I am in a contemplative mood. Sorry. Some of it has to do with the day, which was weird in many ways. We got up and went to swimming. it was a bad lesson, because the regular teacher wasn't there and so the lesson didn't really fit with the kid's skill. Then we came home and we had been here for a little while when Brian came down from upstairs.
Brian and his wife Jude are staying a while because Jo is down at the island. Anyway he came down to tell me that Jude needed help to get to the bathroom. I went up and she was in so much pain she couldn't move. They wanted me to 'PT' her but I have had experience in these things. I called an ambulance. In my less experienced days I made a huge mistake by not calling an ambulance. A friend had fallen onto her back from the veranda railing at a party one night. Early the next morning she called me to come help her. When I got there she was in lots of pain. I was about 2 years out of University, but everything screamed at me that she had fractured her spine. I begged her to call an ambulance. She convinced me to drive her instead.
I was an idiot!
She was incredibly lucky!
Her spine was fractured in several places. It was unstable in at least one place. Lucky is not strong enough word. After twelve months of stabilization, she has come out of it neurologically intact.
That was my history. I didn't want to make the same mistake. So I had a long conversation with dispatch. About five minutes of the conversation to establish that she would send us an ambulance Code 1. The rest of the conversation was directions...No, we don't have a number. Have the ambulance just keep driving until they see a kid waving them down. Please don't stop at the creek. No, not Samford, Yugar. OK, not Yugar, Closeburn! It is confusing. We live in three suburbs. Our mail runs through Samford and it is the only place most people know. Our road is in Closeburn, but officially we don't live on that road, but another. That road is in Yugar, but that road only exists on paper and in theory. Certainly no ambulance is going to drive it.
Anyway, we got Jude to hospital. She was unable to move without several doses of morphine, so I think my chances of getting her to move were slight. The doctors think she had scar tissue tear and she is home again tonight, but much better than this morning.
Levi is still sleeping more than he usually does and I suspect that he is still getting over his illness. He was wonderful through all the drama today and was more mature than I suspected. He held Jude's hand and drew her pictures and generally kept her mind off it all. When I needed him to, that six year old went out and waved down an ambulance and directed the paramedics inside. I am very proud of him.
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