A Day A Local Family Will Not Forget

It was the evening before Father’s Day, and the Fetterman family of Lakewood Ranch was finishing up dinner. Their 3-year-old Jaysen (Jay) was running around in his Spider-Man™ pajamas, when the family heard a thump. Mom Melissa found him on the floor bleeding from a gash in his lip.

“I told my husband that we should get it looked at,” said Melissa. “It’s 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night and we talked about where we were going to go, and I knew right where – the ER at Fruitville, right around the corner from our house. We loaded Jay in the car and went to the ER. We walked in and said we wanted Jay to be looked at and off we went.”

The ER at Fruitville Experience
They took the Fettermans back right away and by this time, Jay had calmed down. The ER employee who took them back commented on Jay’s pajamas. As his vitals were being checked, she came back in with Jay’s favorite superhero cartoon on her phone. This intrigued Jay since this was something new. “It was so cute and just such a nice thing for her to do, and he was kind of entranced,” explained Melissa.

Melissa commented that Dr. Philip Howren came in and had a very warm, calm demeanor. “He walked in and looked at Jay’s lip and said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s going to need stitches,’ so it was decided. It did not take long for the staff to come in and numb the lip and stitch him up. My phone with some cartoons on distracted him. I appreciated how concerned the staff were with me, too. It was very quick, very fast – dissolvable stitches.”

Jay healed well and, all in all, momconcluded, it was a positive experience forhim. “If we had to take him back to the ER, I don’t think he would worry about it,” Melissa said.

The Fettermans would recommend the ER at Fruitville to others because there was no wait when they arrived, the staff were really good at what they do and they’re really great people.

The ER at Fruitville, an extension of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, offers 24/7 care for every family member. It is located east of I-75 on Fruitville Road.

To reach the ER, call 941-378-7500.