MY BIRTHDAY & ELIJAH'S ACCIDENT

My birthday was filled with what started out as a nightmare and ended as a blessing!

On Thursday night Elijah and his friends decided to light a bottle rocket and used a seemingly empty oil jug to sit the rocket in. When Elijah bent down to light it the spark from the lighter ignited the oil fumes and it exploded in his face. His friends brought him right home and Jim called the nurse hot line right away. After we got him to take his face out of the sink long enough for us to see we headed for the ER. Now his face and neck were red but his lips had started to swell so even though I thought that it was not too bad just to be safe off we went.

We got to the ER within 20 minutes!

Now we have never gotten seen at the ER, even on a slow night, in less than 3 or 4 hours. So when we walked in and told them what happened and they took him right back we were shocked. There were 5 people swarming around him within seconds! Now his face and neck were bright red but we still thought it was not serious. That is until this young petite female doctor comes to talk to us and tells us that they will be sedating him so that they could intubate him and he would likely stay on the respirator for 3 days! She told us they were concerned about his airway being compromised by swelling and they needed to have him intubated to air lift him to a burn center.

Now I am not sure that she fully understood how she had turned my whole world upside down! I felt like I was watching someone else because this could not be happening to my child!

Now I had to hold it together for them to explain to Elijah what was going to happen! He took it all in stride like a champ! I kissed him and told him how much I love him then we were made to leave for them to intubate! I made it to the hallway and lost it! Naturally Jim was there to help me pull it together and assure me that he would be okay! This is why we work so well together he is always calm when I am a huge mess! So about an hour later they come get us to go back with Elijah.

It felt as though I had hit a wall when I walked through that curtain! There was my baby with tubes coming out of him and a machine breathing for him! His stomach tube that would normally be inserted through his nose was also put in his throat because his nose was too swollen shut for them to get the tube in. He had blood around his nose and blood on the floor. I have never seen anything so heart wrenching! I broke down and almost walked out of the room when an Ensign (Navy nurse) came over to me and rubbed my back and told me that it would be okay! He told me how he had a 10 year old son also named Elijah and he could not imagine having him lying there! We were very blessed with some awesome people caring for not only Elijah but me as well! Now we were waiting for them to find a hospital with a burn center that could take him and transport him. This ended up being no easy task since their first 4 choices were unable to transport him or had a full burn center. There was also some concern about the weather and flying. So for 3 hours I had to sit and watch my child go into a full panic, almost like convulsing, every 20 minutes when his sedation started to wear off. He would rear up and grab at the tubes while still slightly sedated. Thankfully he never fully awoke and they pushed his pump for more medicine very quickly but those few minutes were an eternity to me! It felt as though I was being suffocated! Again thank God that Jim was there because when Elijah would flail, fight and gag a lot I could not get out of the room fast enough! We also had Anna get to the hospital shortly after he was intubated so between her and Jim he had someone to comfort him when it got too much for me to watch! We also had to see them suctioning fluid from his lungs so to say I was a terrified mess is a huge understatement!

Jim and Anna agreed that when he was better he would want to see pictures so they used their phone to get this image. I did not really feel it was appropriate but I was quickly reminded that when he was in the ER getting his chin stitched he made me get pictures of the gash before they stitched it closed. So knowing my boy i allowed them to take the picture!

Finally at about 12am they told us that he would be transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem.

FOUR HOURS AWAY!

After some discussion we decided, since it would be at least another hour and a half before they would be able to get him, Anna and I would start the long drive and Jim would stay at the Naval Hospital and watch over our boy!

I have to admit as much as I did not want to leave him, just in case, it was a relief to not have to watch the trauma every 20 minutes! Jim shared with me the following day that he knew he needed to get me out of there before I had a total break down!

So we were off on what seemed like a 12 hour drive! Jim called me to let me know that he was being transported to Ellis Airport to be flown in a fixed wing medical plane to Winston Salem. It was a 45 minute flight so we were less than an hour behind Elijah. Jim asked a flight nurse if she would call him when they landed so that he could call me to let me know he arrived safely. My honey was on his toes the whole time! I prayed the whole way there that God would provide some way for them to have him off the respirator by the time we got there. I knew I would be in trouble having to face this alone without my best friend as a buffer so I had a talk with God during the trip and asked him to either provide a way for Elijah to be off the ventilator or give me the strength that I needed to be there and be able to help Elijah.

We finally get to Winston Salem within an hour of Elijah arriving and I am allowed back to see him. Nervously I walk back alone because they would not allow Both Anna and I back. As I get through the curtain I see my baby sitting up off the ventilator!

GOD IS GOOD!

He was talking and complaining so I knew he was okay! He felt badly and vomited all day but many, many hours later I am finally given the okay to bring him home! On an aside, I would not send my dog to this hospital the incompetence amazed me! We did however have a wonderful nurse for the first couple of hours and an awesome burn nurse! The burn nurse cleaned his burn and explained to us how to care for him and that his burn would likely worsen for up to 4 days so we were prepared. Thank God he was not more serious because the rest of his care was terrible!!! It took 4 hours just to get his anti-nausea medicine. So I watched him suffer even more vomiting with a swollen, blistered face and lips!

So after more than 36 hours with hardly no sleep we make the 4 hour trip home! On the drive home my friend Fay calls me and I tell her of the ordeal. I then tell her that this had to have been my worst birthday and she says I guess so. Then I look over at my baby asleep in my car going home and tell her you know what I am wrong this is my best birthday!

MY BOY WAS OKAY AND I WAS TAKING HIM HOME!!!

So we get home late Friday get showered, have something to eat and some cake and go to bed!

Here he is the next morning not feeling so great but not nearly as swollen!

Last night doing okay.

Then this morning the burn is looking a little worse!

He will be seeing a plastic surgeon in a week so we will know more then but he is doing very well considering what was expected. Keep him in your prayers for an easy recovery and thanks for all the calls about Elijah. Also, I really do appreciate all of the calls and emails for my birthday!

Anna and Elijah.

I have to mention that I felt very blessed and grateful to have Anna at the hospital with me. She took such good care of him and allowed me to get some much needed rest. She also kept me awake as well as distracted during the long drive there. Thanks Anna! Love ya!

Please check below for an update on Maddie and remember her and her parents in your prayers! I can not imagine watching my child fight for their life as they have had to do! Their strength amazes me!