Neighbors and a visit to the ER
10/26/2017
We had a milestone this week: our family's first visit to the Emergency Room! My oldest son (age 9) was whacking at a root in the backyard, using a shovel. He ended up hitting himself on the head and required 2 stitches to sew up the wound. It was a bloody mess for the first 10 minutes, but we remained cool, calm and collected. I was proud of myself for that! (When I was a child, I HATED the sight of blood and would run the other direction, so I've come a LONG WAY since then).
As it turns out... our friend Liz (sister of our nextdoor neighbor Sarah) was working in the ER at that time. She is a Child Life Specialist. Her job is to entertain kids who come into the ER, to keep them calm, distract them and help them know what to expect. So she was there as one of the first faces my son saw when he arrived at the ER. And she loaded him up with so many toys and goodies that he changed his tune from "a scary visit to the ER" to "that was fun because I got toys!" Liz is great with kids. She's babysit our kids on a few occasions. And she has a therapy dog with her in the ER too. All of this makes her great at her job and I'm so glad she was working when my son paid her a visit!
Hopefully there won't be any more ER visits, but if there are, we made these "notes to self." Remember to take some reading material, as the wait time is long. Also remember to grab some snacks to eat. My son injured himself at 5:15 pm, right before supper. So when he and my hubby took off to the ER, neither had time to eat. And they didn't return home from the ER until after 9:00 pm... and still hadn't eaten.
We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for sparing our son's life in what could've been a much worse situation. And we thank Him for medical care that is so readily available and for little things, like friends on duty in the ER, to remind us of His tender mercies and care. Thank you, God!
PS: Thinking about Liz and the fact that her family is moving this week, made me track down a few pictures of Liz with my kids over the years.
This is Liz with my son in 2011 - same boy that she'd be helping in the ER in 2017.
Liz was the best babysitter ever. Here she was playing in the backyard with my two oldest kids. She was always game for playing whatever crazy games they thought up.
This is Liz with my 2013 baby girl.
And here she is with my 2015 baby boy... and the rest of the gang.
Liz moved away from our neighborhood a few years ago. She lives at an apartment complex with a pool, so once or twice we visited her so the kids could enjoy her company and her pool!
Not sure how often we'll get to see Liz now... but I do hope those future visits will NOT be in the ER! :-)
PS: Thinking about Liz and the fact that her family is moving this week, made me track down a few pictures of Liz with my kids over the years.
This is Liz with my son in 2011 - same boy that she'd be helping in the ER in 2017.
Liz was the best babysitter ever. Here she was playing in the backyard with my two oldest kids. She was always game for playing whatever crazy games they thought up.
This is Liz with my 2013 baby girl.
And here she is with my 2015 baby boy... and the rest of the gang.
Liz moved away from our neighborhood a few years ago. She lives at an apartment complex with a pool, so once or twice we visited her so the kids could enjoy her company and her pool!
Not sure how often we'll get to see Liz now... but I do hope those future visits will NOT be in the ER! :-)
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