I just want to rewind the last 2 weeks and start over, keeping most of it from happening! Too much gone wrong in too small of a time frame.... mommy overload!
I had to go to the ER 2 weeks ago because my chest was tightening and I had awful pain going down the right arm. They said it was stress and I needed to keep myself much more calm or I would start doing physical damage to my heart. I thought going to the beach for several days for the 4th of July holiday was going to help do just that... boy was I wrong.
I did get to spend Saturday before the 4th on the beach with my hubby, my mom, and my two little ones! That was great and we had fun in both the water and the sand. I took a bunch of cute pictures, too. The next day I was called out of the showers at the KOA Campgrounds by some lady saying my son was hurt really bad and they called 911. Do you have any idea how hard it is to throw on a bra while you are still wet?!? Slight panic set in and I was thinking he fell again on the bottom step of the RV... maybe he busted his head open and needed stitches. I ran to the RV and no one was there! I ran back to the showers and grabbed a maid asking for a ride to the front where my baby was. I didn't realize until later, she didn't speak English and somehow figured out I was the mother of the hurt boy. As we got closer to the playground, a huge crowd was gathering and sirens were going off like crazy. There were fire trucks and cop cars everywhere. I yelled to the 1st officer I saw asking where my baby was. He asked if I was the mother of Max and I started really panicking. He pointed over to the playground structure and in the middle of a the small crowd of people, I could see Matt's back. He was kneeling on the ground bent over. The next thing I remember is pushing people out of the way trying to get to Max. They were holding him down and keeping his head from moving. I went to his face and tried to tell him Mommy was here and it was going to be ok. I looked up at Matt and he was sobbing. I asked him what happened and he looked up and said, "He fell." Someone pulled him away and I went back to Max. We were at the bottom of two parallel ladders that went 10-12 feet up into the bottom of the play structure. They said he fell and bounced back and forth between the ladders. The ambulance came and they got him onto a board and strapped him in and collared his neck. They were asking questions I didn't have the answers to having been in the shower, so Matt came back over to help. I remember little of what was said other than that Max was unconscious when he hit the ground and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head when Matt got to him. Max and I got into the ambulance and they drove us down to the bottom of the hill into a pasture and put in an IV and started to hook him up to oxygen. When I questioned where were we going, they told me they were waiting for the LifeFlight helicopter to come. I was crying by this time and Max had been screaming since I got to him. Inside I was freaking out. Suddenly he stopped crying and it looked like he fell asleep. I was gently shaking him and talking to him to wake up, no sleeping, and that he needed to look at Mommy. The EMT told me to stay calm, that he was seizing. I remember trying to take deep breaths and wanted to stay calm so they would let me stay with Max, but I am pretty sure the sobbing and deep breaths at the same time sounded pretty bad. I guy in flight gear stepped into the back of the ambulance and introduced himself as Rick. He said he was going to take Max to the chopper and then onto Oakland Children's Hospital since Max was having seizures. Everyone spoke up at once and said it was the best kid's hospital and that's where they would take their child. I said ok, let's go! Rick looked over at me and said, "I'm sorry but you cannot ride with him. You'll have to meet us there." I cannot recall everything precisely as I said it, but it was something to the affect of there is no way in hell you are taking my 3 year old baby on a helicopter when he is having seizures and expect me to drive for an hour before I can get back to him. There was probably some other things said and some flying adjectives, but Rick calmly explained that I had no flight experience and no training of what to do on a helicopter. He told me they had a mini ER in there and that if something went wrong, there would be no room for me and I would just get in there way of helping Max. As a person this registered, made sense, and I was ok with it, but as a mother, I was dying inside and could only pray that nothing would happen when I wasn't there. He was alone and scared and didn't understand what was happening to him. How could I let that happen to him?!?! Rick picked him up on the back board and headed towards the chopper. I couldn't bare to look thinking that is not the last image I wanted in my brain of my son should something happen. I didn't know if I would find my son alive or not when we got to the hospital. I couldn't help myself and turned to look just as Rick was handing Max up into the helicopter and stepping up in with him. I do remember covering my face and sobbing. I was falling apart and my legs were coming out from underneath me. The officers closest to me came and held me up until a man from the campground staff asked me to come with him, they had a ride waiting to get to the hospital. He drove me in his golf cart to the top of the hill where I found Matt holding Kaitlynn and both of our mothers standing next to him. There was a huge crowd of over a hundred people. I felt like everyone of them was looking at me. I buried my face into Matt's chest and sobbed again. They finally brought a big crew cab truck around and we all piled in headed for Oakland. That was the longest drive of my life from Petaluma to Oakland. I was so on edge and anxious. my chest was so tight and hurting, but I didn't dare say anything to keep me from getting to Max. Once we got to the hospital, they made us sit downstairs and wait for someone to come and get all the releases signed, medical info documented and tell us what was happening with Max. I was so short and impatient with the poor guy. They had procedures and I just wanted my son! He was getting xrays when we found him and had calmed down they said. My heart was in my throat when I heard him whimper on the xray table and was thanking God that he was alive.
Since this was so hard to go back through and actually write, I am crying again and need to go take some anxiety meds. I will finish later or tomorrow or whenever... sorry guys...
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