Outwitted by a Six-Year-Old

We have been trying to change little David Santi’s bandages for the last two days. David burned himself by spilling hot soup on his back four days ago. Because David is only six and in our hospital all alone from the jungle, we don’t expect him to grin and bear it when we change the bandages, we do it under anesthesia.

There is only one drawback to anesthesia; you can’t eat for a few hours before you get it. That is where one little six-year-old from the jungle has defeated six doctors from the big city. Yesterday the resident wrote the order “Do not feed until after lunch.” The nurses thought that David was to get lunch, then nothing else. David, being a hungry little boy in a strange place, ate what the grown ups gave him. He was finishing lunch just as they were going to take him to the Operating Room to change his bandages. The dressing change had to be put off, because if David vomits from the anesthesia, he could inhale the vomit and give himself a nasty pneumonia.

Today, everyone was told that David was not to eat breakfast, so that the bandages could be changed. Everyone was with the plan, except David. As they were about to take the little guy to the Operating Room, he was finishing the apple he had begged from the nice man across the hall. The doctor asked, “Why did you eat an apple? You weren’t supposed to eat anything.” With brilliant six-year-old logic, David replied, “Nobody gave me any breakfast and I was hungry, so I asked the man for some food and he gave me an apple.”

David will be fine. The burns aren’t very deep and cover less than 10% of his body. He would be fine faster if we could change his bandages and clean his burns more often, but he will be fine anyway. He’s really cute, so when he does what he wants, which is the exact opposite of what we want, it’s impossible to be angry with him. Still, getting outwitted by a six-year-old is embarrassing and frustrating.

Blessings,
Jerry