Friday, 08 August 2008

• Only in our house...

  Sometimes the oddest things happen in my house. Here is one of them:
  
  
  This is Sam. This photo was taken while he was in Alaska. He's a drummer, and will be a rockstar someday =)
  
  
  Last summer, he was climbing a fence, because, that is what he does when his car is on the other side of it.
  
  While at the top, as he was about to jump to the other side, something went wrong and he slipped. He did indeed land on the other side, on his feet, but unfortunately, his arm did not follow. He looked up to see that the 'spear' of the fence had stabbed into his arm. He didnt know it at the time, but it also came out the other side. Complete impalement. He was alone and acted on instinct, and pulled himself up and off of the fence, at which point he started bleeding VERY heavily. He used his good hand to remove his belt and made a tourniquet. He called to a stranger across the street, who was walking into an Arby's. Yum. The stranger came over and helped him make the tourniquet tight. Then Sam knew he was going into shock and layed down on the grass and called an ambulance. Then he called me.
  
  Being a teenage boy, Sam does not offer a lot of information, so as a parent, you learn the fine art of persistant questioning. The conversation went like this:
  
  Sam: "Um... Mom, uh, I'm alright, but I sort of got hurt, and an ambulance is on the way."
  
  Me: "What?! What happened? Are you ok?"
  
  Sam: "Um, I was climbing a fence and sort of fell"
  
  Me: "So, you got cut? You need stitches?" (I am thinking chain link fence, cut needing stitches)
  
  Sam: "Um, yah man, and I might need a bit more than that too"
  
  Me: "Where are you?"
  
  Sam: "Um, I'm not really sure"
  
  Me: "Who is with you? Is Jenna with you?" Jenna was his girlfriend, it was her 18th birthday.
  
  Sam: "No, Jenna had to leave"
  
  Me: "You are ALONE!!!?"
  
  Sam: "Um, No, I'm not alone"
  
  Me: "Who is with you?"
  
  Sam: (holding phone away from his mouth for a moment, asking the stranger-) "Um, dude, what's your name?" "Oh, some guy named Eric is with me." "Um, I gotta go, I think the ambulance might be coming soon. Hey, which hospital is cheapest to go to? Oh, I gotta go"
  
  He hangs up the phone and I stand there wondering exactly how I should field this one. Which hospital is cheaper? Who asks that? Who even considers that? Is there a difference? I don't know where he is, and I am getting anxious, because he would not call an ambulance if just needed stitches. Ok, I'm thinking he must have broken a bone.
  
  Luckily, his girlfriend saw him fall in her rearview mirror as she was caught in a flood of traffic, and called her sister who was near, and had her go check on Sam. She runs down the street and over to Sam, who is laying in the grass.
  
  Kate: "Sam!"
  
  Sam: "Oh, hey dude."
  
  Kate: "How's it going?"
  
  Sam: "Um dude, I kind of fell. I think I can drive to the hospital, do you know where one is?" The ambulance arrived, and Sam refused to go with them, saying it's too expensive. Bless Kate's heart, she called me, told me she would take him, and which hospital I should meet them at. God bless girls.....
  
  I make it to the hospital about 35 minutes later, where I see Sam in VERY intense pain, and Kate and Jenna were with him now. There was blood EVERYWHERE and it looked like I picture a M.A.S.H. unit to look like. Jenna was rather pale, but holding together pretty well.
  
  Me: "Happy Birthday, Jenna =) " Giving her a hug.
  
  Jenna: "Um, thanks! "
  
  Me: "Hey Sam!"
  
  Sam: "Hey Mom" This is bonding conversation with Sam.
  
  They FINALLY gave him pain meds, and then this is what his arm looked like when they began cleaining it out: (close your eyes if you have a weak stomach)
  
  
  Yum.
  
  After flushing it out for what seemed like forever, they did not stitch it. They actually never did. It needed to drain and we had to make an appt with an orthopedic specialist. Did not know at that point what the damage would be, but miraculously, the spear went BETWEEN the two bones in his forearm, and missed the main vein thing and main nerve that affects complete control of your hand function. Whew. At some point before his IV pain meds kicked in, he gave me mad-props for giving birth and enduring intense pain 3 times. Not exactly what I expected to hear, but he was delirious.
  
  After about a week and a half, the swelling was going down. They still did not stitch it. Here is where it went in and came out:
  
  
  
  Since then, we have been waiting to see what kind of damage we were dealing with, and what would repair itself. Sam had lost the ability to bend the tips of his ring finger and thumb, needed for gripping. And drumming. So, 2 days ago, he had an almost 5 hour surgical procedure to locate the nerve, cut away scar tissue, and graft another nerve on to it, in hopes it will take, and restore those functions again. It will take up to 6 months to know if it worked.
  Hopefully it will, so he can be a rockstar (after I force him to finish his engineering degree!).
  
  
  
  The end =)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • 12:24 AM
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