For Such a Time as Now - Holly and Her Earring

For Such a Time as Now

June 11, 2006

Holly and Her Earring

Some children in this world tend to find themselves in unique situations. They seem to be more than accident prone. Things happen and later we shake our heads and say, “It could only happen to you.” We are blessed with such a child. When she was only two she decided to climb up my parents’ entertainment center to put a video in by herself. The huge television set came crashing down and somehow managed to only slightly bruise her leg.

Yesterday we had another unusual predicament. We had not been home for twelve hours yet. Holly had just finished breakfast and she told me to look at her ear because there was “something gross” there. She just had her ears pierced two months ago and was thrilled to finally wear something besides the plain gold balls. When I looked, I saw blood. So we went to my room for better light. I could not see the earring back, just a bit of the post sticking out. At first, I assumed she lost the back in her sleep. I tried to gently take the earring out but it would not budge and she cried out in pain. Well, that was not normal. I had her lie down on my bed for a better view. Then I told her that I was going to get Daddy to look at it. She really started crying then. John is our in-home EMT and he handles everything that requires more than a simple band aid. John examined her ear and confirmed my suspicions that somehow the earring back had been pulled through and was inside her earlobe. Now what do we do? John thought for a moment, left the room and came back with some tools, orthodontic tools. Gabe’s orthodontist loaned John the tools necessary to complete the next six months worth of work on his teeth. One tool, a specialized pair of wire cutters, was perfect for the task. It was made to cut wire on one side while protecting the skin on the other side. John was able to cut the post off the earring on the front side of the lobe and then with another special small needle nose type pliers reached inside the hole in her lobe, find the post and pull the back and post out.

We debated for several minutes about which earrings to put in her ears, if any. The three of us considered the possibility of just letting her ears heal up and waiting four more years to get them pierced again. Amazingly, Holly was all for that idea. In the end, John decided that it would be best to use her plain gold balls that she had them pierced with originally. I am cleaning her ear and turning the earring three times a day and watching carefully for any sign of infection. So far, everything looks good.

The question is, how did this happen? While John was looking at her ear she told us that she kept pushing the back up against the lobe. In our final days of packing I had not noticed. The earring had a tiny, sharp edged back on it. Those two things did not help the situation. Later last night I was thinking about the ordeal and I remembered that while we were on the airplane, Holly complained about her ears popping. She pulled on her lobes frequently and I never thought a thing about her earrings. I believe that was the main cause of our newest incident.

Pray for us as we are here in a country where 911 is non-existent and medical conditions in general are alarming. Pray specifically for her ear to heal completely without any infection.

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June 11, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by takingthechallenge

Ohhh, poor little thing! Thankfully, God had already provided just what you needed through the orthodontist! He is so good,isn't He?
You continue to be in our prayers.