A Rush to the Hospital

On Wednesday morning, I had a little pity party for myself.  Sweet Ellie was awake and crying for much of the night. I was tired - never a good way to start the day caring for my little people in casts.  

I finally got a hour and a half block of sleep... only to be woken at 7:30am by both children crying.  My day had begun - one baby feeling "yucky" and a load of urine soaked sheets in the wash.  (Thankfully, casts were all clear.)

It was Wednesday so that meant my mom would keep Ellie for a few hours while Will was at school.  I had too much caffeine to go back to sleep on that rainy morning so I went to Target - all by myself.  As I wandered through Target, God kept reminding me to leave the pity party I was hosting for myself and to start remembering all I had to be thankful for.

Like the freedom to wander Target.  And a mom to keep Ellie for a few hours.  And a husband to work hard.  And not having to turn my brain on and work.  And children recovering and healthy while stuck in casts.

The day got better and I got organized.

Just before Will got out of school, I received a text from his teacher that he had mentioned his hand hurting.  This was odd - he hasn't complained of any pain since leaving the hospital three weeks ago.  

But she said he wasn't crying or refusing to participate so I didn't think too much of it.

Fast forward a few hours to nap time.  I was so excited for a rainy day nap.

About thirty minutes into nap time, Will was suddenly screaming.  I ran to his room & carried him to my bed to try to avoid waking Ellie.

I held him as he cried and he said his hand was hurting and burning.  I immediately called the hospital in Dallas where his surgery occurred.  

The nurse spoke to the surgeon and told me their first thought was that maybe the pin had somehow become wrapped in gauze and was pulling his skin.  She also told me to see how the night went and to come in the morning if I needed to - the surgeons were all leaving the state on Thursday afternoon so we were under a bit of a time crunch if it became a problem.

He later settled down and all seemed okay.

I asked my mom to spend the night and be on Ellie duty.  God must have known I would need rest for Thursday.  Sleeping all night again was glorious.  Will woke up once during the night complaining again about his hand - this time he said it was "hurting tickling."

By Thursday morning, he was screaming and writhing on my floor and bed.  

My mom offerred to go with me to Dallas but I really didn't want to strap Ellie in her car seat and deal with her hurting too so we left her with Lovie & R was able to leave work early.

(Again - so thankful for my mom's willingness and availability yesterday and my husband's flexibility.)

When I called the hospital, the surgeons and nurses were in a meeting but the message center, upon hearing Will's name in the message, immediately began paging the nurses.  Apparently, they had told them we may be calling and they were taking this seriously.

That made me feel both relieved and scared at the same time.

In the back of my mind, I kept worrying about nerve damage - I had signed off on paperwork pre surgery that this was a possibility.  Will kept using words like "burning" and "tickling" and "stinging" to describe his pain.

I expressed my fear to the nurse who said it was a slight possibility due to exposed nerves during the operation but they were leaning more to the pin theory.

R and I laughed that we were finally on a date - a spontaneous trip to Dallas. Granted - we went to a pediatric hospital and had a kid with us and also ate McDonald's in the car... but at this point we will take what we can get.

When we arrived at Scottish Rite, they took us to an exam room and I counted two nurses, three doctors, and a Child Life Specialist in the room.  R's guess for the presence of so many surgeons was that if this was going to require anything major, they needed to get it addressed quickly before leaving Texas.

They unwrapped Will's cast (he wanted to save the outer layer with all his signatures.)  

Turns out, the pin theory was correct.  Apparently, as the swelling decreased, the pin in Will's hand became loose.  It was then pulling on his skin and causing pain.

Also, it had caused some bleeding which explains the "wet/bleeding" feeling Will had described yesterday morning.

The doctor quickly pulled the pin and at this point, Will was screaming in pain.

Thankfully, it was very fast and he was very brave.

He now has a clean new cast and we are counting the days until this thing comes off and he can run again.

I don't want to wallow in self - pity.  I keep thinking how easy I have it.  We have access to excellent medical care.  We have access to multiple pediatric hand surgeons.  We have flexibility in R's work and our schedules to address an emergency issue with our child when it arises.  We have available childcare for our other child in casts.  We had a hot meal waiting for us last night.  I have so much to be thankful for - I know there are single moms (and dads) who take care of kiddos with special needs or differences and don't have the support system we do.

Am hoping today has no drama. 

Here's to a hopefully quiet weekend & maybe more than a week before I have to go back to a pediatric hospital!