It’s crazy how things can be fine one minute and the complete opposite the next. You can be hanging out with your family enjoying a Sunday afternoon and then an hour later be following an ambulance. We were playing outside because it was nice and we had just decided to go inside to start cooking dinner. Jim was working on setting up an exterior camera so he had been tinkering on the ladder. I know you think you know where this is going but he didn’t fall off the ladder, he just turned in the kitchen and all the sudden he was on the floor screaming. He was holding his leg and just screaming in pain…he yelled “Call 911!” At first, I thought he was being dramatic but once he yelled to call 911, I knew he was seriously hurt. “What happened?” He told me that he was holding his knee together and that it was dislocated. I called 911 through the screams…Jim was not the only one screaming now the kids had joined in because they were scared. Poor little Cora just laid right next to her daddy and cried.
After you call an ambulance, you just wait. It’s scary. Someone you love is hurt and you don’t know what to do or how to help them. It took the ambulance 10 minutes to get to us, but it felt like an hour. I panicked knowing I needed help and called everyone, my neighbor next door, my parents and the kid’s Nana. The ambulance finally arrived and gave Jim some pain relief, which was also a relief to me as it is horrible to see someone you love hurting. Then it was a whirlwind of packing the kids up, getting car seats and lovies, fireman and sirens, holding Jim as they cut his pants and examined his knee. I am so incredibly lucky to have the support system I do because everyone I called was there before the firemen arrived and had my kids packed and, in the car, before they even got Jim out of the house. I am grateful for my village and the love they have for my family.
Once the kids were taken care of and Jim was in the ambulance, I was in my car driving right behind him all the way to the hospital. It was just me in the car following still in shock of what was happening. I got to the hospital and was able to see Jim for a second before they whisked me away so they could push and pull his leg back into place. I had to do all the paperwork and registering and then I was by his side his knee back in place and in a full leg brace. What a crazy hour that was!
We got back home late and went right to bed. We were both exhausted, physically and emotionally. The next day I was so focused on getting Jim well that the day flew by. When I finally talked to my parents later that night, is when everything really hit me. When I had called my parents to come over, I had told them that an ambulance was coming for Jim, but I didn’t say what had happened just that I needed them to come. They said the whole ride they were imagining all sorts of horrible things that could have happened like a heart attack or a stroke. That really hit home for me…this ordeal could have been a hell of a lot worse. Jim is going to be ok and he got to come home with me that night, but what if he hadn’t. I cried all the way home from my parents, out of relief and exhaustion. Some days in our lives are good and some are bad, but even the bad ones could be a lot worse. Thank you to my village for your support…you make the bad days so much better!
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