Bloodlines

I would admit that over the last several years I have taken a certain joy in creating somewhat lengthy and rambling posts usually once a week that entail family events and celebrations or my more humorous (and often embarassing) experiences. I usually focus on events that are very positive or humorous. My goal has always been to entertain or to at least cause reflection on every day events.

As my posts focus on the positives, one could wrongly conclude that myself, and my family members lead charmed lives without challenges. That, of course would not be reality.

Last Thursday I posted that our daughter Lauren was celebrating her 18th birthday and was about to celebrate her independence by moving into a house in Abbotsford. I lamented that one of our little birds was about to leave the nest. Little did I know that later in the day an event would happen that almost caused us to lose one of our little birds.

A freak accident with a shattered glass window resulted in a badly cut arm with severed, arteries, nerves and tendon. With just myself and my injured oldest son in the house in Harrison at the time of the accident, I held a towel over the wound for compression as tightly as I could with approximately a litre and a half of blood pooled on the floors and carpet of three different rooms. As we waited for an ambulance, which seemed to take forever, I had severe concerns that it would not be in time.  I thought of how unsurvivable losing a child would be.

An ambulance did arrive and stop the bleeding and take our son firstly to Chilliwack, and then to Abbotsford Hospital where he underwent over four hours of surgery to reattach the arteries and save the arm. He then was taken into Vancouver General Hospital, where he underwent over five hours of surgery to reattach nerves and tendon.

My wife stayed in Vancouver General Hospital, sleeping on a chair in the room during his stay there evidencing one more time what a wonderful, devoted mother she is. Our little bird is now home in Harrison with his immovable cast with us all hoping for the maximum return of function for the arm.

What of our house filled with pools of blood when the ambulance left and I followed? My wife’s sister, Michelle, who was visiting from Hawaii with the help of her daughter and our two youngest children, cleaned up broken glass and blood from four rooms and any and everywhere that the dogs (and I) had tracked it. Truly, blood had spurted everywhere. I doubted that I would ever want to go back when I left the house to follow the ambulance in my car. But on my return, the blood was all gone. Thank you, Michelle and kids. What a difficult, but wonderful job you did. And to my wife, Pam, whom I traumatized with a phone call while waiting for the ambulance, and who sat by the bedside at VGH for almost 3 days, I appreciate you more than you could ever know. And I’m sure your little bird does as well.

Once again our family encountered a fantastic response from the medical system. We are grateful to Dr. Lewis at Abbotsford Regional hospital and to the surgeons who worked at Vancouver General Hospital. 

There is much rehabilitation and doctors visits ahead. But our little bird is approaching these challenges with a good attitude. Hopefully our prayers will be answered and the arm will have full function (and yes, I prayed).
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Hug your loved ones tight