Never a “Quickie”
Isn’t there a movie where some guy says in a breathy accent, “For you, dahling, never a quickie. Always a longie”? That’s sort of how my life feels and I’m not talking dirty here.
I brought Braedan along for Austin’s “quick” lab work yesterday, thinking we’d be in and out in an hour and still have time for a last-day-of-Spring-Break playground visit. We arrived in the clinic at 1 … and Mark finally met us at 6:30 so I could take Braedan home for dinner. After another switch-over two hours later so I could spend the night, Austin was released from the hospital at 2:30 this afternoon. How’s that for a quickie?
He needed platelets, again, even though he’d gotten them on Friday. And then needed a Doppler ultrasound to check the blood flow through his arms and fingers because his hands looked purple. And then we couldn’t get his blood pressure to drop to its already elevated “normal” range … and because the combination of low platelets and high blood pressure can cause bleeding in his brain, we were admitted. We did eventually use enough medications that his blood pressure lowered around 10 and then we were simply “observed” through morning, at which point he needed another platelet transfusion.
The two boys were not at all fazed by their hospital day though as yesterday they tore around the halls and played games that involved lots of squealing. So it was mostly okay. But of course, everyone’s patience was tested after all those hours and when Braedan started listing in a whiny voice the food he was planning to eat for dinner in the hospital cafeteria, including Austin’s favorite forbidden fruits corn dogs and yogurt, my protective motherly instincts kicked into gear and none of those instincts were aimed at protecting Braedan. I let loose a vicious string of attacks at him, including the words “torturous” and “cruel.” I think maybe steam was coming out of my ears.
Not my best moment. When he later asked me what “cruel” meant, I knew I had gone too far and explained carefully and calmly how much it upsets Austin (and me) to hear about all the things he’s not allowed to have. We talked for a good long while and I felt fortunate that kids are so quick to forgive.
And after we drop Braedan at school tomorrow morning … Austin and I will head right back to the clinic for yet another transfusion of … you guessed it, platelets.
Krissy, your comments and running narrative of LIFE make me laugh, cry and snort out weird sounds in reaction of funny anecdotes, while choking back emotion when my kids are around. 🙂 You have a gift of writing, a gift of love and oh the lessons we are learning – the gift of learning. And you have the strength and courage to share what you are all going through with so many. Many thoughts are with you all throughout this long and sometimes lonely journey. I want to say that you are not alone, but not for a moment do I pretend to know how you feel or what it is like to endure such tests of character.
All I can say to you is that with much gratitude, you are changing lives. And I am not referring to just Austin and Braedan.
much, much heartfelt love from an (almost) stranger. You are closer to me than you know. It’s nice that life, and love for family with such magnitudes, can span such dimensions.
Becky Gaebel
Deland, FL
Kids are incredibly forgiving and I can only imagine the strength you need to have in order to fight for them. Of course you’d lose your patience! At the end of the day you’re human. I hope the journey gets brighter for your family soon.
This was an awesome post (as usual).
Also, as an aside, I think your opening quote was from that George Hamilton classic, “Love at First Bite.”