Joe had a fun week of summer camp planned.
He loves bible memory camp and had met back up with his friend Keaton
and some other friends to stay in cabin 8.
But, God had other plans for Joe's camp stay and it was cut (literally) short.
On Tuesday night we got a call that Joe had fallen and needed to be taken by ambulance to the ER.
They reassured me that the bleeding had stopped, but the cut was severe and they suspected a Femur break and muscle or tendon damage.
I spoke to the paramedics on the phone as Dan raced us to the hospital.
We knew we would beat them there,
I asked if I could meet them and ride but they don't stop in route.
My mama heart was racing.
I needed some prayers so we called Grandma, Blake and Will to get the prayers started.
Will gave us directions on the ortho part, thank goodness
and that helped a ton once we got to the hospital.
We beat him there and got registered just in time, only 1 allowed back with a mask due to COVID 19.
I rounded the corner just as he was being wheeled into the room.
They were working on him from all sides but we could see each other
and it wasn't long before I could hug him.
The first of our prayers had been answered , the EMTs were wonderful
and had prayed with Joe.
More prayers were answered when they were able to administer some meds
for discomfort and our NP and MD were also very compassionate.
As we waited for xrays, the initial tests were looking good for SEVERE damage...so we texted dad
and Will. The camp director Chris had came down and was sitting with Dan to see how things were progressing.
As they took xray's I was asked to step out and got a quick breather.
His meds had kicked in, thank goodness.
They maneuvered him around a lot to get good images.
I'll spare the blog the graphic pics. It is an impressive wound blocked perfectly by the
xray film.
After a couple of hours passed, we got the results that there were NO BREAKS!
Joe's patella tendon was visible in this knew (MD pointed it out),
but it and the capsule that surrounds it remained intact!
We took a celebratory picture to send to several that were praying for us.
We spent another 3 hours getting stitched up with around 30 stitches, got home around midnight.
Joe and I prayed together, laughed some, watched baseball bloopers, read every message sent.
The EMTs came back to visit on a later run and were happy to see Joe smiling.
I heard the story at this time that a truck in front of them was radioed in a pulled over
by the police for not yielding to the ambulance. I bet Joe learned a lesson there.
They were great with Joe teasing them about video games on their ipads (chart notes).
Our NP had 2 kids on her own and enjoys trauma and took care with each stitch she made.
The doctor came in to check on us twice and double check his leg muscles/tendons.
It felt like everyone was exactly placed to care for Joe, except for dad who was alone in the waiting area - lonely! We face timed with him - and Will called once he picked up Sam and Drew from basketball - they gave Joe zero mercy - teased him the entire time.
Joe would need to be in a immobilizer for 2 weeks and some careful dressing changes.
The next morning he was up and had a pretty good night!
We had a little blip about 3am when he woke up telling me his stomach hurt
and it took me awhile to clear the haze. My first thought was that we had
missed an injury, but a quick trip to the bathroom and he was better.
I had to remind myself that he didn't hurt his stomach in the fall!
Aunt Jill and Aunt Christine were the first to spoil with candy, Grandma and Blake
weren't far behind. He still has a large bag of candy today!
It's so easy to reflect now and be so very grateful that Joe was protected
and spared from serious injury. We certainly were clinging to God
throughout that first evening and even into the first couple of days.
I'm reminded that He is near in all times, and ready to comfort in troubled times.
Thankful for that promise and reality in our lives.
Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.
