The 4th Visit is Free, Right?

 Thank goodness we have a Children's Urgent Care so close. We are regular's there and as of this week we have all four of them in the Urgent Care with different injuries over the past six months. Chris was hoping we would get our picture on the wall, but I think instead they might call Child Services on us instead. So here is what happened, and so far this is the best one yet. Typical afternoon/evening at the Willis house. It was after dinner, I was sitting with Noah reading with him and Connor and Kyle were jumping on the trampoline. I heard crying, but I hear crying often so I ignored it. I then heard screaming so I got up to see what was going on, at that point Connor was walking in half crying, half screaming. He was walking with his head tilted to one side. I asked him what happened and he said he landed funny on the trampoline and now he can't move his neck. I am not an over reactor at all in these kinds of situations. I told him to go lie down on couch and I kept on reading to Noah. After about 15 minutes he was still complaining and crying. I had him sit up which he couldn't do because of the pain. I helped him sit up but he screamed in pain. Chris was traveling so I called him after talking about what to do we decided I should bring him to Urgent Care. By this time it was about 8:00pm. I got him in the care and by the time we got there he wasn't in as much pain and he was getting movement back in his neck. My gut said, nothing is wrong, he just strained it and he said he was feeling better so we never even went in and instead turned around and went home. I put him to bed and then about 3am I woke up to him screaming in pain. I had to slowly get him out of bed and I moved him to my bed where I propped him up with some pillows and then held my hand against the side of his head so he would keep his head straight. We both sort of fell back asleep, but by the time morning rolled around he was still in a lot of pain. So, back to Urgent Care we went. We got in and after explaining the situation he was put into this fancy neck brace while we waited for a room. Of course it was super busy.

We finally got into a room and then they had him get a x-ray. As we were waiting for the results I realized it was taking longer than usual which happened to us before with Owen and it wasn't a good thing. At this point I am convinced he is fine and he is acting fine, just stiff. The doctor walks in and says "We have a problem. I have called the ambulance and they are on their way. We need to transfer you down to Children's. The x-ray shows a break in the neck." Umm....ok, wasn't expecting this. They then come in with a board and strap him down so he can't move his head. At this point he starts to freak out a little. I am shocked, but not at all freaking out. I am oddly calm in these kind of situations. I make a call to my sister and neighbor to arrange care for the rest of the kids. 

The ambulance comes and they start moving quickly. They explain to me that I can't ride in the back with them but can ride up front. They then explain that he most likely will require surgery. Again, I am just a little shocked by all of this. We arrive at the hospital and at that point Connor is hooked up to an IV. They said his heart rate and pulse was so low that they were concerned. We were then rushed into a trauma room that had at least 20 people in it. They start yelling of stats and I am then introduced to a social worker who starts asking me questions about the accident. I told her what I knew and she asked me where I was when it happened. Great, I thought to myself, not only was it on a trampoline but I wasn't even watching them. I told her I was inside the house and she asked me if I was ever out there watching them...ummm no! I have four kids going in four different directions. I am having a good day if I can tell you where they all are, there is no way I am watching each of them the whole time. Of course I didn't say it that way. After all the commotion he was wheeled down for an MRI. At this time the Chaplin was following me asking me if I needed him to call anyone or do anything for me. This was getting weird. We got the MRI and then was wheeled back to the trauma room where some guy was assigned to just sit and hold Connor's neck until we got some answers. Over an hour later they came in to tell us that they didn't find anything and whatever they saw on the x-ray was not there. We were free to leave. Seriously! Connor's head had been held still for hours and as soon as we were cleared he was unhooked and we were allowed to get up and leave once we signed the paperwork and of course after we paid our outrageous ER co-pay. I had no car so we had to have Brady pick us up and we finally made it home around 7pm. 

So, at the end of the day he did only strain his neck and my mommy gut was right. At the same time I had to bring him because it was the neck and it could of been something serious. It was quite the day, but after a good night rest, some tylenol and a heating pad he is back outside running around and jumping on that trampoline. Can't wait to get the bill for this trip!!