Tuesday, April 29, 2014

And We Heard The Nurses Saying That The Guy In Forty-One Was Really Cute

The sky is rumbling, all god and his angels rolling balls down the celestial alleys, the weather radar looks like the world is about to change, coming in from the west, air still as no-breath.

Yep. We're about to get it. We've had so much rain that I'm not sure we won't float entirely away on this one. I'm not complaining. I feel snug right where I am and I don't have to be anywhere until three this afternoon.

We had that hair appointment for Lily and the boys and me at one but that's been canceled due to a stomach bug that hit Owen last night hard. Lily texted me when they got home from Jacksonville and said, "Owen just puked. Great."
We attributed it to the long day, driving all the way to Jacksonville and back, visiting the great grandparents, going to the zoo. Then at eleven, she texted me, "Are you awake?"
"Barely," I answered. I had just put my book down, was reaching for my wrist brace (sexy image there, right?).
"Can you call me?"
And of course I was up and out of the bed and calling her before she could probably catch her breath and as soon as she answered I could hear Owen in a true, agonized panic in the background.
"Help me, help me!" he was screaming. "It hurts, it hurts!" And then, "Take me to the doctor!"
He was having lower abdominal pain and had been puking again and you don't mess around when there's that sort of  pain and so we agreed that she'd take Owen into the ER and that Glen and I would drive in to town to stay with Gibson so Jason could go be with Lily and his hurty-boy.

When we got to their house, I made the executive decision that I would go with Jason and we were in his car and on our way in seconds. "A milestone," I told him. "Your first trip to the Emergency Room with your child."

When we got there, Owen had been triaged and was drowsing on his mama. "Does your tummy still hurt?" I asked him, brushing his head with a kiss.
"No," he said.
And that's probably when we should have walked out but you know how that goes. He already had on the bracelet.
Jason's brother and sister-in-law and their child had a stomach bug last week and Owen was exposed and he wasn't running a fever and his color looked good and I did my quick and very professional nursing assessment for appendicitis by poking him gently in the lower right quadrant of his little boy belly. "Does that hurt?" I asked him.
"No," he said again.
"It's not appendicitis," I said confidently.
So we waited and we waited and the little baby next to us had the croup and finally we got taken to an exam room and we waited and we waited and Owen woke up to puke again but fell asleep afterwards and a nurse came in and asked questions and then we waited and we waited and the PA came in and asked questions and poked his little boy belly in the lower right quadrant and asked him if that hurt and he said, "No," and she listened to his bowel sounds and checked his ears and throat and said that she felt it was indeed a virus, not appendicitis and that he should drink a little Gatorade and if he could keep that down we could go home.
I was like, "But...if it's a stomach virus, he's going to throw that up." I mean, not only am I freaking nurse but I'm a mommy. We all know how these things go.
But they brought the Gatorade and he drank about two molecules of it and that was fine and in a little while he wanted water so I got him some ice water and he wanted to drink it ALL, he kept saying, but we cautioned him to take tiny sips and he kept that down until the clerk came in to do the discharge paperwork by which time he was throwing up the water but she didn't care and we bolted out of there like wild horses in front of forest fire and it was 3 a.m.

I drove Mr. Moon home because I was awake and alert and he was half awake and not very alert and we drove through the early morning hours and came home and got in our bed and we fell asleep and I haven't heard anything from Lily this morning so I hope they are all sleeping and that Gibson isn't puking now too.

And now the rain has come, it is battering the earth and the trees are throwing their leaves off frantically in the wind and the bowling alley has moved in closer to my head and it's as dark as just-after-dusk and it's suddenly chilly.

No walk today, but maybe a nap later.

May we all be safe, may we all be well. May we all be grateful when the storms that will inevitably come, pass and leave us whole.

Love...Ms. Moon




13 comments:

  1. My nephew Leif went to the ER last night too -- he broke his arm and has to have surgery this morning to put in pins. That little boy cannot catch a break. I was on the phone w/ my parents when they decided to go do exactly what you and Glen did. Our life parallels:)

    Very glad Owen is ok, and you all stay safe in the storms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I hate those late night trips to the emergency room. Re your comment on my last post...interesting. We have a different tree we call a china berry tree but it is actually a Chinese tallow tree.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SJ- Oh no! Last night Lily said, "Our first trip to the ER and I can't believe it's not due to him falling off of something."
    Ellen Abbott- We have some of those very invasive Chinese Tallow trees as well but I do believe your tree is what we call China Berry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my god, now that is a beatdown and a half. Hope everyone recovers today.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Juacho- I think everyone is fine with the possibility of Mr. Moon who was trying to sleep at Lily's and kept getting pounced on by the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am glad that he is okay. Spent a lot of time in emergency rooms over the last few years. Not fun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here in Illinois we had storms yesterday afternoon/evening. I was raised to appreciate nature's wonderfulness, so I tend to stand outside and watch the weather roll in. This storm came from the west, deposited heavy wind, rain and hail, then scooted off to the southeast....where it gathered more strength and headed back! We have friends a mile away who have horrible damage, but, thankfully, humans are all safe.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We were in the emergency room a lot with my son, but come to think of it, not once that i can remember with my daughter. i am glad owen is on the mend. that was a lot of excitement for one night. or at least, that might be how he remembers it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Syd- Last time I was there, my mother died. So yeah, I was a little leery of going in that building again. But this time was all right.

    catrina- Went away and turned?! Lord. That is scary. I'm glad all the humans are okay.

    Angella- I wasn't even sure he'd remember it all, he was so drowsy but Lily says he does. Lord, I hate seeing a sick child. And boys generally are more apt to end up in the ER and that's just all there is to it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The only middle of the night trip to the the ER with my kids was three years ago when Em was in labor with DT. Touch wood, my kids have always been healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Arrrggggh. ER in the middle of the night. I feel it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Heartinhand- Mine too but there have been ER trips. Mostly involving stitches.

    Denise- I know you know. I spent a lot of time there with my own mother.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh good grief. What an adventure. (How did I get so behind on your blog?!) I'm glad Owen is better and that this didn't turn out to be anything more serious. Yeesh.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.