Little two part posting here...
Zane is the accident prone child here I swear.
Last night, apparently (since I didn't see it) our metal gate swung back and hit little man square in the damn eye! I was afraid for him to remove his hand from said wound based on his amount of screaming! Once removed, he most definitely tore his eyelid! (EWWWWWWYYYY!!!!) (Yes, even as a nurse! Eyes are just something I don't deal well with, eyes and toes!) Soooo.... off to the ER we went... I figured it would need SOMETHING. It was ripped pretty good...
Well, 5 hours later, he finally received 2 stitches. However, the reason for this post is my child's AMAZING tolerance to medications! First we tried eye numbing drops. This did not work that well, so we restrained him and did a Lidocaine injection. We tried to restrain him for the stitches but failed. Zane is one STRONG little child! So we attempted oral chloral hydrate (a sedative). Nurse and I both figured ten minutes and he would be out... yeah, not so much. 40 minutes later he was still up and bouncing off the walls, so we gave 4 mg of Morphine to help the sedative. STILL up and bouncing, and on top of it he was pissed we "stuck him in the arm without telling him FIRST".... so restrained again, and yet ANOTHER injection of Lidocaine. FINALLY we were able to hold him down and convince him to let us put the 2 little stitches in.... and done.
So after thoughts here... that was A LOT of pain meds for a 5 year old child. Then it dawned on me... whenever I've had pain medication, it doesn't work so well neither. When they did my toe, the Lidocaine worked but wore off after 30 minutes give or take, and I was PROMISED 4-5 hours. When I gave birth, I had to have stitches in *ahem* my nether regions... and the Lidocaine didn't work at all... (by the way, stitches with no numbing meds aren't too bad, you just have to grin and bear it I suppose). Zane has also had surgery, like myself, and morphine is kind of like a joke... it really only makes my stomach hurt, it NEVER takes away the pain, and it didn't for Zane's surgery neither...
So what do we both have in common?
WE ARE BOTH RED HEADS.
Yep, there's a very SMALL amount of research out there about red heads and apparently, this is one of those moments where I say, "NO WAY!"... but yes way, it's being researched that we red heads have a mutated MC1R gene which the debate is still out as to if we have a high pain tolerance (which I do so they can research me :) but it does show that red heads need more anesthesia then others of different hair color! Very interesting... here's a few links if you're curious...
So bottom line: If you are a red head? Local anesthesia and pain medications may be less effective for you... know this GOING IN, not DURING OR AFTER! :)
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I'm not a redhead, but I AM 99% immune to novacaine. If only the dentists would believe me, maybe I wouldn't hate going there quite so much...
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that they don't listen! Everytime I go I tell them thats it double the shots and they always scoff at me... until they poke me and realize that yes, I can STILL FEEL THAT BIZNITCHES! That's what I told you in the first place! lol
ReplyDeleteOh, poor Zane! I'm not understanding how that's only two stitches. It looks like his entire eyelid was ripped open!!
ReplyDeleteI'm, obviously, not a redhead, but I have the same issue with Novocaine at the dentist's office. It absolutely does NOT kick in! Years ago, I would let them keep giving me more shots, but for me, the actual shot (and the needle!!!) is worse than any work they could be doing on me. Now, i don't even let them try. I've had a few root canals done without the Novocaine, because it's just not worth it. Hell, if I can have a baby (after 19 freakin' hours of HARD labor!) without any drugs, I can have a little dental work done, right?
Hope Zaney is on the mend soon. :(