So MP and I are on vacation in Hawaii. It’s early morning and I decide to check facebook. For some reason a video my son’s friend made just seemed to call out to me, so I clicked on it. Imagine my surprise when I saw the opening credits to include my two youngest boys, then my #4 son roll across the screen. Now I was definitely watching because I wanted to see what really happens when we are on vacation. Turned out to be the funniest thing I have seen….. Enjoy
I should follow up with the fact that when we did return home, the kids (mostly Doodle Bug & Scout) had washed all the sheets in the house, washed all the blankets and organized that closet, changed all the bulbs in the chandelier, the kitchen was spotless, the laundry was done. It was amazing! I looked at MP and said, “where should we go next week?”
I truly truly have the BEST kids in the WHOLE world! They are amazing and kind and wonderful! How blessed I am!!
I’m finally taking a few minutes to share our “arm experience” with BJ Dude. It was just a nice evening for some football. BJ Dude loves football and was having a good time. The team was lined up just short of the goal line, and BJ Dude was given the ball (he’s #40). He is powering through determined to get in the end zone when he got tripped up. He put his arm down to catch him and it wasn’t so good. Here’s the video clip. Warning: Although you can’t see his arm at all, it is still somewhat graphic knowing the outcome.
Now as I was watching the play live, I saw him place his arm and saw him twist and immediately thought, “uh oh. I hope that’s just a stinger.” Couldn’t have been more wrong. I sat and watched him lay there not moving. I knew it had to be pretty sore since he’s a tough kid who can’t stand not playing. He kept laying there. I waited for the coaches to go make an assessment. As the coaches and some others ran over to him, one of the coaches immediately turned to the stands and said, “Webster’s come here.” I knew then it was an “obvious” injury. Thinking it must be a break , MP and I hurried down on the field. A paramedic had just come over and was able to roll him over on his back just as I got there. I didn’t get to see the ugly arm twisted off the side look going on. Probably a good thing.
Here’s what we were looking at when I got there.
The paramedic guy was trying to support his arm and try to keep him out of pain while we decided what to do. Although I felt very calm, it was clear my mind wasn’t working and it was hard to think. I told MP to call Dr. Parry, who is a friend in our ward. MP realized it was Tuesday and surgery day. I told him to at least text him or he would be mad at us. In the meantime, the pre-diagnosis was a dislocation but possibly a break. I thought that if it was a dislocation, I’d just call our friend who is a chiropractor and have him come and put it in. I sent my Doodle Bug (who had wandered down on the field) to get the number from his neighbor in the stand. Then my brain kicked in and I realized that he wouldn’t touch it without an xray, so wouldn’t do any good to call him. So then we tried to call our friend that works on the ambulance crew. I tried his wife’s cell but didn’t get her.
The paramedic there said, that we really had no choice but to have him transported by ambulance because of the severity of the injury. So I called 911.
As soon as I had given 911 all the info and the ambulance was dispatched, our friend on the Ambulance crew showed up. Someone in the stands had gotten a hold of him. He came with his bag, assessed the situation and told us that we really did need to transport him by ambulance, which was comforting to us. He then began to splint his arm to stabilize it.
No sooner had he finished, then the ambulance showed up. They wouldn’t even consider moving him until they had given him an IV for pain.
They wouldn’t even lift him onto a stretcher. (Which reminds me, someone had gone into the school to get a table to move him off the field and they wouldn’t even do that.) So they got a stretcher that split in half, slid it under him, then clamped it together to lift him onto the bed to transport him. Here is everyone clapping for him as they lifted him onto the bed. I don’t know if they were just happy to be moving on, as we had started the game 45 minutes late and then laid on the 1 yard line for another 30 minutes after he got hurt. Yes, the 1 yard line. That made him as sad as his arm being hurt.
Here is our first ever ride in an ambulance. Hopefully, it is our last. This is my view from the front. For some reason, I hit a button that made the picture black and white. I didn’t even know that feature existed. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get it off, as you will see.
