A Tale of Two Hospitals

WarninG: this is a long post with very few pictures

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

In the last two days I have spent some time in two hospital emergency rooms.  One with several people near and dear to my heart and the other with complete strangers.

 I have to give you some back story.  My husband had an interview on Friday morning and I had to work (my work is freelance and sparse, so I do not typically have my offspring with a sitter).  A family friend was supposed to watch the little blt's as Gman was on a week-long hike and my parents went on vacay.  Family friend=sick.  I went down the list of other peeps I thought could watch my girls and every.single.one said no for different reasons. :(  I had a total pity party for myself Thursday night as my husband cancelled his interview to stay home.  total.pity.party. I'm a big baby sometimes :)
My 3yo got out of bed several times that night, complaining of stomach pain.  Back to bed she went, remember the pity party was going on, plus I figured she just wanted to stay up.  I went off to work Friday and during the day the hubs and I talked back and forth about her tummy.  I still said-don't worry about it she just ate something, give her gatorade and keep her hydrated.  After her nap she cried for 45 minutes straight, so off to the doc he took her.  At this point, she's running a  good strong fever and I'm thinking well I guess she has a little bug. (More back story is my hubs likes to go to the doc--I do not like the doc not.one.bit. it's not a trust thing, I just hate the waiting room wait).  I'm working away when he sends me a text that they're on their way to the Emergency Room! Wha?  I leave work (which is practically unheard of in my industry/department--I work in film production) and meet them at the hospital--I actually beat them there--hello Maria Andretti :).
We are immediately put into a room and then the waiting begins...

You know they take the rule things out approach--is it a UTI?  Is it bad food?  Is it (worst case scenario) appendicitis?  They think it's her appendix-oof!  First though, she needs to pee in a cup.  She won't pee in the cup.  So....they have to do a catheter.  I won't tell you how that went here.  It was awful.awful.awful.  Then they need blood and want to put in an IV.  In both of these situations, I am holding her down still so they can do it safely and hopefully quickly.  The IV didn't go so well and she started crying that she had to go potty (remember we just finished the catheter) all of a sudden--she goes!  All over herself and me.  Good times. (I am now the proud owner of some spiffy green scrubs they were good enough to give me).  Fast forward several hours, that passed at a glacial pace, and we did an ultrasound and a CT scan and the doc tells us he thinks it may have ruptured!  Ruptured!  I don't like that word.  While we are going through this time, LB's godparents took her for us (though she was charming the staff with her destructo antics) and our pastor came and prayed with us for NO rupture :).
Close to midnight the CTscan comes back clear--yippee skippee--and a very distinguished surgeon (no Grey's Anatomy here--though the ER peeps were dapper) visits us and says he doesn't think it is her appendix.  Let's all have a collective sigh of relief shall we?!
They can't be sure though.  She is going to spend the night and they keep the surgery scheduled just in case.
The next 12 hours are relatively uneventful, she has a viral infection in her lymph nodes--did you know there are lymph nodes in your stomach?  I didn't.  I sleep a few hours with LB.  The hubs stays with Emster.  I go to work after seeing the doctor again in the morning, knowing that if tests come back clean she is cleared to come home.  Again, LB is hanging with her Godmother and many friends continue to lift us up in prayer through fb and my lovely friend Jenn who got the word out to some other peeps I know.

Now onto the next part of our story.  It is the last shoot day at the University of Phoenix stadium for a commercial for the University.  Good crew that worked hard.  We are loading the truck at the end of the day, when a minivan pulls up about 30 feet from us.
An older woman gets out and goes around to the side where she stands for a long time.  Eventually, I walk over to see if she needs something?  A young man inside asks for some water.  We have water aplenty and one of the guys brings some over.
  Her other grandson has just had a grand mal seizure.  Both of the boys are special needs.  She doesn't want to call 911, but hello people it was at least 115 degrees on that blacktop! The young man seizing, Brian, is just getting worse.  Finally 911 is called and the security from the stadium try to lend a hand.  The firefighters and paramedics arrive and everyone goes home except for me.  Everyone is shaken up (even me, this sick peeps thing makes my heart hurt).  I realized that the Grandma, all by herself, has these two grandsons and a car here in the parking lot.    She is going to ride in the ambulance, so I offer to drive her other grandson, Aaron to the hospital.  Things move very quickly (in a way those firefighters have a clown car--they fit so many of them in there, they just kept coming out to help move this kid into the ambulance) and off they go.  I drive Aaron, whom is shaking like a leaf and trying to call the rest of his family from my cell phone, to the hospital.  Where the waiting begins again...

The two of us sit in the waiting room (have I mentioned that I hate to wait!), as they don't want him to come back into the ER.  He is visibly upset and I try to talk to him about his interests.  He is still hoping to talk to his mom so she can come down there.  She is probably busy though he tells me (wha?! um, hello your other kid is here lady).  We wait for what seems like a long time--seriously, is every hospital a time warp?!  Eventually, we are permitted into the back and he gets to see his Grandma and his brother. The security guy doesn't want me there, especially when he finds out I'm just some random driver and not family.  I wished them luck and left them with my phone number so they can call me if they need a ride (back to their van).

My heart went out to this woman.  She cares, all by herself, for these boys. I was blessed to have the chance to help her out. On a certain level, seeing her in the hospital had a deeper impact on me than having my own daughter in another hospital. Here I was feeling sorry for myself on Thursday, when I was suddenly surrounded by love and support on Friday.  Then, not even 24 hours later, I am trying to support a total stranger.  Funny how life brings things full circle--God just sneaks those ones in there on ya, doesn't he?

I am so thankful for friends and family that step up to the plate when needed.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve others.
I pray that young man was ok and I hope you and yours are well also.
Finally, Em is much better, she is kicking me through a pillow as I type this so I will go play with her.  Have a lovely Sunday peeps!
***I'm linking this to the Inspired Room, as this experience has inspired my (more positive) attitude all week.
s:)