With the exception of my post honoring Cole's great grandfather Roger, no other blogging attempts have made my daily agenda since early September. As I sit here to summarize the past 30 days into a blog worthy post, I'm not sure where to begin, other than to place a disclaimer for my readers that it will be the longest post I have ever written. I think I will actually post in sections/chapters on different days instead of posting an all-in-one!
The month began with a beautiful and warm Labor Day weekend. We went for a long hike with the kids at Baker Reserve, enjoyed the veggies from our garden, drank some vino sitting around our new firepit and chatted excitedly about our upcoming vacation to the Outer Banks.
The week following the long holiday weekend brought the sad news regarding an infection that Dave's grandfather Roger, stricken with cancer, was fighting. Dave's mom flew to Maryland from Oregon when Dave's grandmother Margie fell ill as well. We got daily updates which vascillated in tone and though we hoped for the best, our worst fears regarding Roger's health were being played out.
That very same week, Cole's cute little head was featured bopping around on PBS Kid's Sprout PIC ME segment (I blogged about this so I won't write about the specifics again here). That very same day that I spent two hours watching the PIC ME show in order to capture Cole's "adventure" on TV, I drove to Montessori school to pick him up and found him inconsolable. His teachers indicated that he had been crying for two hours, moaning, et al. My immediate reaction as he ran into my arms was to remain calm as he is so sensitive that he picks up on my anxiety. He had nestled into my shoulder and was obviously distraught but I could not peal him off me to ascertain what was wrong. No one had seen him fall and he didn't initially seem like anything was injured. So I gathered his belongings as he refused to be put down and headed to the car.
A pure shot of fear ran through me as I attempted to thread his right arm through the straps on his car seat. He let out a shriek of pain that sent shivers up my spine. I had no option other than to begin driving home and hope that maybe once I got him home, I could manage damage control, having NO IDEA what exactly was wrong but now knowing that someone was definitely not right. He began to settle down on the 20 minute drive home still wimpering and looking so tired and haggard as I continually glanced in my rear view mirror. He normally runs from the garage to the yard and thus my second pang of fear crept in as he refused to get out of his car seat. I gingerly lifted him out as he began to rev back up with his crying. I got him in the house and went upstairs to try to figure out what was going on. I laid him down on our bed and realized then that he was guarding his entire right arm and shoulder. I began to sweat as I realized he wasn't moving any part of either. I quickly changed his diaper and attempted to make him move his fingers which he wouldn't. I finally couldn't keep my wits about me and I panicked, calling Dave. I rambled on to him about the past 45 minutes and said "something is very wrong". I needed him to tell me what to do because after being strong, I was losing control as my emotions temporarily superceded my ability to think. Do I go to the ER, call the pediatrician? Call the peds first and ask them what to do. It was 4:30. All the while, Cole is just a lump in my arms. The nurse scheduled us to come in right away.
As I proceeded down stairs, I tried to remember to grab anything I might need as I had no idea what the following hours held for us. It took me 5 minutes to get him into the car seat because he was in so much pain and thus he fought with me. I sang, I made silly faces, I distracted with his cars but none of my tricks were working. I raced over to the peds office, willing rush hour traffic to get out of my way. We got taken back and he refused to let me put him down anywhere. Our peds wasn't there but a colleague was. We couldn't get him to calm down enough to be evaluated. I finally said, can we go out to your picture window? She looked at me knowing I had a logical reason and out we headed. The trucks thundered past on Minnetonka Blvd and Cole stopped crying and pointed with his good arm and said repeatedly of his favorite thing "trucks, trucks!!". The pediatricain asked if I could hold his good hand and ask him to point with the bad one so she could determine whether it was his shoulder, elbow, arm, wrist, hand etc. After several rounds of this "game" the doc was able to narrow it down to his forearm. Now that we had him relatively calm, she examined him while he and I continued to watch for trucks. He did have a "bow" to his right lower forearm and swelling midline. She said we have to have X-rays but they would do them quickly but I couldn't be in the room. So there I stood slumped against the wall, willing back tears as the two nurses x-rayed him, his blood curdling screams making me wince. We waited 10 minutes when a nurse came in with a shot of Tylenol and I knew then what the news was going to be. Sure enough, Dr. Gold came in with a copy of the X-rays which showed both his Ulna and Radius snapped at the midline. They had called Gillette Children's Hospital but he wasn't considered an emergency so they would have to immobilize him for the night and we would head over to St. Paul first thing the next day. She also indicated that he couldn't eat after 6am, just in case he needed surgery. Needless to say, our night was horrific, as Cole as so uncomfortable and fearful and neither Dave nor I could sleep. I had so many things floating around in my head I was nauseous. I had called the school to attempt to find out ANYTHING that might explain what happenend to Cole and though I felt in my heart that it was an accident it certainly made me question some things. I felt guilty, I felt scared, I felt angry, I felt weak and helpless as his mom who couldn't make things better for him and I felt unprepared for this kind of thing occurring so early in his life.
Off we drove to Gillette Children's Hospital the next morning to meet with the pediatric ortho specialist. They took more X-rays which Cole fought with fervor and the verdict came in. He would indeed need to go under anesthesia to reduce the broken bones and cast him. Unforuntately, she triaged patients in the morning and surgeries took place in the afternoon, so we had time to waste. UGH! Cole played in their playroom and we walked around with the inevitable looming over our heads. Finally it was our time and the nurses took us to the surgery suite. I was having a hard time not shaking as they began his prep. The lights and people were overwhelming to Cole who had experienced way too much in a short blip of time and he wanted nothing to do with anyone. Finally, Dave left with Cole and the docs where he was allowed to remain until they put Cole under. I sobbed in the suite willing myself to focus on the outcome. Time ticked by ever so slowly, when finally Dr. Quanbeck came to get us and give us the summary. Everything went well and he was in recovery. Relief seeped from my every pore.
We headed home after spending close to 7 hours at the hospital. Numerous friends had dropped off food, walked Tucker and left messages for us. The first 24-48 hours would be critical to ensure that Cole didn't develop Compartment Syndrome which can cause severe swelling following reduction. So we were up every 3 hours (well we were pretty much awake anyway) to check Cole's fingers and position. He was unsteady on his feet, very irritable and with no appetite for 2-3 days. He got frustrated at his inability to play like he was used too but he was adjusting as we knew he would.
Saturday the 13th, the call came from Dave's mom that things were dire with Roger and could he come to Maryland immediately. He hopped on a flight on Sunday morning and drove to the Coleson Crick with his sister. Roger was never able to speak with Dave as he had been "sleeping" since the previous day but Dave was able to talk to him and share his memories with his grandfather. Roger passed from this life Monday the 15th surrounded by his family. Dave came home to Minnesota on Tuesday the 16th as Roger's service will be at Arlington National Cemetary in December.
to be continued...
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