So on Sunday afternoon we had what is going to be one unhappy memory and one we will not forget. We had the Bellamy's over for dinner and Ashton and Ethan were running around the house like normal playing. Korie and I were in the kitchen and Jason and Spencer were downstairs putting a movie on for the boys. All of the sudden I heard this thud and then a cry. I looked outside the sliding door and saw Ashton laying face first on the concrete patio. I immediately ran outside down the stairs and screamed for Jason. Ashton had fallen out of our bedroom widow which was about 8-10ft high and had landed on the concrete patio. I had never been so scared in my life. I picked him up and held him while Jason told someone to call 911. It only took about 5 mins for them to show up. They checked him out and it was decided that they were going to take him to Primary Children's. I rode with Ashton in the ambulance and Jason followed us.
I thought it was really cute that one of the paramedics put his sunglasses on Ashton so the sun wouldn't bother his eyes. (thanks to Korie for this picture she had the foresight to grab my camera and take a picture. This may not be a happy memory, but it is something that needs to be documented)
We later found out that Ashton and Ethan were watching a cat out the window and the cat went around the corner of the house and Ashton leaned out to far and fell out the window.
While we were riding to the hospital, they were asking him questions like what his name was, if he had a brother, who I was, and so on. He answered a few of them, then when he was tired of answering he kept saying Mommy's turn, he wanted me to answer for him. I thought that was pretty funny.
We got to the hospital they ordered some scans of his neck to check it out and tried to start an iv. While they were trying to get the iv in Ashton kept telling them that they were tickling him. The one nurse laughed and said she wished more kids thought like that. His veins were a little tricky so after two attempts the nurse said she wasn't going to poke him again she was going to wait.
We spent quite a while waiting for the results from the scans and to find out what was going to happen next. Ashton was so tired so he was able to close his eyes and rest which I was happy about. I left the room after we had been there for quite a while to call my mom and let her know what had happened. While I was gone, the doctors had come in and said that his scans of his neck had come back clean so they were going to take of the c collar, and when they did and had him move his head all around, when he looked up he immediately threw up. So the collar came back on and we had to have a cat scan, and because he had thrown up they wanted an iv started so they had to try again. It took a while for her to get it in but finally they did. This time Ashton didn't think it ticked, poor kid was such a trooper he did pretty awesome through all of this. I am sure it was terrifying for him.
We were waiting in the ER for a room, this is the only pic of me and it is a good thing I looked awful, I had spent the day painting and putting Ashton's room back together.
We finally got the results and Ashton had a skull fracture it was pretty long about 4-5 inches. It was only a little depressed and there was a little bleeding but they didn't think it was from the brain but it was from the skull. Of course he also had a concussion, and we were going to be admitted. They wanted to put him in the Neuroscience trauma unit, finally we were taken up to his room and settled by about 9:30pm. My Mom and Myron came up and saw Ashton then headed to our house to get Noah and bring Jason and I what we needed to stay with Ashton for the night.
Through all of this Ashton was in and out of sleep, and that night was no different. They finally gave him so Tylenol around 10pm and we let him try to get some sleep. They only had one bed in the room for a parent to sleep in, so I let Jason lay down and I sat in the chair most of the night. I think I only got about 2 hours of sleep all night. Ashton just couldn't get settled, finally around 1am they gave him a small amount of morphine and he was able to sleep for about 1 1/2, then he was back to being restless for the rest of the night. poor kid I am sure he was in pain, but the only thing he complained about was the c collar he hated that thing.
Monday Ashton spent most of the day sleeping and watching TV, he so was not his self. We tried to take the c collar off but when they did he didn't want to move his neck at all, so the collar had to go back on, which he wasn't happy about at all. His scans came back clean for breaks but they thought he might have sprained a ligament so they wanted to keep his neck secure. He didn't really want to eat much, all day we were able to get him to eat some fruit loops but that was all. The doctors weren't concerned as long as he was drinking and he was so they said to just keep trying, and he would eat when he was ready.
The doctors decided that Ashton needed to stay another night, and they said that when he did go home he was going to have to be wearing the c collar and he was going to have to wear it for two weeks. This was not welcome news. It was bad enough that we were going to have to keep him calm and quiet with two feet on the ground for 6 weeks. That means no running, bikes, scooters, swings, parks, or play groups. I am not sure how we are going to do this it is going to be tough.
We decided that we didn't need to have two sleep deprived parents so I thought it would be best for Jason to go home and be with Noah and then he could get some sleep, and I was going to stay with Ashton at the hospital. Sunday I had spent the day painting Ashton's room and finishing his new bed so I was in some pretty grubby clothes and after sleeping in them and being in them all day Monday I needed to change. So I headed home for a quick shower and a change of clothes. I brought Noah back to the hospital with me so my mom could go home and then Jason was going to bring him home with him. Ashton slept much better Monday night he still was woken up every 4 hours and then it took him about an hour to settle back down again, but we both got more sleep then the night before.
We Tuesday morning and had a visit from one of the neurosurgeons and he was able to take the c collar off Ashton and he moved his neck all around, so he won't have to go home in it. I was so stoked about this it was awesome news. Jason got to the hospital and Ashton wanted to go for another walk, so we headed down to the playroom again, and this time he wanted to play he was seeming a little more like his self. We got back to the room and we got our discharge paper and we were able to go home. Ashton was so happy to be going home, we got home and it was such a relief.
Ashton was done with me taking pictures, but you know me I have to have pictures.
He was so happy to be going home, he could hardly stand it. He loved riding in the wheel chair.
We were so lucky this could of been so much worse. I am just thankful that we are now home and we can work on getting Ashton better. I just have to say that our stay at Primary Children's was not fun by any means, but they sure do try to make the stay as best as they can. The doctors and nurses were awesome and they were all about trying to make the stay as fun as they could for the kids. The hospital is totally geared towards children and it was nice to know that.
4 comments:
I'm so glad he's ok. We are going to miss you guys at playgroup for the next little while.
man, the picture of him sitting on the bed could be the saddest picture I've ever seen (the one with the cereal) I can't even think of the possibilities ... I am so thankful that he is ok!! What a terrible experience ... I've wished a thousand times that we hadnt come over that day:)
Those pictures just break my heart! I can't imagine how scared you guys were. What a trauma! I'm so glad his injuries were (relatively) minor and that he's on the mend.
that is SO SCARY! I had to go forward and make sure in the end he was OK. Then i went back to fill in the blanks. keeping him chill for the next few weeks will be hard - its almost summer!!!!! but a small price to have him healthy!
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