We finally arrived at the hospital and the attendants rolled her into the ER, with me in tow. It seemed to be a slow evening and I was secretly thankful. From previous experiences as a nurse and mom, I knew the wait times could be very long when the ER was busy. We were immediately taken into a room and Cheyenne was moved to a bed, she cried out many times and it hurt my heart to see her that way, especially as I could do nothing but stand by and watch. Those that know me know that I am in no way a stand by and watch kind of girl.
Eventually, a nurse came in and began the intake process, taking information about the incident, Chey’s medical history and our insurance. They wanted to cut Chey’s jersey off, but Chey just about lost it. Typical of my daughter, she was in so much pain but still strong-willed enough to yell out “You can’t cut it!” to the nurses trying to examine her. I explained to them that Coach had told all the seniors that they could have their jersey after the season ended (little did we know, that wouldn’t happen in the end) and Cheyenne wanted hers in one piece. If you ever played sports or were involved in school, the blood, sweat and tears that go into the effort are all memorialized in that uniform. Do an Internet search and you will see site after site of people who are making quilts out of them, it’s really neat and someday I will make one for each of my children, you know in all my non-existent spare time. After much pleading, they eventually gave in and managed, with my help, to get the thing off intact.
Eventually, a nurse came in and began the intake process, taking information about the incident, Chey’s medical history and our insurance. They wanted to cut Chey’s jersey off, but Chey just about lost it. Typical of my daughter, she was in so much pain but still strong-willed enough to yell out “You can’t cut it!” to the nurses trying to examine her. I explained to them that Coach had told all the seniors that they could have their jersey after the season ended (little did we know, that wouldn’t happen in the end) and Cheyenne wanted hers in one piece. If you ever played sports or were involved in school, the blood, sweat and tears that go into the effort are all memorialized in that uniform. Do an Internet search and you will see site after site of people who are making quilts out of them, it’s really neat and someday I will make one for each of my children, you know in all my non-existent spare time. After much pleading, they eventually gave in and managed, with my help, to get the thing off intact.
During all of this, my husband had arrived and after contacting family, he joined us in the tiny room. The doctor had also made his way in and ordered an IV with pain medicine, X-rays and a CT scan. He was concerned, of course, about a neck fracture or spinal injury. And from there the wait began. Things run slowly in an ER, I have never understood why, but they do. I think it is because of all the paperwork that is required – it’s unfortunately not as simple as taking care of the patient anymore. Through all of this, Cheyenne was muttering under her breath about the pain and how the cervical collar was digging into her skin. It was beyond frustrating to see her hurting and not have any control in getting the process moving. She needed something for pain! It’s important to note for those reading that I am a very direct individual to say the least so it’s no surprise I could not sit there quietly with my daughter in so much pain. You truly never have to wonder what I am thinking because I usually tell you! Soooo, I naturally ended up going out to the nurses’ station and asking them to get her medicine, and yes, the squeaky wheel got oiled. The nurse gave her some Toradol, which is for pain and inflammation.
In the meantime Jesse Horton from The Flash, a local online news source, had contacted me. She was very sweet and genuinely concerned about Cheyenne’s condition. I gave her the information we had so far, and promised to keep her updated when testing was completed. Cheyenne, always the competitor, questioned if Jessie happened to know the score of the softball game. Jessie informed us that the game had been forfeited so the team could join Chey at the hospital. This came as quite a surprise, since no one had come. Now, I told you earlier that there were outside influences that caused some conflict. A major one involved the school district and the school dictated grievance process we were in with them. In a small town, a school district can be one of the largest employers and opinions can be formed when people don’t have the whole story, resulting in families being ostracized easily. In our case, this is exactly what happened and unfortunately Cheyenne suffered greatly for it. I’m telling you this because it had been, and would continue to be, a major factor in Chey’s psyche later. I’ve thought often, what a great social experiment it would be to provide us with the means to start a restaurant. Staff it with extraordinary people in the field and then see if it would succeed. I highly doubt it would, because the small town mentality is often like that of a hive, which is characterized by unquestioned conformity or passive tolerance through inaction, or indifference. I believe we could have a Five-Star Chef and only those few who have stood by us would support it, the rest would continue as dictated.
The day continued to drag on and my husband’s parents arrived in time to sit with him in the waiting room as Chey and I headed to radiology! They did a plain X-ray and I was standing in the technicians’ area (behind the wall) to protect from any unneeded radiation. They moved Chey into the CT machine and as they did, she began to scream and I mean blood-curdling screams. A moan hung in my throat as I found that Mama Bear voice and told them to get her some stronger pain medicine before doing anything else and “By God, DO IT NOW!” I’m a small woman but you know when I mean business. The tech looked at me like I was crazy, but he started toward the door anyway. Luckily, they had timed it just right as a nurse was already on the way with stronger medication. They gave Chey some Demerol and Phenergan in the IV. While they did the CT, I was looking at the monitor with the X-ray on it and noticed it looked strange. There appeared to be white spots in her neck tissue? I had been texting my friend, also a nurse, trying to keep my sanity through out, and told her what I saw. She said it must be an artifact, which is an appearance on the film that is not normally there. Usually they are caused by patient movement or errors in the technique or processing of the films. I thought, ‘Okay, that sounded reasonable, even though it really didn’t look like artifact.’
The Demerol had worked quickly and Chey was much calmer when we went back to the room, she was actually a little on the goofy side as she kept looking up and giggling. Her father returned and informed us that one of her teammates had shown up after all! We can never, ever completely express the gratitude we have for this young lady. Shelby, thank you from the bottom or our hearts for showing that bit of humanity and compassion for Chey. She still often mentions it in our conversations - it really meant a great deal! The girls talked for a short time, we thanked Shelby for coming and she left. She was the only member of the team to visit, the others had gone back to Dublin. It was only just recently that we found out another student had come with her, so Cade thanks to you as well!
In the end, we were in the ER until after midnight that night. Jessie touched base often and we saw posts on Facebook. It was very surreal seeing statements from the school’s Athletic Director about out status, since he had not contacted us throughout the whole ordeal. The test results finally came back and the doctor said there were no fractures, (Thank You Lord) only severe muscle spasms and whiplash from hyper extending the neck. He told us to have Cheyenne wear the cervical collar and gave us prescriptions and instructed us to follow up with our regular doctor on Monday. We thanked him and he turned to leave, but just as he was about to step through the door, he turned back and said, “By the way, the CT showed something on her thyroid. You should probably have it evaluated later when you have a chance.” My heart began to race again, and my mind was spinning out of control as the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Flashes of those white spots were swirling in my mind’s eye, as medical scenarios were flipping like index cards. I turned to my husband and said, “I told you I saw something.” I could see the fear in his eyes as he could see my concern. We loaded Chey in the car for the trip home and I silently tried to take in what the doctor had said while formulating our next step, because waiting until later was absolutely not an option for this Mama Bear.
Next time, Mama Bear in action…
XOXO Make Everyday Count,
Bonnie
In the meantime Jesse Horton from The Flash, a local online news source, had contacted me. She was very sweet and genuinely concerned about Cheyenne’s condition. I gave her the information we had so far, and promised to keep her updated when testing was completed. Cheyenne, always the competitor, questioned if Jessie happened to know the score of the softball game. Jessie informed us that the game had been forfeited so the team could join Chey at the hospital. This came as quite a surprise, since no one had come. Now, I told you earlier that there were outside influences that caused some conflict. A major one involved the school district and the school dictated grievance process we were in with them. In a small town, a school district can be one of the largest employers and opinions can be formed when people don’t have the whole story, resulting in families being ostracized easily. In our case, this is exactly what happened and unfortunately Cheyenne suffered greatly for it. I’m telling you this because it had been, and would continue to be, a major factor in Chey’s psyche later. I’ve thought often, what a great social experiment it would be to provide us with the means to start a restaurant. Staff it with extraordinary people in the field and then see if it would succeed. I highly doubt it would, because the small town mentality is often like that of a hive, which is characterized by unquestioned conformity or passive tolerance through inaction, or indifference. I believe we could have a Five-Star Chef and only those few who have stood by us would support it, the rest would continue as dictated.
The day continued to drag on and my husband’s parents arrived in time to sit with him in the waiting room as Chey and I headed to radiology! They did a plain X-ray and I was standing in the technicians’ area (behind the wall) to protect from any unneeded radiation. They moved Chey into the CT machine and as they did, she began to scream and I mean blood-curdling screams. A moan hung in my throat as I found that Mama Bear voice and told them to get her some stronger pain medicine before doing anything else and “By God, DO IT NOW!” I’m a small woman but you know when I mean business. The tech looked at me like I was crazy, but he started toward the door anyway. Luckily, they had timed it just right as a nurse was already on the way with stronger medication. They gave Chey some Demerol and Phenergan in the IV. While they did the CT, I was looking at the monitor with the X-ray on it and noticed it looked strange. There appeared to be white spots in her neck tissue? I had been texting my friend, also a nurse, trying to keep my sanity through out, and told her what I saw. She said it must be an artifact, which is an appearance on the film that is not normally there. Usually they are caused by patient movement or errors in the technique or processing of the films. I thought, ‘Okay, that sounded reasonable, even though it really didn’t look like artifact.’
The Demerol had worked quickly and Chey was much calmer when we went back to the room, she was actually a little on the goofy side as she kept looking up and giggling. Her father returned and informed us that one of her teammates had shown up after all! We can never, ever completely express the gratitude we have for this young lady. Shelby, thank you from the bottom or our hearts for showing that bit of humanity and compassion for Chey. She still often mentions it in our conversations - it really meant a great deal! The girls talked for a short time, we thanked Shelby for coming and she left. She was the only member of the team to visit, the others had gone back to Dublin. It was only just recently that we found out another student had come with her, so Cade thanks to you as well!
In the end, we were in the ER until after midnight that night. Jessie touched base often and we saw posts on Facebook. It was very surreal seeing statements from the school’s Athletic Director about out status, since he had not contacted us throughout the whole ordeal. The test results finally came back and the doctor said there were no fractures, (Thank You Lord) only severe muscle spasms and whiplash from hyper extending the neck. He told us to have Cheyenne wear the cervical collar and gave us prescriptions and instructed us to follow up with our regular doctor on Monday. We thanked him and he turned to leave, but just as he was about to step through the door, he turned back and said, “By the way, the CT showed something on her thyroid. You should probably have it evaluated later when you have a chance.” My heart began to race again, and my mind was spinning out of control as the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Flashes of those white spots were swirling in my mind’s eye, as medical scenarios were flipping like index cards. I turned to my husband and said, “I told you I saw something.” I could see the fear in his eyes as he could see my concern. We loaded Chey in the car for the trip home and I silently tried to take in what the doctor had said while formulating our next step, because waiting until later was absolutely not an option for this Mama Bear.
Next time, Mama Bear in action…
XOXO Make Everyday Count,
Bonnie
Well written, concise, a pleasure to read. Just like being there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim,
ReplyDeleteStay along for the ride and advice is welcomed!!