Alex and all his troubles...

I guess we'll start off with the story of Alex and his ball.

This kid was ready to live the rest his life with this ball on his finger. He did not want anyone to touch it. It was already swollen and tender, so tugging just hurt. We were having a great time on the lake at Flaming Gorge and we were not going to spoil that so we just let him and his ball hang out for half the day. When we got back to camp I tried lotion, cold water, soap and vaseline. But there was no way this ball was coming off his chubby little finger. So I went over the first campers I saw in our KOA community. All the guys jumped up to get their tools. Guys and their tools. One guy grabbed a wire cutter and started cutting off the ball. Alex was so brave because I know it was tender. All the wives gave Alex a treat afterwards. Everyone falls in love with that face. 

And now for the little accident I could have lived my life without. 

Feel free to read the short story:
Alex drove Tyler's car over his own leg but he limped away with no serious injuries.

Or the long story:

So we were all still eating dinner at the dinner table when Alex walked out into the garage. This is typical, he eats 4 bites and then he's off doing something else. It was probably a minute later I heard him scream. It was the hurt scream so I knew to run to the garage. When I opened the door all I saw was Tyler's car rolling across the street. I screamed for Tyler even though he was like 5 feet away from me. He jumped up and ran outside. Fast. He grabbed Alex, who was just standing crying in the street and brought him inside. We freaked. Like I don't panic and neither does Tyler. We are very calm in stressful situations. Well I thought we were. We were not at first on this occasion. Esther was crying because she was scared so I yelled at Liv to take her and Drew upstairs. Tyler at first didn't understand what happened. He didn't recognize right at first it was his car in the street. He thought Alex was hit by a car. At this time we calmed. I'm with Alex trying to assess the injuries. All I could see was this big road rash on his leg bleeding all over my shirt. 

I then had Tyler quickly put him in my car so I could take him to the instacare. Alex screamed the whole ride. I carried him into the instacare and they had a dr. come out immediately to see the damage. She advised me to just take him to Primary Childrens. Okay. So as I'm walking out the door I hear the nurse say don't feed him and don't let him fall asleep. I loaded him back into his car seat and head for the hospital. He fell asleep probably before I was even out of the parking lot of the instacare. Nice. Tyler stayed home with the other kids so there was no way I could wake him up driving. So I called Nurse Auntie Kimmie. She didn't pick up because she was working at Utah Valley ER. So I called Curtis and explained everything that happened. I told him I would keep them updated. 

I arrived at the hospital and checked in. I think when you say anything about a car incident they take you very seriously. They took us right back to triage and about 5 people started assessing and asking all the questions. Alex is freaking out because he's in pain and scared. They quickly put us back into a level 3 room and started again assessing and doing vitals. The hard part is that nobody saw it happen so we don't know if he hit is head, back, neck? So they took every precaution and put the neck brace on him and ordered X-rays of his leg and neck. We knew his leg was ran over because of the tire marks. 

X-rays were super fun. Seriously I will die 5 years earlier because of that experience. Alex just kept crying, I want to go home. I want Kimmie. I want to go home. Alex is the most dramatic kid ever. That's when Kim and Curtis heard all the screams and came in to find us just finishing up with the x-rays. I am so glad they came. I was thinking in my head we would be there an hour or two. That was not the case so it was so nice to have company and that is exactly who Alex wanted there.

We would be sitting there and we would hear the helicopter land. Then a little toddler would come in on a stretcher obviously in critical condition. That's when I started counting all my blessings. Our accident could have been so so so much worse. This is when I am grateful for my Dad, our little guardian angel. I know he watches over us constantly. These 4 kids of mine are his only grand-babies and you bet he protects them.

The nurse put some numbing cream on his road rash and then had to clean, which means scrub, his wounds. Wow, another fun 15 minutes. They had to close the door because he was screaming so loud. They insisted the wound was numb. Again so glad Kim and Curtis were there.

After hours of waiting, x-rays and waiting. The dr was just stumped. No broken bones in that leg but he wouldn't pass the little tests the dr would do to get him to walk or put pressure on it. You could tell that foot was giving him a lot of pain. Finally the Dr. wanted the trauma team to look at him. They took a look and decided they would want him to stay the night so they can look after him. They wanted to see him eat, pee and walk. I expressed to the dr I really didn't want to stay the night but I was so tired I didn't put up much a fight. I called Tyler who had just laid down to come switch me. It was 2am and I was beat. Tyler came and spent the night with him so I could get some rest. 

I came back bright and early the next day. The orthopedic specialist came in to examine Alex's leg. He said his foot was crushed and he probably has a lot soft tissue damage in his foot. Which means all his muscles and tendons were damaged but not the bone. Good news. Just let us go home! A couple hours later after he ate and pee'd they discharged us. He was so ready to go home. 

 I swear as soon as we got home he started walking, limping on his foot. He kind of walks on his heal but he's doing great. 

So this is what we think happened: We were eating at the dinner table. Alex had Tyler's shoes on, he said goodbye I'm going to work. Went out into Tyler's car. Popped Tyler's stick from first to neural. The car started rolling back so he tried to get out, he fell and the front tire went over his leg and foot. The car hit a power box then started rolling back forward. Tyler feels awful and will now always use his emergency brake.

I am amazed at all our friends and neighbors. All the support and concern. So many offers for dinners (Thanks again Jessica the yummy meal) and babysitting. Even balloons and candy for Alex. We felt so cared for! 

I love that hospital and man I love this kid.