Hold on to me
Part 1 – “Call an ambulance!”
“911
what is your emergency?” said the operator.
“It’s
our son! He’s barely breathing! Send an ambulance. Hurry,
Hurry!” said Steven as he held our son in his arms rocking back
and fourth. Tears were streaming down his face in rivers. “Come
quick!” he screamed into the phone.
“Okay sir,
stay calm I have dispatched an ambulance to 3131 W. Madison Street is
this correct sir?” said the operator in a calm voice.
“Yes,
please hurry!” said Steven again as he hung up the phone
stroking is his son’s fever pitch forehead.
“Hold
on little buddy, hold on. Oh please God don’t take him away
from us” he whispered through his trembling lips.
Carol
was in shock but was trying to stay calm. She paced back and forth
checking the window for the ambulance. They could hear it rushing
from down the street with sirens blaring.
“Here they
come honey!” said Carol grabbing their son’s two favorite
teddy bears Josh & Billy and a pile of his clothes quickly
putting them into his school backpack. The paramedics burst into the
open door with medical gear and a stretcher.
“We’ll
take from here sir” said the lead paramedic as he lifted little
Bobby from Steven’s arms taking is temperature.
“One
minute he was playing then the next he was on the floor passed out!”
said Steven in a panic voice looking over their shoulders.
“We’ll
try and get him stable and then get him to the hospital sir.”
Said the lead paramedic putting little Bobby on the stretcher then
putting an IV into his little arm and checking his pulse.
“This
is EMC Roger Five I’ve got a PTP (Pediatric Trauma Patient)
five years old coming in, ETA less than ten, over” said the
second paramedic talking into his shoulder microphone.
“Roger
that EMC-5” said the dispatcher.
They rushed little
Bobby to the ambulance and locked the stretcher and attached life
monitoring system to his little chest.
“Mommy, mommy”
whimpered little Bobby as he was slowly responding to the IV and
fresh oxygen.
“Bobby, Bobby!!!” cried out Carol
as she stepped into ambulance reaching for his little hand. “Mommies
here baby” she whispered “Mommies here”.
“I’ll
follow you in the car” said Steve with his keys.
“Okay
honey. He asked for me!” Carol said with a weak smile and
tears running down her cheeks.
“Don’t worry
honey he’ll be okay” said Steven walking backwards
watching the doors close to the ambulance.
Traffic
moved out of the way as the ambulance sped through town heading for
the hospital. The paramedics rustled through equipment and
medications as they worked in a calm pace over little Bobby. Carol
could see Bobbies eyes peek up then close shut again.
“Is
he going to be alright?” said Carol wiping the tears away
trying to stay calm.
“We’re doing everything we
can Mrs. Brooks. We have him stable now and the fever is slowly
coming down.” Said the paramedic watching the monitor gauges
holding a stethoscope on little Bobbies chest listening intently to
his heart beat.
“Increase the oxygen to ten MPS”
ordered the paramedic.
Steven was following close by
watching the back of the ambulance intently. He could see the
hospital a block away. “Hurry, hurry” whispered Steven
to himself gripping the stirring wheel.
The
ambulance pulled in to ER with tires squealing. The ER team was
standing by outside as they opened the door and pulled out little
Bobby.
“PTP, five years old, with a Tachycardia
pulse, fever stabilizing, one IV enroot” said the lead
paramedic.
“Thanks. We got from here” said the
attending ER doctor taking the IV bag from the paramedic.
“I
am his mother Carol Brooks!” cried Carol looking at the ER team
wheeling little Bobby through the sliding emergency doors then
turning right towards the operating room.
“Right this
way please. Is your husband coming?” asked the attending nurse.
“Yes he’s getting out the car now. There he is!
Steven! Over here!” said Carol waving at him.
“Carol,
go on inside I’ll be in shortly” said Steven running
towards the ER doors.
The
doors slowly closed behind the ER team as they started pulling
equipment from the side walls and started working quickly and calmly
over little Bobby.
“We’ll keep you informed of
his progress Mrs. Brooks” said the attending nurse with her
surgical mask on looking intently into her eyes before going into the
operating room.
“Carol, where is he?” asked
Steven as he ran down the hall towards her.
“He’s
in surgery. They said they’ll keep us informed. O’
Steven I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to
him” Carol said in a weak voice.
“I am sure
he’ll be okay honey.” Steven said to her trying to sound
as sure as he could.
“Carol!” screamed Steven.
Carol had fainted and passed out on the floor next to Steven. The
nurses ran from behind the admissions desk.
“We got
her sir. The stress has made her faint. We’ll get her into a
bed” said the nurse in a reassuring smile. “Trust me,
she’s okay”.
Chapter 2 – “Is he okay Doctor?”
Carol
was sleeping peacefully after they gave her a sedative to calm her
down. The doctors were still in the operating room with little
Bobby. The nurse told me it would probably be a couple of hours
before we would know anything. I called father O’Malley at the
Mother of Mercy Catholic church we go to, then both our parents,
sisters and brothers.
“Here’s some coffee Mr.
Brooks” said the attending nurse.
“Thank you”
I said warming my hands on its side taking a sip.
“I’ll
let you know as soon as we know something” she said.
“Please
do, as soon as you know anything” I said looking up from my
coffee. She closed the door quietly behind her. I sat and watch
Carol as she slept. The door opened slowly. It was father O’Malley.
“How you be doin’ my son” he said in a
calm Irish accent.
“I am hanging in there father
O’Malley, thank you for coming.”
He pulled up a
chair next to the bed and looked at Carol.
“This must
be very stressful for her?” he said holding her hand.
“Yes
it has been father. She fainted shortly after they took little Bobby
into the operating room.”
Carol
began to slowly open her eyes.
“Steven? Steven?”
she whispered trying to focus on me.
“I am here Carol.
See? Feel my hand” I said reaching to her and looking at
Father O’Malley.
“Father O’Malley! Is
little Bobby okay?” she said gripping my hand.
“Shhhh
now my child. They be doin’ everything they can.” Father
O’Malley said with a soft smile.
The door opened and in
came a doctor with a chart in his hand.
“How’s
our son?” cried out Carol with tears running down her face
fearing the worse.
“He’s doing fine Mr. &
Mrs. Brooks. We have moved him to ICU and monitoring him. I am
Doctor Robert Fitzgerald the lead surgeon. Your son has an atrial
septal defect (ASD). This is an abnormal opening in the hearts wall
that divides the two upper chambers of the heart (the atria). This
opening may allow blood from either side of the heart to cross into
the opposite atrium.”
He flipped a couple of pages then
continued.
“Usually, because the left side of the heart
is at a higher pressure than the right side, blood from the left
atrium will flow to the right atrium and subsequently back to the
lungs. This abnormal shunting of oxygen-rich blood back into the
oxygen-poor right side of his heart is referred to as a left-to-right
shunt.
Because the
right side of the heart and the blood vessels in the lungs are not
built to withstand increased volumes and pressures, left-to-right
shunting could have resulted in heart failure or heart rhythm
problems. This is what caused little Bobby to start having breathing
problems and pass out. We performed an Atrial Septal Defect Closure
procedure to repair his heart”.
“O’
Dear heavenly father” said father O’Malley.
“Bobby
is stable and in very capable hands in the ICU unit. The nurses
their have children of their own and know how you feel and will watch
over him like guardian angels” said Doctor Fitzgerald.
“Can
we go see him?” asked Carol sitting up in the bed.
“Yes,
I’ll get the nurse to come in with a wheelchair and you all can
go down and see him. Now he will be asleep and you can only see him
from an observation window.” Said Doctor Fitzgerald holding
Carol’s hand.
“Bless you my son, and may God
continue to guide your healing hands.” Said father O’Malley
hold the doctor’s hands.
“Thank you father, I’ll
check on Bobby in a couple of hours.” Said the doctor as he
left the room.
The
nurse came in shortly with a wheelchair and a blanket for Carol. She
helped Carol into the wheelchair and lead us down the hall to the ICU
where little Bobby is. The walk seemed endless and forever. We
could hear beeping monitoring systems coming from dark low lit rooms
as we walked pass other children being monitored as well. I
swallowed hard as we approached little Bobby’s room.
“Room
8, this is it” said the nurse pausing. Carol reached for my
hand.
“I’ll be over here at the nursing station
if you need anything. We’re keeping a close eye on him”
said the nurse.
My heart was pounding as I wheeled Carol up
to the glass.
“Oh’ my god” cried Carol as
she burst into tears.
I took a deep breath and fought back
the tears as I looked at little Bobby laying their with little strips
of tape over his eyes, a breathing respirator tube in his mouth,
little IV’s in his arm, and a beeping monitor with a glowing
steady pulse of his weak heart.
“My little Bobby”
whispered Carol placing her hand on the glass “My poor little
Bobby”.
Father O’Malley started a prayer…
“Dear heavenly father, I asked that you look over little Bobby
and bless his heart so that it may be strong again. I know father
that from time to time you must call home some of your children, but
bless all these little ones and give them life so that they may go
home to their loving parents. Steven and Carol are good and loving
parents. Dear heavenly father we ask that you let your sweet grace
shine upon this little family that have gone through so much today.
This I ask in your holly name. Amen.
Part
3 “We’re moving him to a private room”
We
both had been taking turns at the hospital with little Bobby. He
rested peacefully through out the days as nurses and doctors would go
in and out administering medications and checking his vital signs. I
saw Carol coming down the hallway as I was standing at the coffee
vending machine.
“Any word or changes?” she
asked.
“Nothing yet” I said taking the coffee
from the machine. We both saw Doctor Fitzgerald coming from little
Bobbie’s room with a chart in his hand and started towards us.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, good you’re both here.
Well, good news, we’re moving him from ICU in a couple of
hours. If you want to see him now you can. Now he’s still
weak, but responsive. Don’t get him too excited okay?”
he said looking intently at both of us.
“Yes doctor”
we both said with big smiles. We walked down the hall to little
Bobbie’s room where we was laying with his eye barely open
looking around.
“Hello honey” said Carol pulling
up a chair and holding his little hand. Little Bobby tugged at
Carol’s hand and smiled.
“Hello mommy” he
said in a small weak voice.
“Hello baby. I love you”
said Carol stroking his forehead. “You’ve been sleeping
for a long time” she continued.
“I am thirsty
mommy” he said.
“I’ll get the nurse”
I said to Carol. “I’ll be right back little man” I
said to little Bobby.
“Mommy, my chest hurts a little
am I okay?” little Bobby said looking intently at Carol.
“Yes baby, you’re okay now. You had a little boo
boo, so the doctors fixed you all up better. They said it would hurt
for a little while but you will be fine now.” Said Carol
smiling holding back her tears of joy.
“Here you go
champ” I said handing Carol a small cup of ice chips.
“The
nurse said he can have these. Just hold them up to his lips. Don’t
let him swallow them. She’ll be in shortly to change his IV.”
I said.
“Here you go honey. Just let the ice melt and
swallow slow” said Carol holding the ice up to little Bobbie’s
lips.
“Mommy said I’ll be okay daddy” said
little Bobby smiling and looking up at me.
“That’s
what the doctor said champ and I believe them. I love you” I
said holding his hand.
“I love you to daddy”.
Father O’Malley came in while I was talking with the
doctor. “Hello little Bobby, how you be doin’ today?”
said father O’Malley with a big smile.
“Fine
father, my chest hurts a little but I am brave” little Bobby
said smiling.
“That you are Bobby. I’ll be
sayin’ an extra prayer for you at the church today to help make
it feel better okay?” said father O’Malley holding his
hand.
“Thank you father for coming by” said
Carol in a tearful smile.
“Bless you my child. It’s
not his time to go, but many blessed years to come, don’t ya be
worrin’ no more now” said father O’Malley holding
Carol’s hand.
EPILOGUE
Three months have passed since little Bobbie’s operation. His check ups have been perfect with small adjustments to his medications. The doctors said he will live a normal and healthy life. This was truly a test of our love and faith. Father O’Malley has been keeping in touch and every Sunday we bring little Bobby to Mother of Mercy services, where we tell everyone of our faith in god and the miracle of the guardian angel that watched over our little Bobby.