A long, long day

Lloyd with a great block during last Thursday's NSSSAA Championship game.

Last week during the NSSSAA Jr. Boys Basketball Championship game (check out the details of the game w/photos at www.karinahunter.com/?p=9007, Lloyd had his head landed on by a team mate. His head was on its side when his friend came down on it and at the time the biggest concern was the possibility of a bone in his temple being fractured but his neurological tests performed by the nurse and doc at emergency went well, he was not nauseous and so it was decided that he could come home and I was told to keep a close eye on him through the night which I did, waking him up periodically to ensure he had no difficulty coming around.

Over the weekend, I was in Wawa; he had not felt up to traveling and so stayed behind to rest/relax.  Sunday I was concerned that he was still in a lot of pain but he had after all had his head squashed and so I was just giving him plenty of water and hoping he would come around. Monday morning, he thought he was feeling a little better though he was still dizzy and not doing well when standing, he wanted to get back to school and I thought it was a good idea. About an hour later, I received a call from the attendance counselor that Lloyd was in a lot of pain and wanted to go to the hospital so I picked him up.  I was still trying to get work done so Grandpapa went to sit with him at MGH.  I tried calling, several times to find out what was going on but had no luck – when picking up Emeraude from Nursery School we went by, they were making arrangements to fly him out for a CT Scan but I did not know if they would be admitting him at the other end and could not seem to find many answers. 

Meanwhile, The Echo was waiting for their front page story from me and I had no clue where to send Emeraude (I have relatives in town, they were actually at the game when he was hurt but none bothered to call and see how he was or what happened, they hadn’t even budged off their seats to take help with E when it happened, one of Lloyd’s teachers/coaches did that (thank you! J).  I also still had the town’s Element having used it for work away on the weekend and Emeraude and I went and cleaned it super quick, the EDC was awesome, offering to pick it up which also helped so much (I wouldn’t have been able to fly out with Lloyd had they not done so). 

Manitouwadge Paramedic works carefully with SkyCare crew to load Lloyd into the plane.

Emeraude’s teacher who watched her a lot when I was working in Wawa the other week had said to call if I was flying out with Lloyd and so I did and though she was working later that day she said it was no problem, she’d figure things out and was great about making that part of things totally stress free (wow! another big thank you!). It really helped not needing to worry about E at all, being able to focus on Lloyd.  At 13.50 Lloyd called to tell me the plane would be arriving at 14.15 (less than 30 min.). Madelaine, my taxi driving angel, picked us up, dropped me off at the hospital and then kept Emeraude with her arranging to get her to her Nursery School teacher (so many helpful, thoughtful people saved this day!).  Grandpapa drove me to the airport were I met with the flight crew from Sioux Lookout’s SkyCare Air Ambulance who were also really great; Lloyd arrived by ambulance accompanied by a nurse & another patient who was being flown out on the same flight, we were all loaded up and moments later soaring through the clouds.

The CT Scan was done the moment we arrived at Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre (TBRHSC) and confirmed that there was no cranial damage/bleeding but it would be a couple hours before we could return.  The nurse that was by our side throughout the whole ordeal was incredible, really great about keeping us up-to-date in regards to what was going on, tending to Lloyd making sure he was comfortable, asking often if he wanted any food/drink, we couldn’t have chosen a better person to accompany him. We flew back as the sun was setting, this time with a different crew though they were just as friendly and accommodating as the first.

Later when we were back at MGH it was more of the same, the nurses really being diligent in regards to keeping him until everything that could be done was.  He was given 500mL of saline to ensure there was no dehydration adding to his cranial pain.  I didn’t pick Emeraude up until 20.40, she was so happy, having spent a wonderful day playing, building a snow man and making a cake but it was late and now, days later, we are all still recovering from having had such a busy, crazy day and I am still trying to make up for having lost a full day’s work.

Thank you! to all the nurses, the doctor(s), ambulance & flight crews, friends and teachers who were such a support and those who have called & emailed to check in on how he is doing; he is definitely on the mend, though slowly and I am hoping he’ll be back at school tomorrow.