In the last 'Stitch in Time' I began with pretty much the same story as this time. There is a follow up story to go with it. On New Year's Day in 1957 when my first daughter Kathy was a toddler we were spending the day at my parents' house in Coronado. Kathy was exploring, as toddlers do, when she fell down the back steps and bumped her forehead. It looked as if it might need stitches so I called our doctor in Coronado. He said to bring her to his house so he could look at it. When he saw Kathy he knew she needed stitches and said he would meet us at his office. We quickly went the short distance to the office, on tenth street, where he and his wife tended to our dear little girl. She ended up with several stitches right above her eyebrow.
I remember this story as a reminder of how things were in that day and age compared to what they are now. You would not expect to even call a doctor at home now, or to be able to go to their office on New Year's Day. Well, I was telling this story to my foot doctor who is in that very same office as we went to those many years ago. He was aware of the doctor that had been in his office, and I had told him previously that I had been to the doctor in that office back in the fifties. As I was telling him the New Year's story recently, he was waiting for me to finish my story as he had a story to tell me.
His story is that on New Year's Day in 2011 his friend's little girl got a very bad splinter in her foot that needed medical care. My good podiatrist opened up his office on New Year's Day to tend to this little girl's foot. This was the very same office where I had taken my little Kathy those many years ago on the first day of the year so she could have her brow stitched up. So amazing! So personal care is not outdated. At least it is not outdated if you know the right doctor.
My sister Donna was telling me that it was a Sunday that she injured her foot and the doctor opened up his office to tend to her. She needed stitches in her foot. I remember the injury and her needing stitches, but I had forgotten that it was a Sunday. This is when she was a preteen or early teenager.
I needed stitches on my hand one time when I was a young teenager. I had been chasing one of our friends who had taken my ball. We were in the street near our house and I fell on my hand and hurt it bad. I went to our doctor and got a number of stitches in the palm of my hand. I can still see the scar. I baby sat in those days to be able to buy clothes and other things I needed. I paid for my stitches, all $19.00 of the bill with my baby sitting money. That is when we got thirty five cents an hour for baby sitting. Three hours was a whole dollar and five cents. I even baby sat the same evening that I got my stitches even though it hurt a lot.
One time when our son Griff was a young adult he cut his hand very bad on a machete that he had brought back from the Philippines. He had to call a taxi to take him to the emergency room as he was too injured to drive. He actually was not being careless when he injured his hand. It seems that the case for the machete had a worn out spot and he mistakenly put his hand on that part of the case. Those kind of injuries sure can hurt. His hand is fine now.
In the last 'Stitch in Time' I shared about the stitches my children got when they were little. As far as I can remember they each had one set of stitches as children. The same for my sisters and me. There have been stitches due to surgery but that is not the same as those unplanned events that need stitches. I guess no one would choose either though. The thing to do is to handle each case in a timely manner. Each thing we go through is part of our growth and hoping we don't make the same mistakes again that led to the need for a stitch in time.
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