The longest 24 hours! (This will be long so that I can have one place for my thoughts)
Caroline and Alan headed to horseback riding lessons the evening of the storm, She had lessons at 5pm and they had power so they headed out to burn off some steam. George and I stayed at home and kept an eye on dinner. Alan texted me and said they had lost power, but it was plenty light in the stable. George and I had just gotten cozy on the couch when I received another text staying that Caroline fell off the horse. My stomach fell but I figured she was okay. Next message. She hurt her arm........I think she needs to have it looked at. When Alan writes that I jump up. I tell him to go to the hospital and he says she is okay and they will come get me first. I scramble and get some clean clothes for her, the tablet and phone charger knowing it will be at least a few hours in the ER. I get George's bear and blanket, some shoes on him and quickly get out of my pj's and robe and we wait for what was the longest 5 minutes. We drop George off at Willis and Diane's and hurry to SMHC. Thankfully, it wasn't too busy and we were able to get right in. Within 20 minutes she had some meds on board and was headed to the X-Ray. She was so worried and it was a constant battle trying to keep her calm. Now, we all know Caroline can be a little dramatic, but when I say keep her calm it was from fears. Not from pain. She handled that so well and was such a tough kid. She would cry and yelp a little on the way there, but once we got to the hospital and got her settled she was pretty good. Until the X-ray when we had to move it. She was so worried and afraid to move it, but the technicians and myself got her settled and it was one of the first times I got a look at her elbow. While it wasn't horrible, you could tell things were out of place. I took a sneak at the X-ray as we were leaving the room and knew it was broken.
We waited an hour and then some techs came in to splint her and tell us she was headed to MMC for surgery. Hold up! Let's chat with a doctor please cause now you've freaked out our kid. The doctor told us it was broken and she would need surgery either that night or the next morning. She would be transferred by ambulance. Caroline obviously got worried but we declined the ambulance and transferred ourselves so that we wouldn't be separated and she could calm down a bit versus the scary ride in the ambulance. When they splinted her it was rough, but she agreed that once it was a bit more secure she felt better.
When we arrived at MMC we had to wait, then be triaged again, and then wait and then go to an ER room. There we met with more doctor's, surgeon's, nurses and an amazing Child Life Program worker Rachel who made things so much easier for Caroline which gave me moments to breathe.
Around 11pm, when we thought she would finally get into a room to rest before her early morning surgery, Alan left. They had just put her IV in and he needed to get home and get provisions for she and I, check on Lucy and the house since we had no power. Caroline kept telling the nurses she was fine and then crying when they left. She didn't want any more iicky medicine. Finally, I convinced her to ask for some and by that point she was behind the ball and needed morphine. It was around 2am and she finally relaxed and fell asleep, for a whopping 5 minutes and then they came to wheel her up to her room. She was pretty cranky, I was too :) She did love being wheeled in the bed and the huge elevator. We got up to the Barbara Bush Children's Center and settled into her room. She was going to share, which was a change from the original plan but we didn't care. Her roommate came in about 5 minutes later and both families crashed. Well, it took Caroline a few minutes because of all the unfamiliar noises and then the others crashed but I couldn't. Too much noise (snoring from grandpa next door), too many people around, and too much going through my mind. So I laid there looking at Caroline until they came in at 5am to take her roomie away for surgery and turned the overhead lights on and woke her up :/ Alan had just messaged me and he was coming in which was good timing because Caroline did not wake up well and we got some more meds in her and she fell back asleep for a much needed hour. They came up around 7am and we went down to the OR. We met with all of the key players and we got all dressed up so Caroline would believe both of us were going into the OR with her. Alan stayed behind though once she got the first dose of meds and I held her hand until she was completely out. A kiss on the forehead and I left so they could get to work on fixing my baby.
I walked out and met Alan and we headed to the cafeteria quickly so we could wait by the room phone for the call that she was all done. We ran into my friend, Skye, and I got some much needed hugs and a little joy for fate since Skye was Caroline's nurse who took care of her while she was in the nursery when she was born!
We went back to the room with our food and met with her roomie's grandparents who said the first thing the young girl said when she came too was she felt bad for waking up the little girl next to her :) Then we got the call and hurried down to the OR. Caroline was coming to and it wasn't easy for her. She was clawing at her eyes trying to "open" them and just in rough shape. Once we got her calmed down we were allowed to go back to her room. Once there, she got comfy and we ordered her some lunch. Another Child Life program worker came in and reminded us that Trick or Treating would take place at 1pm. We weren't sure if she could handle that but Caroline was all in and got color to her face. She ate and we quickly got her ready. After some tears about having to remain in the wheelchair (no way could she have walked) and socks that wouldn't match her outfit and a bag that was deemed suitable we were off with the other children from the center. Wow! It would take me pages to describe what the hospital did for these kids and their parents. Just amazing. The line never ended. Just tons of staff, dressed to the nines, handing out candy and toys to these kids. We went from tear to "THIS IS AMAZING!" from Caroline. She knew her experience today was huge. As she said the night before, from the movie "Inside Out," this was a "Core" memory. She was sad that George wasn't there, but he had a class party that morning and needed a nap and it would have been too much to get him there. We were all sad, but it was okay.
Afterwards, we got her settled in and she watched a few shows and took a nap. Alan headed back home to get George and take him trick or treating and then come back up to visit with George and figure out what the plan was for Caroline.While she slept I spoke with the PA that was from the Trauma surgery team and another pediatrician came in. She woke up when he entered and was not happy someone was in the room. Another pain management battle began with her :) I ordered some dinner for her and we waited for Daddy and George's arrival. I heard the "Awws" and laughter and knew that it was George in his costume. When the kids saw each other they were just so happy. Together at last. Each mentioned all day long how they wanted to see the other. They shared stories, candy, toys, and dessert. Seeing her spirits rise and seeing that her pain was manageable AND we finally got power back that evening we decided to take her home. I was a little anxious and the doctor's said that although typically kids go home the same day, they would keep her there if we wanted, I knew she would sleep better at home and that's what she needed the most at that point. It was time to heal. So, Alan made a few trips to the car with all of her loot from the day and I spoke with the doctors and the pharmacy so they could compound her some meds and we were off! Batman gave her the official escort. We even ran into an employee on the elevator that recognized Caroline from trick or treating earlier that day. We got to the car and headed home. Got her comfy in her room and set her up with everything just like at the hospital. Used our trusty baby monitor and installed it into her room and set up her medication routine. She thought she was going to escape being woken up like at the hospital, but nope, was happening here too! Alan took the overnight shift with her so I could get my first bit of sleep in two days and settled in to our new routine for a while...
Caroline experiencing the heated blankets and
some serious pain meds for the first time :)
Waiting in the children's waiting room at MMC
About 2am in the Ped's ER.
She had just fallen asleep thanks to Morphine
and then they came 5 minutes later to take her to her room
and she woke up not happy, but thought the super big elevators
that fit beds were cool! :/
Almost 7am ~ She was woken up at 5 when they took her roomie out
and Alan arrived and she was miserable. Lots of pain and no sleep,
so they gave her more meds and she passed out for another hour
before she was called down to the OR
The night before the surgeon gave us his pen so we had
some fun with her splint. She made me take
pictures before it was removed in the OR
Keeping her smiling in the OR prep room
Posing with her scented mask.
Lambie was given a smaller one to use as well :)
Aren't all of your post op pictures in costume?
This was a few hours later, getting ready for trick or treating!
A little care package left by her friends and GS Troop leader
that Daddy brought by that night
Passed out after trick or treating and Daddy left
to take George trick or treating
Having some fun in Dock Sq.
Together again! They were SO
happy to see each other
Batman whisks her away!
