Jon's Latest Adventure

We spent Tuesday night at the ER. Jon had put a stick (the stick of his brother's Chinese Yo-Yo) in his mouth and ran into the wall. I heard the scream and turned around to see the blood start to well up on his lip. I ran him to the sink where the blood gushed out of his mouth. I called 911 when I saw the gaping hole in the back of his mouth. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital because they were really concerned about the location of the hole; it was too close to the base of the spinal cord. They had to put him in a baby backboard with head restraints and all. At the hospital we fought the battle of trying to get him calmed down. He would scream for an hour and then fall asleep just in time for another procedure.

Jon fell asleep on the ambulance, screamed for an hour after ER doctor examed him, fell asleep, then woke up when they put an IV in and screamed for another 40 minutes. He fell asleep right before they had to transport him to a CT scan, he screamed until they sedated him and he fell asleep for 15 minutes for the scan, then woke up screaming again. Thirty minutes later he was asleep again when the specialist came to check him for surgery. Screams echoed down the hall to Pre-Op where they gave him a relaxant. (he's screaming and the drug starts working and you can hear the pitch drop as the drug goes into effect.) On the way out of Post-Op, he waved goodnaturedly and said "goodbye" to all of the nurses, who all think he's the cutest thing ever.

He went into surgery and Mom and Dad have to sit in the Surgery Waiting room. An hour later the Doctor came in and told us that it went great. The hole was an inch deep and an inch wide. He was amazed at how big the hole was.

Then Jon was wheeled to Pediatrics unit for observation. He has to have an breathing treatment because the tube down his throat during the surgery has caused inflammation in his throat and he's struggling with stridor. Then of course, we have to wake him up and get him to drink something so that he can be discharged. About an hour later, they decide to take the IV out. He is so happy to be unplugged that he reaches for the bed. He stops crying when we lie him down on the hospital bed. He grabs the blanket and pulls it up and says with relief in his scratchy voice, "bed" and proceeds to go to sleep. Of course, he's not very happy when we are released from the hospital at 2:30 in the morning and we take him home.

By last night, he was running around the house, climbed shelves and driving Mom and Dad crazy. He woke up a little cranky this morning, but is doing GREAT today.

My favorite memories of this event were:
1. The EMT telling me how impressed she was with my calmness.
2. Jon waving and saying "goodbye" to the surgery staff.
3. Realizing again, what a great husband I have. He was stalwart.
4. Being grateful that we live where we can get great medical treatment.

My least favorite parts were:
1. Walking into the ER and having EVERYONE stop and watch the gurney with Jon on it go by.
2. The screaming.
3. Watching Jon's eyes close after they administer the sedative for the CT scan and then watching them spring wide open again. That was just disturbing.