Barfing and Broken Bones

This is Joseph's sad face. If he is looking
at you like this then he is either faking
or he is in SERIOUS PAIN!

Catchy title isn't it?  LOL  Be glad you have not been in my house the last 48 hours! Yesterday all the strength and time I had to post went into yesterday's post on No Shave November.  So you can tell I wasn't up for much!  LOL

After spending some time outside on the back porch with my husband I hear what I first thought was a cat howling in the distance.  John said he thought it was one of the children and went inside to check it out. He came back out a bit later to tell me that James had barfed all over his bed.  He cleaned out the bed and changed James's clothes.

We went into the house for the evening and went to bed.  A few hours later Margaret was screaming.  She had also barfed in her bed. So she was cleaned up and sent back to bed.  Joseph did not want to sleep by himself at that time so he came into my bed.  We all went back to sleep.   I woke late the next morning to head to work.  I had no idea what was going to happen next.

John had made breakfast.  It was delicious. Right as I was finishing up and thinking about running out the door Joseph falls out of his chair and on to the tile floor.  He smacked his left should and the left side of his head on the tile.  My poor baby was crying.  I picked him off the floor.  Daddy takes a look at him and asks where he hurts.  Even though I felt a HUGE (half dollar sized) goose egg on the back of his head that was not where he complained he was hurting.  He said his left should hurt.

This concerned me since this was the same side that he broke when he was two.  I swear I was gone for THREE minutes at best! I had to go to the bathroom.  The children were busy watching PBS so I thought I could make a run to the bathroom.  It is about the only time I have to myself...IF I'm lucky!  While finishing up in the bathroom I hear a LOUD thud and a sharp cry out of pain.  I rush out of the bathroom and into the living room to see all the children calmly laying in the floor watching TV.  I had NO idea what happened but I figured it could not have been too serious or I would have seen someone crying.

That night, when Joseph went to bed, he whined and and could not get comfortable on his left side.  I thought it was strange but then thought nothing more of it. The next morning we got up and he went to physical therapy.  Even the physical therapist thought he was only "off" and seemed to be whining a bit that day.  She had NO idea either!

I took Joseph home from PT and pulled off his fuzzy PJ jumper (he had been in for the last 24 hours; since I heard the fall) to see a HUGE bruise on his left upper chest by his clavicle.  I was HORRIFIED! I carefully bathed him and got him ready to head to a pediatric urgent care.  We got there and where immediately seen.  They took x-rays. He had a MAJOR break!  The doctor said a grown man would have been in tears if he had to crawl around on a broken clavicle like Joseph did.  She was AMAZED at his pain tolerance!  She gave us a script for narcotic pain medicine for him.

Now fast forward to my experience at the local children's hospital.  I took Joseph in and we had to wait in the the waiting room for about 75 minutes after being triaged.  I saw the other people come in after us.  They basically all had respiratory illnesses. I was worried we would pick that up while we were there.  I made sure we limited the amount of contact we had with surfaces and then used lots of hand sanitizer!

We made it back to the room.  The nurse and then the doctor made Joseph move his arm in various positions and watched his reaction.  At best he winced when he moved his arm.  The doctor and nurse were convinced that Joseph was not seriously injured.  I explained to them that Joseph had a high pain tolerance and they were not convinced. I'm not even sure they were going to send us for x-rays until I mentioned Joseph had broken his clavicle before and crawled on it without crying.

So we get sent back for x-rays.  They take FIVE films!  I had not seen so may taken before.  I had a feeling it was broken.  We head back to our room and sit in there for another hour waiting for the doctor to come in. Instead the doctor from the floor comes and and says Joseph's clavicle is broken. I told that doctor I had said it (the clavicle) would be broken to the first doctor that was treating us.  He quickly left the room.  Not ONCE did ANYONE offer to give Joseph pain medicine!

The first doctor came into the room and asked if I had heard the news.  I said yes, that the bone was broken.  I also pointed out I said I was worried it his clavicle was broken earlier and he needed to make a note in his chart about Joseph's VERY high pain tolerance.  He just looked at me.  I mentioned that I have told other doctors of Joseph's high pain tolerance before and they do not believe me because I am "just" the mom. So it would be nice to have documented proof.

Joseph all splinted up.

He rushes out the room as he mentions a tech will be in to help splint Joseph's arm. After some wrangling and me having to convince the tech to use the smallest sling and bandages available we got Joseph taken care of! I wanted to see the x-ray so I could see if the break happened at the site of the old break or it was somewhere new.  Plus I wanted to see the severity of the break.  His last clavicle break was very severe.  It did not help that he was crawling on it last time.  So I asked the nurse to see the x-rays.

Then something VERY interesting happened at Phoenix Children's.  I was told by the nurse I could not see the x-rays because of patient privacy. I said I wanted to see it and I wanted to take a pic of the x-ray on my phone on the light board in our room.  This way I could show his doctor a picture of the x-ray since I knew the records would not be ready for several days.  The head nurse was citing patient privacy too. Really? Um, no!  I am his mother, he is a minor so there is no patient privacy. If I am looking at the x-ray in our room then we are in a private setting.  This was a LOT of BS but I didn't want to fight about it.  From my earlier post on complex medical kids the first rule of hospital visits is to get back out the door as quick as possible!  I already had to ask twice for a copy of the Patient Rights pamphlet.  Now I just wanted to leave.

Out the door we went with the only medical advice given was to immobilize Joseph's arm to his side for the next three to four weeks and give him some over-the-counter motrin for the pain. Poor Joseph was hurting that night.  The next day I called his regular doctor for some pain medication.  She did not want to prescribe it (it has gotten RIDICULOUS in trying to get pain meds from ANY doctor, EVER, for ANY reason!) but in the end I won.  We got three whole days worth of Tylenol with codeine for him.  We are giving it to him only at night so he can sleep more comfortably.  He loves to sleep on his side so it pains him to sleep in the position he is most comfortable.  Now he can finally rest easy!

The good news in the story... We should be able to stop splinting his arm just in time for his birthday.  This is good because I ordered a bouncy house for their birthday!  Hopefully we will have NO more accidents!!!

Sick, sick and more sick...

Photo Credit: thriftyninja.net

Sorry it has been so long since I had posted. It was a LONG weekend last weekend. On Friday I got a call from Bailey. She had gone to the hospital a few days before because she had not been feeling well. It seemed like she was having an allergic reaction to something in the house (cat maybe) and went to the hospital. She also told them about the pain she had been having in her kidneys. They did not even treat her and accused her of faking seizures (keep in mind she is epileptic). On Friday the hospital calls her and at least gives her the impression that if she did not come in immediately and get treated with antibiotics she was going to die. Bailey, not quite yet 20, was scared out of her mind. She called me at 1:00pm and said she was going to call an ambulance and head to the hospital. The ambulance arrived and took Bailey. The Fire Department arrived also and stayed with the children until the police arrived. The fire department put one of my car seats in their truck while the police car had two built-in seats and put Margaret and James in those. Everyone rode to the hospital and went into the ER. Bailey did pretty well with keeping the children calm and with her. A volunteer fire fighter called me at work. He said he wanted to check up on me and make sure I knew where my children were. I said I did know and that I had talked to Bailey. He said he was worried about the children and I needed to come and get them. I told him I had just started a new job and I could not leave to go and get them. It was the end of the pay period and I had submitted my timesheet so there was NO wiggle room to make that happen. I told him I was going to be off at 3:30pm (It was only in another half hour) and he said ok. I finally got off the phone with him and started to get my things together so when 3:30pm came I could leave.

I left work at 3:30pm. Spent an hour and half in traffic to get home. Once there I lug in and install the two car seats. Each one of these things weigh 40 pounds. When I bought then years ago I was thinking about safety and not having to lug them around. I get the two seats installed and then drive to the hospital. I have to find the ER and then find Bailey and the children. For three four –year-olds they were behaving really well! I sat for a bit with Bailey. When the hospital was ready to admit her I left. There was no one to help us out. So I was pushing Joseph in a stroller (thankfully I had brought one in), lugged his car seat over my should/back (hand is too weak and messed up from the carpel tunnel surgery to carry it), trying to herd Margaret in the parking lot (she walked out in front of a car but I knew they were watching her thankfully) and listen to James cry and whine as I made him pull/drag a bag of toys that Bailey had pack for them weighing 15 pounds. As I made it out to the parking lot a woman and her daughter saw us and heard James crying. She offered to help. I told her THANK YOU! We made it to the car. I installed the last car seat. The kind woman stayed with the children while I did that. The lady and her daughter left and I loaded the children into the car. By the time I got home it was 8:30pm. I was exhausted! I had left the house at 5am and was FINALLY back home for the day!

Saturday Bailey had to stay in the hospital. She was getting an IV full of antibiotics. The infection in her kidneys was a strain of bacteria that was resistant to several “common” antibiotics that you would pick up at the local pharmacy. This left her in the hospital for both Saturday and most of Sunday. I got to enjoy the house mostly alone (her grandfather (Bill) was working) with the children. We had a nice time. Sunday I went to the hospital to pick up Bailey. I put $80 in my gas tank and it only filled my van up half way. The gas is killing me commuting back and forth to work. I think I may change my schedule and start to take the bus. I can’t continue to commute 60 miles a day in my 1992 Ford E-350 15 passenger van…lol. I am using about a tank of gas a week which equals around $150 per week! Bailey came home Sunday night and basically went right to sleep. She was still pretty heavily medicated from being in the hospital. Monday I saw her and we all had a nice day. She was still tired and groggy so I sent her to sleep as much as she could. I knew I would have to work the next day. Monday night I started to feel sick. By late Monday night I was REALLY feeling sick. I was sick enough I took some Nyquil to sleep. I woke up early because I was so stuff and my throat was dry from snoring. Tuesday at work was HORRIBLE. I could barely function but I had to be here anyways. I have no sick time to take off and I had things I had to do here. Last night I took a double dose of Nyquil. I woke up this morning having had one of the best night sleep in a while. Since November 4th, when I moved into the house, I have been sleeping in the floor. I have a thin memory foam mattress topper with two comforters on it as my bed. Bailey and her grandfather were kind enough to supply the bedding. Otherwise I would have been sleeping on the carpet. This is my second week of sleeping on the floor. It has been tough. I am not sure if it is me getting used to sleeping in the floor or the Nyquil but I was grateful for a sound night’s sleep!

My storage cubes are supposed to be delivered this Friday. I am hoping to have my mattress at least. Everyone in the house has at least a mattress except me…lol. I would like my mattress up off the floor but just having a mattress would be a MAJOR improvement! Bit by bit things are getting done. I can’t wait for life to settle down. John is still sticking to paying me what he has to in child support versus the amount we had agreed upon. He knows that I have to apply that money to Bailey and any other sitter I might hire. I love Bailey to death but I worry about her physically taking care of the children full-time. I am afraid her body might not be able to handle it.  Plus I know she needs some time to take care of herself.  I would love to find someone who could drive in an emergency. The last nanny I was trying to find quit. So I need to get back to searching. It is hard to get motivated though. There is SO much that needs to be done but I only have so much time and money.

Working Behind the Scenes

I know it may not seem like it but I have been super hard at work behind the scenes on the blog.  I have had a few pages under construction but had not published them until today.  One of the toughest pages to publish was Martha's page.  I knew I was doing a lot better in dealing the the loss because I can now at least LOOK at the photos of her and not burst into tears.  On the other hand writing her page, the physical act of writing and picking out words to describe what happened, was more difficult than I had ever imagined.  I think it is because I carry a lot of guilt in her death.  I feel like choices I had made such as moving away from Vegas where I had a great doctor to Alabama (where I had family that was suppose to help) played a BIG role in my pPROM and early delivery of the babies.  I was riding in a car for 90 minutes to make a doctor appointment in Alabama to see a specialist with high order multiples yet she would not admit me into the hospital even though I was 24 weeks with quads. I had an appointment to go back and see her two days after they were delivered.  There are few people on this planet I carry hate and animosity around in my heart for and she is one of them.  Right or wrong that is the way I feel.  I am hoping one day that changes but so far I have not been able to let it go.

The other page was more fun because it is the photos page.  I put up a picture of when I was in the hospital after I pPromed but BEFORE I had the babies.  I was HUGE!   LOL  I also have pictures of the babies a few hours after they were born.  I will be posting more pictures up there as the days go by.  I have been SUPER busy scanning in old photos of my oldest children.  I have this blog dedicated to the little ones and I have a TON of pictures of them but few of the older kids.  I feel bad about that because I don't want them to think I do not care.  I do care.  That is why, as I have been repacking things to move, I have come across items I have held onto for close to 20 years.  I found some of Jerrin and Caitlin's old baby clothes.  I will be sending some of them to Jerrin since he is expecting his first child.  I will hold on to Caitlin's for now.  I also came across Jerrin's old woobie...lol.  I have a LARGE box of photos.  I just need to scan them so I can have them digitally.  That is what I was trying to do today along with packing but the little kids made it hard.

I was trying to get things out so I can look at them and decide if I still need it, should sell it, or give it to someone else.  The babies on the other hand had some different ideas.  It seemed like every time I left the room to make a scan of a photo, get a box, sort through a box or put a box away the babies were doing what they could to get in trouble.  It was a rough day here.  I think it is all the strange stuff out coupled with being on a sugar high from all the cake and ice cream from my birthday bash.  LOL

One instance today was pretty bad.  James was having a smart moment and decided to move one of the kitchen chairs to my hutch.  There he opened the door and got down my "smell-good" (perfume bottle) and took it into their bedroom.  They were in there laughing and having a good time.  I heard it and thought nothing of it.  I should have known better!  LOL   A few minutes later Margaret comes into my computer room where I am adding a few more clothes to the sell pile and she is coughing saying, "I coughing mama."  Then I get a whiff.  She reeks of my perfume!  I head to their room and I walk in to see James spaying Joseph and the smell in the room is overwhelming.  The room reeked like a two-dollar whore!  Hummm, should I be saying that since it is MY perfume???  LOL  Well, I NEVER wear that much of it at one time THAT is for sure!  WOW!

So I was scanning, packing, sorting, trying to keep the kids in line, and now I am taking a minute to inform my dear readers (the two who stop by my page...lol) what is going on in my life.  Now I am going to see if there is anything of interest to report from Facebook and then I am off to bed. Tomorrow is more of the same along with therapy for Margaret and Joseph.