Some families spend Saturday nights playing games, some go to the movies, some invite friends over, some go and watch sporting events together. A couple Saturday nights ago, our whole family took a trip to the ER.
The good news is is that we were not there because any of us were hurt or sick. We had been at a birthday party when my husband’s phone rang and he missed it but said, “oh your brother just called”. Which is a bit odd, but not totally unreasonable, I figured he was near our house and calling to see if he could stop over and eat something (even at almost 30 he can still eat constantly). However a few minutes later his phone rang again and he answered it and it was my mom, and the only part that I heard (which was enough) was “How did he do that, jumping off a building?” To which I immediately figured out that my brother had somehow wounded himself.
He had in fact wounded himself, he had been doing “trust falls” with his buddy and somehow in catching his buddy he had ended up on the ground with his buddy and himself on top of his ankle and it no longer looked like an ankle but some big swollen black and blue life form. He had called to see if I was working in the ER that night, not because he wanted me to see him or care for him but because he didn’t want me to die of shock when he was wheeled in.
You see, my brother has an unreasonable fear of hospitals, doctors, nurses, pretty much anything medical. He heard somewhere and then somehow messed up the statistic that “90% of the people that go to the hospital die”. And he strongly believes that with all his heart. In fact he has told us that if he is ever injured or sick instead of taking him to the hospital to just shoot him instead.
So we left the party early and headed to the hospital. Upon arriving I took Leighton in to see Josh because he was pretty worried about him. He promptly told Uncle Josh that he knew what would make him feel better and then marched over to the sticker drawer and pulled out the Thomas Stickers and peeled a couple off for Josh. It is a bit disturbing that my boys are totally comfortable in the ER and know where the sticker drawer is. (and the candy drawer!). Once I made sure that Josh’s leg wasn’t sticking out in an odd way and there was no blood for Clint to see and no one was screaming loudly, I had Clint and Caedmon come back. If any of those things had been going on, Clint would have passed out and then we would have been put in the bed next to my brother.
We tried to keep him distracted during his IV (he was almost white as a sheet while the tech was placing it) and stuck around long enough to make sure that he was ok. My boys pushed the buttons to send the lab containers through the system to the lab, and walked around in their matching overalls to say hi to everyone, got suckers, and scored a few more Thomas Stickers.
In the end it was a good Saturday evening, although I think I’ll opt for other ways to spend them if I can. My brother got his ankle reduced and splinted and then followed up a few days later to have it operated on. Being the good sister that I am, on the day that he had surgery he wasn’t allowed to eat all day, so I just sent him photos of food throughout the day.
I am really glad that my boys like the ER and everyone there (and know where the sticker and sucker drawer is), since they both have already broken bones, I know that we probably have many of our own visits there in the future. In fact this last week Leighton was building with his LEGOs and told me that he was making a hospital just like mine, the only thing he was going to change was the color of the sticker and candy drawers (priorities). I am honored to work with such a talented and fun staff that even if I do have to spend extra time there, they are like my other family.
Hiking Mommy 