mermaid

....ever wondered if the dr.s in a real hospital move as quickly as the dr.s on television...and if a hospital exists where the dr.s smile at you and look and listen to what you are saying without the judgemental condescending glares?? like as if dr. stevens is momentarily going to page dr. sloan and magically the patient is in recovery in an hour episode?? well it didn't exactly happen like that....... it was just another day of trying to entertain 4 kids being that the educational system finds the need to give a presidents day holiday, it was 10:30 am... i was half having a conversation with jess, the half being i was talking and he was already one step ahead of me planning the day not listening until i shrieked his name in horror... "should we try to find the snow... ryan's mom said it's like and hour away" rae rae was getting out of the shower and i wrapped her in a towel... her favorite one for the moment, the purple and blue mermaid, fin and all... here's the irony.. i went to move her forward onto the mat so she wouldn't slip and fall and i felt a slight resistance, must have been her foot on the tail, but a millisecond later heard the crashing smack. then the shriek from me. as I managed to scoop up by screaming baby... the blood was already pooling into her towel. i thought it was her teeth... no. and then i caught a quick glimpse of the gash, like a second smile under her chin, gaping open taking on a life of it's own. crap. we scrambled to get everyone dressed and in the car.... on the way to urgent care i called ahead, 'do you stitch?' 'yes'. after three doctors evaluated her shutting down all possibilities of dermabond, glue, and all possibilities of stitching her themselves they sent us off to the er for a plastic surgeon. it was roughly 3:00. all i could think was what a waste of time. she fell asleep, bleeding onto her chest still in the er waiting area and when the triage murse came out to get her... he decided she had waited long enough.... he skipped protocol visits and told me to sit tight he'd alert the er doc and page plastics now.... all i could think was really? i decide i needed to use the potty, as i walked out of the restroom another murse was hunting me down all serious, "is that rachel?" pointing to my stroller. um...yes, clearly i didn't have time to pee, wow who would have thought in a crowded er?? now here's where i thought my luck would dwindle.... not quite. the er doc was waiting for me in her room?! since when did this happen. never. quickly he decides to let me make all decisions. plastic surgeon? conscious sedation? or let him sew her up leaving a 5-10% worse scar. he says, "i'm a dad so either way". me, "would you...? him, "let me just clarify, my wife would demand the plastic". and with that he paged one. he turned back, "i'm a pediatrician, and fully er trained with airways, i'll stand by the entire time..." wow. "thanks". what followed was a completely orchestrated procedure... i could hear nurses paging respiratory, the pharmacy, and cross referencing the dosage of the conscious sedation over and over with each other... finally when dr. z, the plastic, arrived she waltzed in with sheer confidence, 'where's my two year old?, i've got a two year old...' i immediately noticed how naturally she controlled everyone in her pathway while exerting this calming force over everyone.... she took one look at my white as a ghost face and willed my heart rate down as she said, 'mom every thing's going to be o.k., i've got this.' she gasped, 'oh my, that's a beautiful child, look at heeerrr!' i chimed in, 'that's why you're here..' and everyone laughed as they started their work... at once rachel had her nurse, her er doc, her fabulous plastic, and her sweet respiratory therapist all hovering over her as they put her out... the er doc looked up at me and said, 'don't worry a bit mrs. m this is standard protocol around her we like to be dramatic! just hold her hand'.... and then dr.z carefully took her time repairing rachel's chin cutting out all the damaged tissue and layering the sutures in for what was certainly the most beautiful repair ever... i had tears in my eyes complementing her work... and then she leaned over rae rae and the table and hugged me! i don't think a dr. let alone a surgeon has ever hugged me after they have fixed my child! she told me not to blame the towel by throwing it out, and for mercy's sake quit apologizing for bathing my child, as if a mother should feel guilty about that! this stuff just happens... it could not have gone better under the circumstances... when the dressing was secure i promised to have rae rae in her office, as she instructed, also promising she'd be a good girl when the top layer blue stitches are removed... i added, 'if not she's highly bribable...' she didn't look up but couldn't hold it in, ' what are you going to bribe her with a mermaid towel??!' she left in all her glory to peek under the bandages of the other patients to see if it was safe to leave or if she'd be called right back... i swear she floated out of the room, like an angel.....

today we had a nice stormy day to recover inside by the fire...

p.s. mermaid towels on recall!