Wednesday, June 25, 2008

• Oh What a Day... and Night

   by Mama Elephant

  Junior had a very rough afternoon.  The Seroquel either hasn't had time to get into his system or the dose is too low.  Either way, he was very irritated yesterday afternoon to the point of having a melt down.  The odd thing is, he knows when he is going to freak out and he will go to his room to be alone and cry and throw things.  This afternoon he did just that.  Of course, I keep an ear out for trouble with my "mother hearing."

  

  Around 4:15, I heard a scream I have never heard before.  It was very high pitched and lasted a long time.  I also heard a very loud thud.  So I went running up the stairs and I found Junior on the floor in the doorway between his room and the master bedroom.  His right knee was twisted in the opposite direction of this leg and his leg was at a weird angle.  I called his father and told him to get home quick.  This is where living less than 2 miles from work comes in handy.  Then I call my mom because whatever problems we have with each other, she knows what to do in an emergency.

  Dad got home and together we decided that we would not be able to get him safely down the stairs without risking further injury to himself... or us.  So 911 it was.  Junior had grown very quiet.  He wasn't crying anymore and he wasn't doing his usual echolalic babbling.  He had no fight in him and that is when I got scared.  The ambulance arrived and they called the fire department for more help in safely moving my darling son.  In the meantime, they took his vitals.  His temperature was fine but his blood pressure was 160/100.  Now I am near tears but I hold it together because I don't want to worry Junior.  We made it to the hospital in 4 minutes.  That was around 5pm.

  The Xrays were fine but his knee is swollen too much to tell if he has any ligament or tendon damage and they are pretty sure he does. We were also told that it looks like an old break may not have healed properly. The doctor, who we didn't even see until 9:45 looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Had we looked at him before it started swelling, we would have been able to tell what kind of injury he has."  As politely as I could, I stated that we were in the hospital for more than 2 hours before the knee even started to swell and the nurse simply didn't call you in to look at it.  We were also told that he was going to get a low dose of Morphine for the pain and when the lady came in, she turned right around and said she had to get help to hold Junior down for the shot.  She never came back.  He did get a brace to keep his knee immobile and some crutches.  We have a referral to an orthopedist and a prescription for a higher dose of his medicine to try to keep him sedated and off his leg. 

  In the meantime, we have to call the insurance company and let them know whatever it is they need to know to pay the bill.  Then we have to call his psychiatrist and inform her of the medication change and make sure she agrees.  Finally, we have to call the orthopedist. 

  Oh, and as for leg brace... five minutes after getting home he had it removed.  While his father was changing his clothes and I was in the restroom, Junior climbed the stairs and returned to his room, putting full weight on the very leg he wasn't supposed to move.

  Any ideas on exactly how I can keep him off that leg short of chaining him to furniture?

  • 8:15 AM
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