I am not funny, China is funny.: Hopefully the one and only hospital visit!

Ellis has always been a climber and a jumper. Always. I am surprised it took us 9 years, 4 months, and two days for our first hospital visit.

One of the things I look forward to each school day is our afternoon play. The parents gather around and chat about what we did or didn’t do that day. The children participate in various games, including Ellis’s favorite, Tiggy (tag). Wednesday, however, ended very differently.

I knew the minute I saw Ellis’s arm that it was broken. I felt my heart breaking right along with it. He bravely walked towards me, holding his arm so that it wouldn’t dangle from side to side. I gathered my arms around him, did a few 360 degree turns trying to decide which way I should go, before settling down in the dirt. I handed my phone to my friend, Bhanu, and told her to call 000. (I always wondered in a state of emergency if I would think to call 000 before 911. Now I know.) Meanwhile, Ellis is somewhere between a scream and a cry. For the amount of pain he was in, I am so proud of how well he kept it together. Although loud, it wasn’t ear piercing. As Bhanu is telling 000 our location, I feel my heart rate changing, my face starts to tingle and everything began to look light in color. Crap. I am going to faint. I manage to toss my bag towards the feet standing next to me and ask the person to get my water. After a few sips, I looked at Bhanu in desperation. The good multi-tasker that she is, she continues to talk to 000 and tells me to put my head between my knees. At this point, my head is pretty much next to Ellis’s. I calmly tell him that the doctors are on the way and will give him medicine for the pain. The good mama that I am then continues to tell him to try not to cry. I needed him to be brave for me. Yep, that’s right, brave for his mama that can hardly keep it together. Nice.

The ambulance arrived almost immediately. Simon and John were the medics that jumped right in and took care of my sweet baby. Seeing his arm, they immediately gave him some medicine to ease the pain. Thank goodness for IPhones and the ability to convert pounds to kilograms! Also, thank goodness Ellis knew his weight (Mama fail #2). One of the first questions: How did this happen? I didn’t know because I wasn’t watching (mama fail #3). Turns out, Ellis was climbing a fence that enclosed the bike rack, got his foot stuck in one of the links and fell. He tried to catch himself with his arm, but obviously that didn’t go very well. Later I asked how it felt after he fell and he said, “My arm was wobbling, disconnected, and itchy.” Yuck. Ellis was loaded on to a stretcher and then into the ambulance. At some point I removed my head between my knees and climbed into the ambulance with him. My saving grace was my sweet friend, Jen, who rode in the ambulance with me and guided me through all the questions in the ambulance and at the hospital. She told me later that John (the driver) drove extra slow to keep from disturbing Ellis’s arm on any bumps or turns.

We arrived at Mater Children’s Hospital to an incredible team! I just can’t say enough about them! I wish I could remember all of their names and would love to be able to thank each one of them! There was an Irish nurse that made me laugh, Sophie, Kirsten, Meghan, and some I never met because my head was between my knees. My friend, Jen, is a nurse and she helped me so much when it came time to communicate with the doctors and nurses. I am sure they were thankful to have her there with me! She helped me comprehend and answer questions. She also accompanied Ellis into XRAY. Here we go, mama fail #4. I just cried in the waiting room while my friend sat with my son.

I could sense the urgency in the surgeon’s voice that Ellis needed to be operated on very quickly. He kept mentioning when Ellis heads into “theatre”. It didn’t take me long to realize that “theatre” meant surgery. I love that term so much more! Way to go Aussies! I guess it is quite a production! By the time Ellis was ready to head into theatre, Bhanu had joined Ellis, Jen, and me. Watching my baby being rolled back behind closed doors, in a foreign country, was gut wrenching. I hugged the nurse and then balled my eyes out. I do believe Bhanu’s shirt needs a good washing! We headed to the recovery room where Erica joined us. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful support group! It was here that I got great hugs from my dear friends, a few good laughs to pass the time, and phone calls from friends and FLUOR employees. I was surrounded by love and felt it! The doctor eventually came in to say that Ellis did well and lots of other things that I am sure my friends took good notes on. J

I met up with Ellis in Recovery. Goodness, what a trooper. I thought we would have our own room, but instead we shared it with 3 other families. Ellis and I settled in for the night. This is when my stench began to settle in. I had walked earlier in the morning, worked up at the school, done a few things around the house, but I had not showered. Yay. Luckily, I had Dove wipes in my bag to sponge bathe and the hospital had a toothbrush for me. I would like to say I was so exhausted that I went straight to sleep, but I didn’t. Between my overworked mind, my body odor, and the person (later identified as a woman) snoring across from me, I didn’t sleep.

The sun began to peek through and it was time to go home. We had to wait a bit for the doctor to release us, but I was glad he did! The nurse, Meghan, couldn’t have been more kind to us. She joked around with Ellis and even wheeled him out to the car. He was in such good hands! The rest of our day was spent resting. Well, rest until it came time to bathe Ellis. Good thing Tony was here. That may have to be another blog.

Many of you have asked, “But where was Hannah Grace?” Luckily, we have a friend (and one of Tony’s coworkers) that lives two doors down from us. I was able to call her and tell her what happened. Kelly met up with Hannah Grace, told her what happened, and kept an eye on her. After a while, she was picked up by her friend’s mom and stayed the night with her. The friend’s family fed her, packed her lunch for the next day, and got her to school. Friends are so good!

You may think it is odd that I took pictures of the days events. I think it helped keep me out of reality. The pictures of his arm were not taken by me because I couldn't look at it. What parent fail number are we up to???