So I can finally update this blog....
On Thursday July 7th Braxton only got one nap for the day so we decided he needed to go to bed a little earlier than usual.
Aaron took Braxton into our bathroom to brush their teeth while I went to use the other bathroom. The next thing I knew I heard a loud “crash” and Braxton screaming. I wasn’t sure if Aaron was still around Braxton so I rushed out of the bathroom and down the hall to our bathroom. I looked into the bathroom and saw my little vanity bench knocked over, Braxton’s toothbrush lying in the middle of the floor and blood splatters all around. While my mind was thinking the worst possible things that could have happened, Aaron says to me “I think this is serious, we might need to go to the Emergency Room.” I looked at Aaron who was holding Braxton with a towel wrapped around his foot covered in blood.
I moved the towel to see what had happened and at a real quick glance I saw a lot more blood, some bone, and his toe hanging on with just a little skin. I covered it back up while the emotions took over, I told Aaron, with tears in my eyes that his toe was just hanging there and we HAD to go to the Emergency Room.
In a rush out the door we grabbed our phones, our wallets, and the keys.
I sat in the backseat holding Braxton trying to comfort him and myself while trying to hold him still so he didn’t pull on his toe anymore. We sped over to Wilford Hall (the hospital on base, about 7 minutes away) the whole way over I kept telling Aaron “I can’t do this, I can’t be a mom and watch this happen to my kids.” He was very reassuring that everything would be ok, As we ran the red light to turn to the hospital.
We pulled into the Emergency parking lot, got out of the car and ran inside, told the man at the front desk that our son’s toe had been cut off at the tip, he called us around the other side and had someone come take a look at it. Well on July 1st they moved the Emergency Section over to a different hospital so we had to wait while they called the ambulance to take us to Brookes Army Medical Center (BAMC). It felt like we were waiting there trying to comfort Braxton and explain what happened FOREVER. The medics brought the Ambulance around, tied Aaron down to the stretcher and put Braxton on his lap. They wheeled them out to the ambulance while I headed over to the car so I could follow them over to BAMC.
I got in the car and sat while I waited for the Ambulance to start pulling away, I sat there for again what seemed like an eternity. I hated sitting there not knowing what was happening over in the ambulance I just kept praying to my Heavenly Father that everything would be ok and that I could stay strong. I began to get dizzy and feel fainty, we had just cleaned out our car so there was no food or water to be found. I ended up finding a piece of gum to chew on, continuing to pray that I would not pass out. The ambulance finally started to pull out of the parking lot around 9:10 pm. We left the base and headed towards BAMC. The ambulance didn’t turn the lights and sirens on until we were on the freeway and then away we went. I was trying so hard to stay right behind the ambulance because I did not know where this other hospital was. Going 20 mph over the speed limit, I just kept hoping that I would not get pulled over. It took us a good half and hour to get to BAMC. Aaron told me later that it took them so long to leave Wilford Hall because they were trying to get an IV into Braxton but couldn’t because he was too squirmy. Braxton did sleep for a little while on the way to BAMC. I just hated being in the car behind them and not knowing what was going on in the Ambulance. Oh and Aaron had my phone in his pocket so I couldn’t call and make sure everything was ok or call my mom to tell her what had happened. I felt alone and like I had no one to talk to so I prayed and prayed and prayed for comfort and peace that we could get through this and my Baby would be ok.
When we got to BAMC I parked my car and ran over to the Ambulance as they were getting my boys out of the back. Braxton looked like he was doing ok just chilling on Aaron’s lap. They were wheeled in the ER, as I expressed my gratitude to the medics. I told them I knew it was their job but being a parent and being on the patient side of things I was so grateful for all their help. We got to the ER where a handful of Doctors were waiting for us because they knew we were on our way. They took Aaron and Braxton into the trauma room while I had to fill out some paperwork and get him signed in. I could just hear him crying from the other room and again it broke my heart as I felt like I couldn’t do anything for him. I finished the paperwork and headed into the Trauma Room. Aaron and Braxton were laying on the bed, some doctors were trying to get Braxton’s vital signs, they had to cut his pajamas off his leg so they didn’t have to pull it over his foot. He had pooped his diaper pretty good and of course that was the last thing on our mind when we left the house so they got a rectal temperature and brought us a new diaper (size 6, just a little big). They got a little peek at his toe before putting some gauze on it. I asked the Doctor if he thought it would be able to be saved. He said from the look he got everything should be ok. That comforted me for a little while.
Next they tried to get an IV in him again to get him some medication and calm him down. It took 3 nurses and Aaron to hold him down and try to get an IV. Well Braxton didn’t like the idea of people holding him down and not being able to move while he was in pain, so they tried and blew a vein. They said that when he was screaming so hard it was constricting his veins so they would have Aaron hold him and comfort him for awhile and then they would come back. Well they tried 8 times in a matter of 2 ½ hours, and then they finally decided they would just give him a shot. At this point they hadn’t even given him any Tylenol. I couldn’t stand to watch them hold him down the table and watch him scream, at one point one of the guys helping said “ I would never be able to do this to my own daughter” Aaron and I both thought well then why are you having no problem doing it to our son? We were in the Trauma Room until about midnight when they decided to move us to another bed. Braxton was finally given some Tylenol and had taken a few power naps when the nurses weren’t poking at him.
Braxton was taken in and had to have some x-rays done. Since I’m pregnant I was not allowed in the x ray room, so I had to sit out in the hall and listen to him cry through the door. I had been so strong up to this point that I finally broke down for a few minutes. Again saying multiple prayers to my Heavenly Father to comfort Braxton and help the doctors to know what to do. Aaron came out with Braxton when he was all done and Braxton just looked at me with a cute look face like he was concerned for his mama. Aaron told me they didn’t even take off the gauze he was just crying because he had to be held down again.
We returned to the bed they had us at and waited to hear what would happen next. The Tylenol must have taken some effect because Braxton no longer wanted to be held and was down on the floor walking around while his toe was only wrapped in gauze. He didn’t even seem to care. It was harder for me to watch him then it was for him to enjoy himself. He was smiling and giving us kisses, I was so proud that he was being so tough. The orthopedic surgeon finally came up and told us that they wanted to put Braxton into a conscious sedation and sew the tip back on. I kept asking the big question “ would his toe survive?” The orthopedic surgeon said he wasn’t quite sure. There was still a possibility the tip of his toe would die. It broke my heart to think that my little boy might lose the tip of his toe. I never imagined something this serious would happen so soon, I figured we would have cuts and bruises but nothing this big.
Around 2 am the nurses started getting things set up in the room for the procedure. The orthopedic surgeon seemed like he was in no hurry, he just kinda walked around talking and laughing with people. It was frustrating to watch him lollygag while our son had been waiting 6 hours to have this procedure done. BAMC is a teaching hospital which means the surgeon had a resident that was supposed to be with him, well for like 10 minutes no one knew where she went. Again the surgeon was just kinda like “ hey do you know where my resident is? She just disappeared.” With a smile on his face. I had some anger building up and if I was a mean person I would have yelled. But I calmly just replied “no.”
It took an hour for them to be “ready” and finally start the sedation about 3 am. They told us they would give Braxton a shot and it would take about 30 seconds and then he would be out of it but that his eyes would be open and shaking really fast. I felt dizzy so I gave Braxton a kiss and left the room before they started. Aaron stayed by his side until he was out and then he came and found me. Again I had a moment to myself to break down for a few seconds while I listened to him crying from the other room. It is hard for me to be in the room because I get so sick and fainty but I also hate being in the other room and just hearing him cry and not know exactly what is happening. The procedure only took about 15 minutes, So Aaron and I went downstairs and got some food, when we came back the surgeon told us everything went good and that Braxton was starting to wake up. When we went in the room Braxton was laying on his back his left leg in a cast up to his thigh, wires and IV’s attached to him, an oxygen tube in his nose, and 5 sticky circle wires on his belly. He was starting to open his eyes and squirm around. They told us we could hold him and talk to him so Aaron (being the good Dad that he is) got the bed and held his son on his lap for an hour while he cried (for 15 minutes straight), squirmed, and finally fell asleep. They continued to watch his vitals until 4 am. He was sleeping soundly. The nurse that was sitting with us told us that he was acting completely normal, that it was normal for them to cry for awhile like that and then be ok. I was so glad to hear that he was not having any weird side effects.
We waited awhile while he was sleeping and then they wanted to get some more x-rays to make sure there wasn’t a wrinkle in the cast. So Aaron and Braxton were again wheeled down to the x-ray room. Braxton stayed asleep while they did the x-rays and were back in the room again just waiting to hear what would happen next. Braxton woke up enough to drink a little bit of Gatorade, but didn’t stay awake very long. The Doctor came and told us that the orthopedic surgeon had to look at the x-rays and then we would know if we could go.
We waited another 2 hours until they came and told us they found a little wrinkle in the cast, and they might want to take it off and put another one on. This wrinkle if it was touching his skin would rub on it and cause an ulcer, but it wasn’t touching his skin. So it had to go through the chain of intern, to resident, to surgeon, to the main boss, to make a decision. Well the main boss didn’t get into work for another hour.
I ended up falling asleep in the bed with Braxton, and Aaron fell asleep on the floor with a blanket. They finally came and told us that his cast was fine and they were going to leave it alone. They want to leave the cast on for a week or so and then they will cut it off and take a look at his toe. If the toe has survived he will minimal scarring because he is so young. If the toe has died when they look at it, they will have to take the tip off, cut the bone down a little bit and round out the tip of his toe. We got his antibiotics, signed the discharge papers and finally between 8 and 8:30 am we were able to leave the hospital. It was a long 12 hours in the ER.
We left the Hospital on July 8th at 8:30 am and it was 80 degrees outside. Aaron drove us home while I sat in the back and fed Braxton a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwhich. I called my Mom and explained what had happened and Aaron called his mom. They were both sad to hear what happened and were sad that we had to go through this. My mom said she didn’t sleep well last night because I had called her when we first got to the hospital. When we got home we still had to clean up the blood in our bathroom, Aaron went back there and cleaned it up while I got Braxton dressed in some comfortable clothes. We all relaxed in the living room and fell asleep for a few hours. Braxton did great the rest of the day, you would never guess he just went through something so traumatic. He was his happy normal self after he woke up a little bit. Aaron gave him a father’s blessing once we were home and had a quiet moment. I also had Aaron give me a blessing and it was so nice to hear in my blessing that my Heavenly Father was with me the whole time, and he was proud of me as a mother and that I was doing a good job. I needed that because more then once at the hospital I told Aaron that I felt like I wasn’t doing much because I get so sick and can’t be in the room. I was so grateful that Aaron was able to be there and support both Braxton and I. I know we both needed him.
Once we got home and I had time to think I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father that our situation wasn’t worse. There are plenty of people that go into the ER and don’t come out with their children or families that basically live in the hospital with an infant or child fighting cancer. In the midst of being scared and not understanding how this happened I was counting my blessings. My little boy is going to be ok, even if he does lose the tip of his toe he will still live a normal life. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to be with me and help me stay strong for Braxton. I am so grateful for my wonderful Husband who is worthy of his priesthood and could give us both blessings and the strength he showed and was able to be with Braxton the whole time even when I couldn’t. Now I understand why Braxton loves his daddy so much. I think it strengthened them as father and son.
I was nervous for him because I figured his toe would be bugging him but these last few days have been a breeze compared to what I thought they would be. Braxton started out crawling and dragging his leg behind him a little bit but it didn’t take him long to figure out how to walk in his cast. He is definitely one tough boy, and I am so impressed with how well he has been dealing with the whole thing. He even started poking at his toe because it has gauze on it. I don’t know if he has any feeling in his toe because he just pokes it and doesn’t whine or anything. I don’t know if not having any feeling is good or bad. We’ll see on Monday when he goes in to get the cast removed. I am just praying for some good news.
This is the bench that fell on his toe
They put him in a cast up to his thigh so he wouldnt squirm out of it
Taking a nap before the cast comes off,
Glad he only had to wear it for a week.
This Doc was so nice, Braxton did scream though because it was loud.
10 days after it happened it looked like this.
One month later, with a little scarring and a weird toenail,
everything looks good. Just waiting for al the swelling to go down.
I am now 20 weeks and 3 days along, Halfway!!! And we found out today that Braxton is going to have a little Brother! We are thrilled! I am so excited for him to have a little buddy!
It is a huge htoel with a golf course and it's own water park.
I was in pillow Heaven when i saw how many pillows they had waiting for me!
This was just the lobby of the hotel. It was ridiculous!
We did some swimming and floating on the lazy river
Dinner was so good, neither of us had been to Red Robin in awhile I wish i would have got a picture of the dessert we had! The Mud Pie!!
After dinner we were pretty worn out so the boys just relaxed and watched some tv.
And of course Braxton got into everything! But he has such a cute face!
I am so grateful for my marriage and the wonderful family I have.
