Sunday, March 11, 2012

Updates & Ambulances.

Updates:

This little precious one has a family!
Can I get a woot-woot?!
No really.
Can I?
This is big news!


Oh the power of prayer! 
I cannot tell you how my heart soared when I woke up to an email this morning from his soon to be momma.
It made.my.day.year.

In other update news this little one's face has caused inquiries to pour in to just about every adoption agency working in China. Though no formal match has yet been made their are families waiting and ready so it looks like that sweet face is going to have a family and a {hopeful} life saving surgery soon.
Praise.HIM!


In ambulance news I'll give you one guess who this was at school for on Friday:

Yep.

I was hanging out at home
had actually nothing to do that day
house was clean ~ gasp!
laundry was done ~ double gasp!
no appointments, no where to be ~ gasp! gasp! gasp!

When the phone rang.

It was the school nurse....who is totally great.
We talk often considering I have a disproportionate amount of children that attend that school compared to the normal population.
For a school that is only K-5th we have
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th. 
I'm pretty sure she has my number memorized by this point.

So she calls.
And I joke that this is our weekly/daily phone conversation.
She jokes back about how our phone calls regularity has actually diminished in recent weeks.
Then she says she has Joshua with her in the office, that he fell off a chair and fell into the lunch table....
chest first
and then on to the floor.

And it was at about that point that I heard the sirens.

I could hear them both out my own window since we live only down and across the street from the school
and I could hear the sirens getting closer in my other ear through the phone.

She had to call 911.

But
she was so incredibly calm that it honestly didn't rattle me in the least.
She said his vitals were good, and that he was happily bouncing around the office.

So
like a total idiot
what comes out of my mouth is this:
"So do I need to come over there? Or is it all good?"

Yep.
I actually said that.

An ambulance is on the way for my son and I ask if I need to come over there.

I am beginning to think that I don't really process emergencies all that well
and that I am complete and total loser.

But I digress.

"Yes. Yes you need to come."
is her response.

Okiedokie, on my way.

So I arrive and here is what I find


One very happy smiley Joshua
and one quite horrified teacher.

I felt so bad.
I really think that experience took like 20 years off of her life.

I think I'll bring her a beer next time this happens.

So all is well.
Joshua has developed one nasty looking keloid scar over his incision.


Keloid scars can be painful
and itchy
and when you hit your chest on one when you are squatting on your seat
like a good little Chinese boy
instead of sitting
and your chest hits the table...
it's gonna hurt.
And it's gonna throw the poor lunch ladies and half the school into panic because you are not effectively communicating that you hit your scar
and not your brand new pulmonary valve that beats out of your chest.

So we hung out for about half an hour.


Sats were good.
Chest looked good.
I declined their invitation to transport him to the nearest hospital for a full cardiac workup
though you should know they too agreed that he looked fine
I promise I'm not, ya know, medically neglecting him or anything. 
I do have some good parental judgement.

So as the EMT's were leaving I did what any good mother would do

I sent him back to class with his teacher.

That whole time
from the phone call
to hearing the sirens
to chatting it up with the EMT's
my worry level hovered somewhere around
non-existent.

Oddly though
when I got home
my legs went weak.

I think it hit me then.

I have become incredibly complacent when it comes to his health.
Almost too much I'm sure.

If we compare it to the proverbial pendulum
I have managed to swing myself waaaaayyyy over to the Land of Complete and Utter Denial. 
Where smurfs sing songs, flowers bloom and nothing ever goes wrong.

I think this is due in large part to the fact that he looks absolutely amazing 
compared to 5 months ago.

So I truly don't fret and fuss and worry about him
but nonetheless
whether I am unconsciously choosing to ignore it
or not
the fact remains

he is fragile.

His valve is fragile.

And Friday was just one massive reminder of that.

And until we can get some fat on those severely malnourished bones
and some muscle built up around his chest
he will be.
And in the true spirit of irony 
by the time that happens
it'll be time to start all over again when his valve requires replacement.

So if you need me
I'll be saying goodbye to the smurfs and attempting to swing myself a little closer to center.

Not all the way to the land of the worry wart,
because I don't want to live there either
but at least closer to where I won't even think to ask if I need to come when they call an ambulance. 

I.
Am.
SUCH.
A.
Nerd.

14 comments:

  1. Thank you for this awesome new. I have been praying for this little angel to be given a family. Thanks be to God.

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  2. So glad to hear about more babes coming home. I think you are my favorite nerd writer. You have such a gift....thanks for that.

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  3. oh. my.word-- i laughed out loud-- "so di i need to come over?"

    HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you are such a mom of lots of kids (esp. boys!)

    i do the same-- kid's bleeding?

    "well how much? is it gushing or just trickling?"


    and i am soooo thrilled for the little boy with HIV-- sounds like, after getting edukated that treatment and outcome for HIV is similar to Hep B- if we weren't already so close to travel- i wouldv'e gone for that cutie patootie

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  4. Good news! Wonderful news! And for some advice from me ... stay in the land of the smurfs for as looong as you possibly can!!!

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  5. I prefer denial. But thanks for the reminder to reign in...:):) Glad it was all fine. And he does look beyond incredible compared to 6 months ago.

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  6. Well, bless that nurse for being so calm that you would wonder if you really needed to go to the school! She deserves some flowers...and you deserve some, too!

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  7. Oh my, so glad all was ok. I do think we get more and more complacent with each added kiddo:) I tell all of mine that if it is not bleeding, then you are probably ok! Knowing full well that this is not always the case but for mom's with more than 2 kids, it is sometimes necessary for our sanity:) Ya know!

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  8. You, are such an amazing person and an even more amazing mother!!! I don't think anyone would ever think you were medically neglecting him!!! You rock!!

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  9. First of all, congratulations on such a great job advocating for the precious 2 year old boy. God is so good! Second, glad Joshua is fine. ("Chairs are for sitting." has come out of my mouth around 1000 times.) Third, (I thought this could be a possibility after reading the post about Joey's new situation) there is a medical condition, for lack of a better word, that results in certain chemicals in the brain that cause people to move into emergency mode being released later than normal. Those of us with the condition are very calm in an emergency, but then fall apart after everything is declared OK, leaving us to feel like we have a screw loose. Not saying you have this, though it could be nice with 7 boys!!!
    Loves...

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  10. I think it is something about boys...is this really an emergency room trip or not???

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  11. I think that you were calmer than I was reading this post. Of course the tone of the post wasn't too serious so I figured he was mostly OK, but definitely a bit scary.
    OH, but I am totally the type of person who reacts with what needs to be done in an emergency and I freak out later, so I kind of get that. I did laugh at the, do I need to come, though. So glad he's fine So glad you're all fine. Praying for you and your boys! Hugs!

    Oh and praising God for families for those amazing boys up above!!! :)

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  12. This post had me in laughs and gasps all at the same time! So glad he is okay! I think you had a terrific response!!!

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  13. I so love your blog.

    Really.

    Really.

    Do.

    Love that he was squatting at the table - at the risk of sounding not politically correct, is this genetic? Seriously. My 3 year old squats like that ALL. THE. TIME. And, I'm thinking she didn't learn it in China.

    Wish you were going to the Created for Care conference so I could just sit and listen to you talk in person for a while.

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  14. Hi! You don't know me, I'm a CHSFS mom (saw your cutie on their list, so glad he's yours), and an LWB mom too. My daughter has a keloid scar too from her surgery last July and we are putting Palmer's Cocoa Butter on it every night (the thick stuff in that comes in a tub). Since we started doing that, her scar hasn't gotten any worse and it no longer itches.

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