15 July 2011
Our crazy life….
Posted by stephyc under: Uncategorized .
For the past 10 days I feel like I have been living someone else’s life. For the week following Lizzi’s bike accident I spent my mornings and evenings cleaning her wound and reapplying creams to keep it from scabbing over and also giving her her anti-biotic so she wouldn’t get an infection on her face.
Then on Sunday July 10th I got a phone call from my sister-in-law telling me that they were taking their 18 month old to the hospital. I asked what happened and she informed me that he collapsed and they had to call 911. They transported him by ambulance to the hospital around the corner from my house. I was relieved when they arrived and he was sitting up in his Dads arms. I took their two other children to my house to hang out with Uncle Jason and our girls.
The doctors took x-rays, EKG, and more, but decided it would be best for him to be monitored overnight. Since our hospital doesn’t have a pediatrics unit they decided to send him to Flagstaff. After talking with the physician in Flagstaff it was decided it would be best for him to go to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I offered to drive down with them. My brother Keith rode in the ambulance with my nephew and my sister-in-law Mandy and I drove down. After a quick pit stop at their house to get clothes for the next day or two we were on our way to Phoenix. It would be just about a two hour drive.
We arrived a little after 1am to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Security didn’t have them checked in yet so I called Keith on his cell phone. He told us they were upstairs on the fourth floor. We went up and found the nurses asking medical questions. Keith and Mandy answered their questions and we inspected the room. We found a fold out chair, hard hospital chair and what we refer to as “The cage”. Unfortunately, we had to share a room with another family. Fortunately they were very nice and understanding. Lucky for us we had the window side of the room otherwise I don’t know how Mandy would have got Issac to go to sleep that night. She kept telling him to look at the cars.
The doctors decided to wait until morning to make any real assessments. So, Keith slept in a office chair (I still don’t know how he didn’t fall out of it.) Mandy slept on a hard hospital chair, and I slept on the fold out chair. Of course all of this is implying that we actually slept. Nurses were in and out of the room all night and the neighbor had a rough night too. Mandy and I watched as the sun came up.
With less then four hours of sleep we waited all day for doctors to make assessments. They took more x-rays and watched him all day. At 2 or 3pm they told us that we might have to stay another night.
We asked what we could do about a place for all of us to sleep and they suggested the Ronald McDonald House. A case worker was brought in and explained it to us, she also made the necessary arrangements for us. Basically if you have a medical need for a place to stay they can set it up. You are responsible for cleaning up after yourself, both in your room and in the community kitchen. They give you a place to put your food and each night a group provides dinner. It is a wonderful program and I can see how if you had to stay for long periods of time this would be very helpful. For that matter it was helpful for us and we only stayed one night.
Keith and I left for the RMH just before 6pm. We had dinner and then went to our room. Mandy stayed at the hospital with Issac. Keith was asleep by 8pm at the very latest. I watched a movie and chatted on the phone with Jason a couple times. I stayed up until about 11pm.
Keith woke me up at 4:30am….I nearly yelled at him! In all honesty it was so nice to sleep without any interruptions, except Keith! We were at the hospital by 6am. We sat in the hallway waiting area for about an hour and a half. The doctor came in and told us things to watch for and that they would be discharging Issac soon.
Just before 9am we left the hospital with no additional answers then we had when we went in…..So frustrating!!!
***We are now preparing for a visit from Jason’s Mom and brother. School starts in less than 4 weeks. Our crazy life is just going to get crazier…..***
I will add a couple pictures when I upload them from my phone. I didn’t really take a bunch, but I got a few.
Stephanie Shultz is a wife and mom two little girls in Cottonwood, Arizona. She enjoys photography, hiking, scrapbooking and sight seeing.