Emergency Date Night

Today was *Fun*.

I'm glad I can think clearly during an emergency, sometimes.

Today we went to the park while we waited to pick up Matthew and a friend after school. Daniel was playing on the slide while I cleaned out the van. While I threw away garbage, I heard Daniel start screaming. Loudly.

(I must admit, I didn't think anything was truly wrong at first. Dan is famous for his melodramatics. Remind me to tell you the story about his tantrum/hyperventilating/thrashing on the floor/screaming over some sticky fingers. He kept gasping, "I can't LIVE with sticky fingers!" while shaking his hands in the air emphatically. With Daniel, that behavior is pretty much par for the course.)

I calmly walked over to him to access the damage, mentally preparing my soothing words that whatever was wrong that was really not worth screaming about.

His arm was hurting, so I tried to move the bulky long sleeve out of the way to discover the scrapes. As soon as I gently held my hands on his arm, I could feel the bones wildly out of place. Yikees.

I had two thoughts at this point:

1- Poor boy! What a terrible mother I am to have thought nothing was actually wrong! I should have intuitively known something was seriously wrong. He must be in so much pain!

2- DRAT! The last thing I need is an expensive ER bill. Goodbye, house project #2 (installing a wall and front door where our garage door currently stands. Sigh. I was so looking forward to this project being finished. Oh well.....).

I picked him up (minus one sneaker, which was left under a slide....I hope it's still there tomorrow!) and carried him gingerly to the van. Of all the days to be without my cell phone, this was it. Nathan had taken it to work.

Shielding my eyes and scanning the park, I saw a lady jogging two dogs on the opposite end of the field. Jogging as quickly as flip-flops allow (which looked pretty comical, I'm sure), I begged the use of her phone to place some quick calls.

Unfortunately we still had to pick up Matthew and his friend from school, so poor Daniel had to cradle his arm while we collected our boys from school and sped home. (I'll admit, I really did speed. That's a big deal for me.) We made a quick stop to deposit our children at a neighbor's home and get some pain killer for Daniel. Then we began the long drive to the hospital.

A thirty minute drive can take forever.

Along the way, Daniel started losing consciousness. At first I was grateful that his body's natural defenses were shutting his brain down as a coping strategy. Then I thought perhaps he was going into shock.

He wouldn't wake up while I jiggled him, so of course I began to worry. I pulled over and woke him up, explaining what shock was and asking him to stay awake and talk to me during the drive. He was so good to try so hard to remain conscious and talk to me.

Luckily the ER was virtually empty when we arrived. The x-rays showed his bones both broken and crazily out of place. Daniel was so angry that they had cut off one of his favorite shirts, and the hospital gown they provided him was not nearly adequate in his mind. He was not impressed with the astronaut print on the gown.

Here are some brief moments from our 5-hour stay in the ER:

When the nurse was putting in the IV line, she directed Daniel to focus on the television instead of her. His weak reply was, "I can't. It's playing Sponge Bob, and that's not allowed at our house. It's too stupid."

Later I flipped through channels to find what interested him. When the doctor came in, he glanced at the TV and asked Daniel in a surprised voice, "YOU picked this? What six-year-old chooses to watch Food Network?" Daniel just smiled. (He takes after his daddy on that preference. They watch recorded episodes of Good Eats together.)

All the nurses and doctors commented more than once how tough he was. He didn't cry and they were surprised at his comprehension of the procedures. I kept explaining to him what was going on and he'd provide his own opinions. For example, he didn't want to wear the obligatory oxygen mask, so he said, "I have enough oxygen in my blood! I'm breathing just fine! Do not put that thing on me!"

While we waited for the x-rays to be taken, I played with his hair and held h is hand. When I moved, he quietly said, "Mommy, will you please hold my hand longer?"

I was able to watch the doctor set the bones. It was fascinating, although unnerving, to hear the bones pop during the procedure.

After we left we were starving hungry (we left the ER at 9:00pm and had been away from home since 3:00) so we had a rare treat and went through the Chick-Fil-A drive-through for dinner to eat on the drive home.

Gasp! I know, I know. Fast food is usually ultra-taboo for us. (If you want to know why, read the books titled "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Fast Food Nation". It will cure your fast-food cravings in a jiffy!) We were so hungry I actually didn't care about my personal food politics. Well.....I should say there's one exception: I'm never hungry enough to visit McDonalds. Ever.

Daniel was so delighted. He said matter-of-factly, 'This is like a mother-son date. Except that I have a broken arm. This is great! I love date nights!"