Counting Blessings

Today we are counting our blessings. Over the weekend, my darling nephew fell and was taken via life-flight to Primary Children's Medical Center due to a head injury. I'm sure my sister will post the whole sorted tale on her own blog, I can only tell you my own version. I work a little part time job once a month at a clothing store (I'm a self-confessed material girl as you well know by now! THE DISCOUNT!). I was just arriving (along with a good friend who also enjoys a discount) to begin my 9:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shift when I got a call from my husband. He explained that Bop (nickname) had fallen off of a chair at a furniture store and was in the hospital because he had fractured his skull and destroyed his eardrum. He said I needed to call my sister. I was in a panic...I got off the phone and immediately dialed my sister's number. I was so glad I have her on speed dial because my hands were shaking, and I was scared, worried, and hopeful all at the same time. I heard her voice and knew it wasn't good. She told me that he would be taken by plane to Primary Children's and that her husband was just preparing to leave to make the drive so that he could be there shortly after she and Bop arrived. I wanted to leave my friend, skip my shift, and race to Idaho Falls. However, Sarah told me that she thought they would take off before I could get there. They didn't. It took two and a half more hours to get her to the airport to board a small plane to transport her baby to the hospital. I'm sure it seemed longer for her. I arrived home around 3 a.m. and planned to sleep until 7 and then drive to the hospital with my husband. I called and Dirk had a positive report and said that the doctors thought that they may release Bop later that day. I then spoke to Sarah and she sounded so much better. A few hours passed and I called again for a report. Sarah told me that there was spinal fluid leaking from his ear and that they planned to do what would be a third CT-SCAN. She was worried, as we all would be, about the radiation from the scans, the fluid, and various other things that weren't quite right. A major worry was that he could not hold his little head up or control it properly. The doctors did assure her that it was probably a side effect from the ear injury. He had fractured the temporal bone, which amazingly enough happens to be one of the strongest bones in the body. I couldn't wait around...we took the girls to my mother-in-law and headed to SLC. (My parents were already there.) It was nice to have an afternoon alone with my husband as we drove, but I was worried and needed to be with my sister. When we arrived, I was relieved to see him. He was pale and looked thin ~ and he was a little grumpy as his head ached and he hadn't slept enough, but he was our Boppy. They joked that he should now have the nickname Bobble Head...we could joke now that they were told they were in the clear. I got to hold him and read him some stories. I was so impressed that he was as sharp as ever and had perfect comprehension! He did throw up on me, but I didn't mind a bit as long as he was doing better. We were trying to stay to hear what the doctor had to report back from the CT-SCAN that he'd had that morning. We stayed a few hours and then when we realized that they had over 7 traumas come into the hospital, we decided we'd better head home. I guess as soon as we left they had a code blue, Sarah will have to explain that one. Anyway, Michael and I felt so much better, we went to dinner together, and drove home (well, Michael did ~ I couldn't stay awake!).
Early this morning the fluid stopped coming and he was given the okay to head back home. In the hours that he's been here, he has improved immensely! He is holding his head up, talking, and doing the worm crawl to get around. We are so grateful for the prayers said in his behalf and know that this contributed to his speedy recovery. We will continue to pray for his wounds to heal and for his hearing to be okay in the coming weeks. However, we are counting our blessings tonight for a little boy who we love.

(Michael and B are buddies who love to play together...)