Isaac's Accident

Last Wednesday, June 27th Isaac got hit by a car. He was getting ready to go to soccer camp and we were parked on the south side of the street. The camp was taking place at a field just to the north of the street we were parked on by his school. I had opened the back of the van to get the stroller out for Thomas so we could go have a picnic lunch with the girls and baby while Isaac was at camp. I was tying his shoes at the back of the van, placed his foot down and he took off running excitedly to start soccer camp. He didn't even look up or into the street when he was then immediately struck by a SUV/truck/van. It tossed him forward about 15-20 feet and he laid on the ground. Another parent rushed over and I heard people yelling "call 911!" The driver hopped out and was apologetic as I ran over to Isaac. He was rolling back and forth on the ground and was wanting to get up but the other adult was keeping him grounded and protected until help arrived.



The fire department came first followed by the ambulance and the police. I stayed with Isaac comforting him and trying to get him to talk to me. He did complain that his thumb hurt but that was all. The paramedics arrived and put a collar on him and loaded him up into the rig. And we headed with lights and sirens on to the local trauma 1 hospital. He was scared and upset, when I asked him what he was upset about he said "I don't want to miss soccer"

We arrived in the emergency department and as I'm familiar with, loads of people arrived to do their jobs. He got an IV placed and unfortunately the male RN used an alcohol swap right over some road rash and the tegaderm was placed on that spot as well. That was probably the worst part for Isaac, he did great with the needle placement of the PIV catheter. He had to keep his collar on until he was cleared from trauma services as well as surgery services. When you get in a wreck like there there are a whole list of pediatric teams that see you. Ortho, pediatric, trauma, surgery, TBI (traumatic brain injury). Chaplin and social work were also there. No child life, but I guess that is what I was for :-) Child Life did see us when we arrived inpatient. It was no more than an hour from time of accident until we were up on the floor. Pretty amazing timing! He did get an abdominal ultrasound, pelvic xray, chest and spine xray in the emergency department. He was looking good and we already knew he was very lucky at this point. Still only complaining of thumb pain.

He did have a pretty big bump forming on his head and his right side had road rash on his head, elbow, shoulder, hip, and knee.

We got up to the room, he was admitted into the PICU, but not because we needed the ICU. But because they didn't have enough patients to open up the pediatric ward, they were being housed in PICU as overflow. Once we arrived upstairs he did vomit after having some water. He said he had been needing to vomit for a while but was holding it in.

He soon got his neck collar off and was cleared. They did come in to do some xrays on his thumb as it was getting more swollen and bruising.

 

 

Meanwhile, I left the girls and Thomas at the soccer field in the care of another mother of one of Isaac's classmates. Kyle left work and went straight to the park to get them. Then he took the girls to a good friend of ours while him and Thomas headed to see us at the hospital. Here is a photo my friend sent me of the girls playing at her house.

The Xray did show a broken thumb and we got mixed messages as to whether they were going to splint it or not. Or do surgery or not... they never want to give you a straight answer and there are so many cooks in the kitchen no body has the same story. I'm used to this, working in the medical field. Kyle was great and blunt with them throughout the night since he is the one who stayed. 

Here are some photos of his road rash. 

The Child Life specialist brought him a whole goodie bag of toys to play with and he was really enjoying the lego kit. Besides being a little sore the first time he got up to go to the bathroom you wouldn't really even know he was struck by a vehicle.

After some time with Kyle and Thomas there and finally getting to eat some dinner. Kyle ran home to get the girls and grab some things so he could stay overnight with Isaac. Our babysitter ended up coming over and helping to get Kyle's car back to our house from the park and got the girls and Thomas down so Kyle could come back to the hospital and I'd go home to sleep.

We went for a little walk on the unit during this time and Isaac discovered the family lounge full of games so when Kyle came back we all played a game of Sorry.

We were still just in disbelief that this had happened, but so thankful that God had his hand of protection on Isaac. Isaac has amazing faith and through BSF the year before kindergarten he learned so much and grew in that faith. We have been praying every night before bed and I truly believe it was Isaac's trust in the Lord that saved him. Even though we talk about how lucky he was, we are still trying to help him understand how severe the incident was. 

I got some sleep that night then we made plans with the girls to have breakfast with Isaac the following morning. We loaded up as early as we could once everyone was awake. Well we had to wake Thomas. But we went to see big brother and the girls were so excited to see him. Mary was so concerned and she is probably the one most traumatized by this situation.

It was a busy hospital room during the hour to hour and half we were visiting.

It was going to be a while before he was discharged because we were waiting for OT and speech to come evaluate him. I took the other three kiddos and we came home for a bit to get some energy out. Thomas was tired but I couldn't get him to sleep and they were going to be discharged soon so I just loaded everyone up in the van. Ended up driving around the hospital while they all slept in the van searching for a parking spot. During this time the decision was FINALLY made to splint the thumb. They didn't want to for fear of making it stiff but given his age and the likely hood he'd re-injury it (yes we agree!) they put a splint/cast on it to protect it with plans for follow up in two weeks to see how it's healing.

We picked him up about 3:00 so a mere 26 hours after the accident and he was home safe and sound. He got a little basketball hoop in the goodie bag from Child Life that he has been playing with everyday since he's been home.

Friday we took it easy at home and spent some time outside too. He is so full of energy it's hard to get him to relax and take it easy.

Here is the elbow road rash that the IV was covering in the hospital.

His head is already cleared up when I'm writing this (one week later)

Saturday we took a walk to our beach which finally re-opened. It has been closed for remodeling the whole summer and this was the first weekend it was open.  Isaac had to sit out and at this point we were happy something was hitting home as to how serious this was. He was pretty bored but it was good for him to have to sit and watch us.

Saturday night we went to the movies and saw The Incredibles 2

Life is pretty much back to normal routine with a little more "this is why we tell you things, to keep you safe" Not sure the listening ears have improved, but the girls sure do understand now... so at least someone learned a lesson I guess :-/ 

Tuesday I took Isaac to the Chiropractor to check out his alignment. We would hate for issues to pop up years down the road because of this incident. He had some spots of concern and appropriate areas of soreness given he was impacted from the side. 

Holes in his shirt from the day he got hit. This is his favorite shirt and as soon as it's clean he's wearing it. Ain't a few little holes going to stop him.

His kindergarten teacher wrote me an email after hearing about his accident. Isaac wanted to send her a photo so we sent this:

And here he is being a goof while drinking his shake. All my kids love Daily Sunshine which is a shake I sell through my business. It's full of vitamins and minerals, a full serving of fruits and veggies as well as calcium and vitamin D. They usually ask for it most days, the girls pretty much have one everyday. But I'm making sure Isaac gets one in daily so his body can use the good nutrients to heal faster. Also learned from the chiropractor that sugar can have a negative impact on concussions and make symptoms worse causing and increased healing time. Luckily my kids eat minimal sugar to begin with but I thought that was interesting.

. Thank you for all your prayers and notes that you were thinking of him. We are truly grateful this did not turn out worse and are so blessed with the life God has given us.