How To Get a Fish Hook Out of Your Knee [A Mom's Tale]

Warning: GRAPHIC photos to follow.  I mean, they aren't that bad, but...you've been warned.

For the last few weeks, my boys have taken a liking to going out to their Poppy's house and running to the backyard to fish. He has a man-made pond back there with a bunch of bream [or brim] and a few small mouth bass. 

A few days ago, we made our way over to Poppy's. The boys jumped out of the truck, grabbed their rods and reels, and went to fishing as soon as we pulled into the driveway. I was in the house when Jonah came inside holding his fishing pole in one hand and holding his shorts up with the other hand. He said, "Mom, does Poppy have any numbing medicine?" I kind of rolled my eyes, my boys ask some pretty random questions that seem pretty out of place most times. I, of course, asked why. [Their reasons are sometimes just as great as their questions.] When he responded with, "I got a hook in my knee and I need to pull it out." I didn't know whether to laugh or take him seriously. And then he showed me. He did, indeed, have a fishing hook hanging from his knee. [In case you're wondering, he cast his line and it got caught in a tree. Jonah pulled and pulled until it came flying back at him and got him in the knee.]

My father-in-law gave it all he had to get it out. He tugged and pulled, twisted and pulled some more. All the while, Jonah was in obvious pain. It was time to go the emergency room. 

We got into our room pretty quickly, but then just waited. And waited. You can't go to the ER, sit for hours, and not play with some of the toys they leave within reach.

This doctor was phenomenal! He talked Jonah through each step he took to get the hook out. He cleaned it, then Jonah finally got the numbing medicine he was wanting from the beginning. After it was numb, the doc tried to just pull it out, but he couldn't. He had to use a scalpel to cut Jonah's knee open. It wasn't until he had a 1/4 inch slice in his knee that the doctor was able to pull it out. Even after all of that, though, he had to pull HARD! Once out, he sewed one little stitch in Jonah's knee, gave him a prescription for an antibiotic, and asked Jonah if he'll fish again. "yep!"

The culprit. This little bitty barbed hook is what was so incredibly lodged in Jonah's knee. 

 This doctor was great! I'll ask for him the next time we go to Wolfson's Children hospital. 

Two days later, Jonah's stitch fell out. No biggie, though, it had already begun to heal nicely. And, hey, worst case scenario, he'll have a cool scar to show to his friends.

The very next day Jonah and his brother were in the paddle boat...fishing.