Looking out for each other

If there was anything good about the events of the past week, it was the care and concern of Nathan's cousins over Nathan and his recovery. We have a very caring family (on both sides) and many people were looking for updates and reports on how Nathan was recovering.

Of all the inquiries we had to give, some of the most special were from his cousins. No one saw the incident occur, but all were upset that something like that could happen.

As many of our family members gathered Saturday morning at church, one of Nathan's cousins arrived to pick up my brother and head down to the OSU football game. He was only given a few minutes to greet his other cousins, where he gave hugs and shared his excitement heading to his first Buckeye game. Before he climbed back in the car, he rushed over to me, his excitement subdued and asked if Nathan was feeling any better.

It really touched those around and showed how well raised all of the kids in our family are.

 

 

A victim of his own success

Sept. 11, 2011

I suppose we of all people should know that with special-need kids, anything is possible. It’s just frustrating when the things we hope and work so hard for come back and strike a very painful blow. It’s even worse when the pain is real.

Holidays are supposed to be celebrated and a chance for families to get together and have a good time. In my life I’ve spent two holidays in urgent care, and this Labor Day was one of them.

After seemingly having many of Nathan’s obstacles under control (seizures, constipation, caloric intake, sleeping, adjusting to school schedules) we had reason to celebrate, and enjoy a day off. He had been spending more time in the walker, showing off his hard work and strength building over the summer. Nathan had been playing with his cousins and seeing aunts and uncles, just like a little kid should.

I noticed he needed a diaper change and we left the room to take care of business. Once complete, I put him back in the walker, I disposed of the evidence and headed around the corner to the bathroom to wash my hands. Before I could reach for the towel, a rumbling sound filled the house, and instantly my heart sank.

Apparently, he decided to step down the hall, and turn the corner, only instead of heading to the restroom, he took his walker the full length down the flight of steps to the basement. In order to do so, he moved 10-12 feet across the kitchen, behind a group of people, make a 90-degree turn and keep stepping to shift his momentum over the threshold, all in a matter of less than 20 seconds.

As I said, anything is possible. Call it the perfect storm, but it all led up to a trip first to urgent care and then to Nationwide Children’s ER. For everything we could tell, the walker went straight down, the chest prompts holding him upright and in a position which could have been a lot worse. The only symptom we saw, were his top two teeth loose and bleeding, but having a non-verbal child, there were fears that there could have been other problems we couldn’t see, but her couldn’t let us know. From what we could tell, he hit his mouth on the top bar of the walker.

We had several x-rays taken, and he spent probably around 45 minutes in a C-collar, but the only thing doctors could decipher, was the loose teeth as well. It was decided that it would probably be best to pull the teeth to make sure there wouldn’t be a possibility of them falling out, and him aspirating them (even if it’s a small chance, it’s probably as likely of the events leading to the fall itself.)

Leaving the hospital we knew there would be soreness, both in the mouth and other muscles. He was on a Tylenol/Motrin schedule for the next two days, and with having oral pain, feeding wasn’t easy. Add to that, the apparent exposure to a stomach bug, and the middle of the week was a struggle for all of us. Nothing makes things better than friends and family though. On Saturday, Grandma Helen and Amy came down, and then he got to spend Sunday with my side of the family (those whose meeting was cut short on Monday.) Both seem to make things a lot better and finally, it seems he’s back to being himself, getting some food into him, and getting used to his big toothless grin.

For years, we’ve wanted Nathan to have a way to get around, interact with others, (especially kids his own age/size) and in a few seconds, it could have been taken away. We never want to have to go through anything like that again, but there is a sizable part of us that the injuries he sustained weren’t as bad as they could have been.

We now have stricter plans in place, making sure there’s some drag/resistance to the walker, when in places where curiosity could be more tempting than staying safe. We make sure as many safeguards as possible can be in place to minimize the chance of anything happening again. We give thanks that he’s willing to get back in the walker and not associate the fall with it. We’re hoping that he learned a lesson over the course of events, I know Annette and I did. Amazing things happen with kids, and we’re hoping that our future reports won’t be so painful for us to experience.

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