When Our Kids Rally

Note: A very little bit of blood can be seen in a couple photos in this post.

Yesterday was one of those days. A day when the unexpected happens and throws everything out the window. A day very similar to one a year and a day ago, with a different twist. 

We'd had some fresh snow and Craig went out to shovel our elderly neighbor's drive. He stepped on some ice and down he went, only instead of face planting like last year, he fell backwards. He was actually knocked out by the impact, although the doctors could not tell us just how long he had been unconscious.

When he came to, he made his way back into the house and called up the stairs to me, "I need help. Grab some towels!" I knew then that it was bad.

I went rushing down the stairs and into the emergency cupboard I had just put together when I'd put away all the Christmas things. Never did I dream I would be using it so soon.

Craig was wearing a new winter hat, one that he'd been given by the blood bank for all the blood donations he's made. (Cue the irony.) That hat kept a bad situation from becoming much worse. 

The yarn is very thick and it fits tightly around his head. That hat kept him from bleeding more freely than he would have without it, and the thickness protected his skull when the back of his head hit the concrete. 

I was still Covid positive and very tired and weak. I knew I was not up to helping Craig in and out of the car, let alone if he collapsed and went down again. As it was, he was so woozy, he couldn't stand for very long.

 Luckily, Lisa has a very understanding assistant principal who stepped into her classroom for the rest of the day so that Lisa could rush her dad to the ER.

It broke Tammo's heart when Craig left. Poor guy! I gave him some attention as the day passed but he was mopey and really missing Craig. (Pepper did, too, but as long as I am nearby, she is fine. Tammo is more attached to Craig than me.)

Our kids rallied behind us right away. Curt's neighborhood (out in the country) was not yet plowed and he was unable to get out of his driveway and physically come help us. So, he contacted all his siblings and started a text chain to keep everyone in the loop.

At the hospital, Lisa FaceTimed in Sarah who is an RN and she helped us understand what the ER folks were telling us as well as to know what to ask them. Jessica, Kyle, and Cole sent supportive messages and called to check on me. And so on. Their care, concern, and contact were a comfort to me throughout a very long day.

Long story short, "Craig is very lucky" as one radiologist told Sarah.  There are no fractures but there is swelling around the site where his head hit the concrete and he has a concussion. There was a gaping head laceration that took 5 staples to close and a smaller one that will heal on its own.

Of course, my kids being who they are, the tone of the text chain changed and the quips and jokes began to fly once their Dad was out of the woods and on the way home.

Sarah: Stop at Arby's. Get that man a roast beef sandwich.

Kyle: No ice for his drink!

and

Sarah: I'm prepping a note for Dad's flowers now. "Stop being nice and falling on the ice."

And we all enjoyed the fact that, until he is allowed to shower and get his head wet, he has pink hair.

Lisa made sure we had everything we needed when she brought Craig home. She also offered to take Tammo home so he could run off some energy with Nash, but we declined. When the roads in his sub division were finally cleared, Curt brought dinner over and checked on us. Jessica called, Kyle called, and so it went for the rest of the day.

Whether they are physically near or far from us, when our children rally around us, their support and love is strong and we feel that all will be okay.

Thanks, kids. Love you so much. XOXY

Mom

Update on Craig

Craig is doing okay. He continues to have a very bad headache, a black eye that is nearly swollen shut, and his nose is so painful, it is difficult for him to chew. He is not one to go to bed when he is ill or injured, so the fact that he did so yesterday was very telling to me that he was really feeling poorly.

Our kids have jumped in to help us out - Sarah sent us six different kinds of soups from Panera that will make it much easer for Craig to eat. She also sent a big container of animal-safe Ice Melt. Apparently you can put it on the blood stains, let it melt, then put it on them again and they will disappear. That was delivered late last night so I will start that process this morning.

Lisa fixed a yummy dinner for us last night, and Curt and his crew joined us for dinner. We played Rudolph Bingo at Lukie's request and then Bank. Unfortunately Curt inherited his mama's back, poor guy, and recently injured it and is not able to lift or do much, but he will help out as much as he can. 

And we did a family Zoom and got to chat with our other kids, too. Building on Craig's love of wearing Crocs, they were teasing him about getting the Croc snowplow attachment in order to keep him safe:

I laughed almost until I cried, and Craig thought they were pretty funny, too. I would not be surprised if a box of Crocs snowplows arrives here soon. And my guess is that more than one of our kids will order themselves a pair, too!

(I sort of want a pair, and I don't even own any Crocs!)

Thanks so much for the prayers, good thoughts, and well wishes. They have been much appreciated and mean a lot to us and our family. 

The Risks of Cleaning

I've mopped my floors probably thousands of times. I know that wet floors can be slick. I know to be careful. But it just takes one moment of forgetting to be cautious to wind up in the emergency room.

Yesterday just before lunch I finished steam mopping my floors, waited what I thought was enough time for them to dry, and then walked down the tiled hallway to get something from our bedroom. Suddenly my feet went out from under me and I fell head first into the door jamb, smacking the side of my head right into it.

I knew right away that it was not good, and having had several concussions before, I figured out quickly that I had just given myself another one. I waited a few hours - I absolutely did not want to go any place where I might be exposed to COVID-19. But finally I called my doctor who directed me to go to the hospital immediately.

Due to the pandemic, Craig had to drop me off at the door where a nurse put me into a wheelchair and took me back for triage and then into a bed. Non critical patients were placed in the hallway with screens between us. And since they didn't want people in the ER to stay very long in case of exposing them to COVID-19, treatment and testing went quickly and I was in and out in an hour and a half. 

My nurse had a great sense of humor. As she wrote out my release papers, she asked, "How about I put in your release note, 'Patient should never mop floors again?'"  We had a good laugh over that.

I'm lucky - no skull fracture and no brain bleeds, but I do have a good concussion. Even twenty-four hours later I am still nauseated and have a headache. 

No barn for me for a little while, but Tim knows I won't be out and said he'll give Abby extra good care until I can return. And my fingers are crossed that Sultanna won't foal while I am homebound!