In Stitches

So, let's talk about our very action packed and interesting day today. It is 12:30 AM on Tuesday morning and 3 outta 5 family members are WIDE AWAKE right now and I am most unfortunately one of them!

To have a full understanding as to why we are awake at this late hour and on a school night let me explain.

Woke up late this morning which means crunch time. Hadn't packed lunches because I was too tired last night. The kids were dragging and it was tough getting everyone out by 7:30. With that all being said, we made it with no tears or yelling!

I get ready. I get Gary's bedroom ready for his arrival. I leave the house and get to the hospital at 9:00 AM.
Gary's counts were great Sunday and continue to be great today. We are waiting and ready to split and get home.
10 AM, 11 AM, Noon, 1 PM.............. needing 3 doctors okay to leave and have none at this point.
I have to leave to get the kids from school. I get home at 2:15 PM. I tell Gary to call me when he is GETTING CLOSE to being discharged.

Kids get home. Jax needs new shoes for school and I need to get to Sprint to get a new phone for the new number. I got rid of Gary's old number to prevent the bizillions of work related solicitations he gets daily. I give the phone to the kids when we are away from them so that I can ALWAYS get a hold of them and visa versa.
Get the phone. Get the shoes. Get a phone call from Gary.

He is ready to come home NOW (what happened to when you are getting close?)!! It is about 4 PM at this point. So, I am heading home to get Zach who by the way is with his good buddy Jackson riding bikes at the park.

I hang the phone up and notice that I missed a call from Jen (Jackson's Mom). So, I call cause I have to get Zach anyhow so we can go get Gary.

Uh oh.................there is a problem. Zach and Jackson were riding bikes "off road" and Zach hit a large rock and went down on his bike.

So, I get to the park and Zach is bawling. Thankfully there is a Dad there that carried Zach to the car.

Nate and Jax pile in and off we go to our house. Poor Jen. She felt so bad and I felt bad that she felt bad.

What to do? Zach needs to get to the doc ASAP and Gary is ready to go NOW! So, I run across the street to Chuck and Jeanne's and Nate and Jax are able to hang there until Bonnie can get there to get them. Zach is still crying hard at this point and he has a 2 inch gash right across his left knee that is pretty stinking deep.

I had a hard time calming him down in the car and I am trying to communicate with Gary on the phone to let him know what needs to be done so that when I get there things can happen quickly.

We drive to Newport and I get Zach in a wheelchair and into the ER at Hoag. I figure this will be the most efficient way to get both the boys squared away (Gary out and Zach in & out). Steph and Jake meet me at the ER. Jake stays with Zach while Steph and I quickly go upstairs to the 8th floor to get Gary.

Things move rather quickly once we get to Gary. We hook him up to everything, undo some things, grab his crap and go!
We head down to the ER and we find Zach and Jake in a room waiting to see the doctor. (It didn't really happen that quickly because Hoag has 2 ERs and we kinda got lost and had to move cars and so on). Thank God Steph isn't blonde anymore! :)

Gary and Zach are both sporting lovely matching wrist bands from Hoag! Gary sits for a few precious photo ops with his boy and gives him some words of encouragement before heading home with Steph and Jake so that I can stay with Zach (who is still crying after his buddy Jake leaves the room).

Suzi is waiting in the wings to help if we need it when Steph gets Gary home. Chris and Otto couldn't have picked a better night to deliver dinner to us and it was waiting when Steph, Jake and Gary arrived home. YUMMY meatloaf!

So, Zach ended up getting stitches in his knee and has to be careful with no sports for 10 days. He couldn't have cut himself in a worse place as far as movement goes. His knee is most likely bruised as well and he is swollen.

He has an ace bandage thingy from mid-calf to mid-thigh. His leg is throbbing and that is why he is wide awake right now. I am waiting for the Tylenol to kick in before I head back down to get Gary situated.

Gary is all cleaned up, drained, IV medicated, fed, and anything I can think of at this point. I guess it is a matter of getting him relaxed and comfy. He had a stressful afternoon and he just needs to mellow a bit. He is getting IV Antibiotics to fight off the C Diff 3X a day. He will have pre-op at South Coast on Thursday nad surgery on Friday. He will be in the hospital over the weekend.

Gary and Zach will stay home tomorrow so that I can give them both a little TLC. I hope Zach's left leg and Gary's left leg feel better in the morning.

As I am forced to be awake I have accomplished much this evening. I have done 4 loads of laundry, washed dishes, packed lunches, shaved my legs (AMEN), and watched The Hills (much more interesting than my own life).

I have not checked E-mail , VM or anything else so if you are waiting to hear from me I will play catch up tomorrow (or I guess technically today).

What a day. I hope tomorrow is SUPER BORING! I need it. We all do. My Mom is coming to the rescue tomorrow night and it will be a relief to have some help even though I can do everything because I am Super Woman (ha ha).

We are so happy that Gary is home again. 6 days is a short stay and it is so nice seeing him in his own bed. Hobie is happy, too! Please continue to pray for his leg pain and for his anxiety. Thank God that he is home.

We thank God for all of you.

All our love,
L