Our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch. We were lucky to share the visit with Angel, Richie, Kathryn, Karyssa and Nathalia.
The weather was really nice - if not a bit warm. We even had to get Gabriel into a short sleeved shirt after awhile. This Patch is located in nearby Morgan Hill and features music, food, kiddy rides and more.
So, Friday afternoon I get a call from my sister. She’s crying and can’t say much except “Gabriel” and “his finger”. After a few tense moments, I get my mom on the phone and we figure out that his nail has likely been pulled off, he’s bleeding and no ambulence is necessary.
Leaving the office in a hurry, I get there within about 15 minutes or so. Gloria’s was already there and on the phone with Urgent Care and Gabriel’s visibily shaken and crying. It turns out Gabriel had stuck his finger under the door leading to my parent’s patio. The door moved and his finger was jammed in there. He likely panicked and pulled his finger out.
I run out to Walgreen’s to buy some Tylenonl Pain Reliver as well as a plastic pumpkin and chocolate doughnuts. You always need a pumpkin and doughnuts, right?
Upon getting back, Gloria’s loading Gabriel into the truck as we head for our Urgent Care appointment. Gabriel’s clamed down quite a bit and is able to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma.
On the drive to the hopsital, we do our best to keep Gabriel occupied, laughing and singing. Within minutes, he’s pretty calm and just about himself. We also had him waving and at least using his hand. It’s at least clear that the finger is likely not broken.
We had to wait about 45 minutes before being seen but a bit of walking and watching a few cartoons on the iPod made it go OK.
Once we got the call to see the nurse for the vitals check, Gabriel wasn’t having it. He wanted to “go to his room” and kept telling the nurse “we’re done”. Little did he know…
Everything checked out good there and just a few minutes later, we got the call to see the Nurse Practitioner. Very nice gal. She took her time and was very patient with us. I figure Gabriel was pretty scared by this point because he figured no good was coming out of a second trip into a docotr’s office.
She looked at his nail and came up with the same thought we had - nail pulled back, cut in half. Decison was made to clean it up and then apply stiches to whatever could be used of the nail. The nurse recommended some pain reliever. We asked for it to be given as a shot but Tylenol is only a liquid or a suppository. Suffice to say, we opted to try the liquid.
Gabriel HATES Tylenol Cherry flavor. Of course, it’s all they had. So, he’d take in a bit while also trying to spit it out. Then we get the bonus of those doughnuts coming up from the gagging. Not pretty. But, at least we got something in his system.
The NP and another nurse came in with some crazy looking strap system. Effectively, it was a straight jacket for kids. It had these huge velcro straps. The nurse was kind enough to wrap Gabriel in a sheet first and then run his arms through the jacket after. He resisted a bit but then calmed down as Gloria talked to him and started singing.
The first thing they did was to inject him twice in his finger to numb him. He cried a bit - normal reaction to a shot but he soon calmed down within minutes to the point he fell asleep.
The NP then started to clean the finger and nail. Much to everyone’s surprise he did have a bit of a bruise but the nail was virtually intact. What we had seen was the top layer of nail that had been scrapped off. The decision was made to put the nail back in place and then apply a stitch to keep the nail in place.
After getting him out of the straight jacket, we made a stop at Mickey D’s and headed home. Needless to say, Gabriel was a little spoiled this weekend. Both sets of Grandparents came to visit on Saturday. We went to the Pumpkin Patch with his cousins on Sunday. Best of all, Gabriel was himself - no ill effects from the accident!
When we saw him in February, I told him to give the A’s fans a chance to cheer him on. Play hard and we’ll embrace him as one of our own. Since that time, he’s done nothing but deliver. And, no bigger delivery than today with two HRs to be the difference in the game. Kudos to Zito on a great performance as well.
See my post below on what needed to be done to win this game… pretty accurate, no?
So, the A’s ended up with the toughest draw in the playoffs - they get to face Santana and the Twins. It would have been nice to catch the Tigers now as they reel from being swept by the Royals but something told me the A’s wouldn’t get so lucky. After all, the whole season has been about overcoming some obstacle, right?
Tomorrow morning will see Barry Zito face Johan Santana (probable Cy Young Winner) in a place where the A’s have a tough go of it. The Dome has not been kind to the A’s in recent years. They key will be getting at least a split there and then coming home and taking care of business. This team can do it and they match up well on all counts. They can play with Twins, no doubt.
Many are making something of the A’s run from 2000-2003 where they were ousted in the first round each year. But, I think this team has a deeper purpose and more drive that those teams. It’s not a team who surprised anyone or is just happy to be there. There are players with something to prove - Chavez, Zito. Some who are there for the first time hoping to go deep - Kendall, Kotsay. Others looking to help a team who gave them a chance - Thomas, Bradley.
It’s Thomas who can be the difference. He’s a leader - not a rah rah guy - just a guy with a few words which all take seriously. He’s also carrying the big stick for this team and will likely be up in situations where he can hurt the Twins. And, he’ll have to in order to take the pressure off of Chavez.
Zito has the opportunity to set the tone for this series. If he pitches well and gives the team a chance to beat the Twins, it puts the Twins into a must-win on Wednesday while placing the A’s firmly in the driver’s seat with Loaiza and Harden ready to go.
Good lucks A’s!
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