Scared of what 2014 will bring

I wound up taking Tom to the ER last night. We discovered he has an abscess around his left tonsil area. I rang in the New Year sitting in an ER room. Not ideal by any means. The hospital doesn't have ENT with privileges so they were going to transfer us to Tulsa. Tom and I were waiting to hear back from the nurse about transporting him via ambulance. I asked why I couldn't take him and now know I should keep some curiosity to myself. The nurse explained to me that the IV was part of the reason they would transport him, but the main reason was the possibility of his airway being cut off completely during transport. Words that I don't accept in a stress free manner...morphine...ambulance...blocked air way...surgery.

I have a friend that does a terrific job of pointing out the silver lining in each less than positive situation. Another friend was suggesting people take part in RAK's as the goal for the last day of 2013. My silver lining last night came in the form of two children, Hunter (age 5) and his sister Journey (age 2). They were sitting outside of the room next to us, their dad was frantically speaking with the staff about his son (Mason, not sure of his age but at least double digits) that was in Diabetic shock. Dad explained that mom was in Colorado, they had their NYE festivities as most people do, and it was discovered that Mason had become unresponsive. Dad called 911 and got him to the ER as quick as possible, but had no one to care for the two little ones. Those two sweet little babies were sitting in the walkway scared to death. They could hear their brother screaming, cussing, fighting the ones around him as he was coming out of his state of shock. Dad was torn, trying to help the staff and Mason deal with the situation, and still trying to remain calm and strong enough to comfort his other children. They sat there, crying, covering their ears, trying to find out if their brother was okay.

I was dying on the inside. Those poor, scared babies...but I'm a stranger so I would likely make them even more uncomfortable. Tom was in the process of being discharged (he has an appointment this morning to get his problem taken care of for good) we asked dad and he agreed to allow Hunter and Journey to come sit on our hospital bed and watch TV. The nurse brought some color sheets and crayons. My heart was tugged on even more when Hunter looked at me with tears in his eyes, and with a shaky voice stuttered out "My sister Journey and I are REALLY scared right now. Our brother Mason isn't right. He is screaming, and fighting, and it's because his diabetes."

We wound up getting discharged and having to leave. The nurse said that the kids would be taken care of and they could continue to sit in our room. My last day of 2013 was a no good day for sure. My first day of 2014 was spent leaving one hospital to come home to a sick great nephew that had to be taken to another ER in Tulsa. Poor Julian has croup. I'm starting this day with an unpleasant trip to Tulsa to see an ENT and get Tom on the mend. I'm blessed. I'm thankful. Everything could be SO much worse.