almost his hairline, blood eyewhere, both children screaming (Bailey - my 8 year old - screaming at the top of his voice - HE'S GONNA DIE!!!), Lincoln (Great Dane puppy who I was dog sitting for yesterday!) jumping up and down wondering what all the noise was about. I contemplate phoning an ambulance (slight over-reaction but then again I am not known for my calmness!!) instead I ring my friend Lisa (thank god for Lisa!!!) who promptly comes over, delivers the dog back to his house whilst I am running around like a headless chicken! Off we go to the Emergency Room where we wait for 6 hours. Finally we get in to see the Doctor (who looks exactly like Gene Wilder). He examines the wound, cleans it out including extracting flecks of paint from the wall that he ran into, and stiches him up with 7 horrible ugly looking stiches. My poor boy was such a brave soldier. The nurse wanted to restrain him by tying a blanket around his arms to which i said absolutely no way! I can't even tell you how good he was, he laid so still with his arms by his side and didn't move a muscle - he even apologied for crying!!

So that was our weekend!!! Bailey is still devasted, and keeps saying sorry and that he's a bad brother. On the plus side maybe it'll teach them a lesson about not being to rough etc - but i doubt it!!! Rory still slides down the stairs even after putting his tooth thro' his lip a couple of weeks ago!

So, thumbs up for the Canadian Healthcare System - (apart from the fact that we had to wait 6 hours with varying degrees of fruitcakes, and the fact that our OHIP doesn't kick in til May!!!)

Six hours? For a head injury? Your lad was probably too much the brave soldier. He'd have been better off staggering and fainting in the ER.

The waiting happens in the UK too. I broke and dislocated my ankle. I sat there quietly for 8 hours. It was only when an adult with a broken wrist arrived (8 hours after me) and was sent thru that I complained. I spoke to Mr broken wrist and asked him how he got thru so quick, he said " you have to cry". This guy was 6 foot lol.
Anyway, glad your son is ok.
Tina

When my husband was sick we went to the small hospital in Leduc, nice and quiet and he got seen fast, better than going into the city.

That is something worth bearing in mind. When my little boy was over in 2004 (when I still lived in Ontario), he slipped on the stairs and split his knee open. It was nothing life-threatening but was obviously going to need more than a plaster. I called Ontario Telehealth (whatever it was called) and talked to a nurse. She told me not to go to a hospital but to a walk-in clinic. I did. The lad was stitched-up and sorted in about an hour.

A little different but on a similar note.

If you go to Emergency and need admitting in Calgary these days the wait averages out to 16.5 hours.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Health/...933/story.html

I've been advised before now that if you have a 'minor' medical emergency, it's quicker to drive out to Canmore (45 min drive from my house) - than it is to go into Calgary and wait. You will most likely have been treated, patched up and be home before you have been seen at Calgary

How one defines minor is up to you I guess, but if I was thinking stitches, sprains or breaks of fingers, ankles, etc, I would consider this option.

Having said that, some friends visiting not long after we arrived here in 2007 - their child decided to head butt a climbing frame and the ground in one impressive fall. Another 'blood all over the place' head scenario. We had no idea where to go (poor planning on our part) and rushed them to the Children's Hospital which I understand doesn't strictly have an ER. But they were great and that child was in and out in about 90 mins.

To the OP - glad it's all sorted out, poor kid. Will he be able to show off his Harry Potter scar for years to come?

Thanks everyone! It is certainly worth looking into other kinds of treatment places - altho' the nurse at the hospital did tell me that it was a good job we had come to hospital - that the walk in clinics don't do such a good job of stitching up.

Rory is fine - milking it for all it is worth! Dr said that the scar would be an ugly red one for a while but it should fade to almost nothing which is good news (for me anyway - it seems the bigger the wound the better for him!!) He likes to tell people what happened, then hold his head in his hands whilst peeking up thro his fingers with the biggest saddest puppy dog eyes you could imagine! The boy certainly knows how to work it!!!

Now trying to keep him calm and quiet is an entirely different story!!!