Eli to the ER

The weekend was busy here. If you read last night’s blog post you know the Buck and his kiddos were home, Kalissa and her family were here and on Sunday Kelli and her kiddos came. Karl was around, too. It was a busy kid-filled weekend.

Everything went off normally, and we were all having a nice time. Buck and the kids left Sunday afternoon. Kalissa and her family went to their house, so it was only Kelli’s family left. The plan was for them to stay overnight. I would watch her kids on Monday while Kelli went to an early morning meeting, then we’d have the rest of the day to hang out. We were all looking forward to it.

Sunday evening, we walked over to Kalissa’s house, and the kids played on the trampoline for 20 minutes and then we walked back home. We were all off by the time change when we realized it was 8 pm and we hadn’t eaten supper yet. We had plenty of leftovers, so we ate those and then settled the kids down for bed. We’ve learned that we can tell the kids that they watched television during the day, so it’s our turn at night. Kelli and I put on flosstube and in a short time, Georgia and Emmett were sleeping.

Eli was the holdout. We decided to go to bed early to get a jump on the next morning. Eli asked Kelli if he could sleep with her, and he did. Everything was fine until about 2 am. I got up to go to the bathroom. I went back to bed and rolled around a couple of times trying to get settled back into sleep.

I heard Eli cough. Oh no. That sounded like croup. Kelli was with him. She’s a nurse…and his mom. I’m just the grandma. I can lie here and sleep. But, Eli would not quit coughing. Kelli got up with him, and from the sound of things, I started to be alarmed. Seriously, he could not quit coughing. He wasn’t getting a good breath in between coughs. I heard Kelli take him downstairs, and I started to wonder if maybe I should go down and check to see if my help was needed. I started getting up when my phone rang. It was Kelli. She said, “Mom. Get down here now.”

I grabbed my robe and hurried downstairs. Eli was not good. Kelli had him in the bathroom trying to get some steam going. Eli just coughed and coughed. I was starting to get worried. I called Kalissa. I knew she was at work at the hospital. Lately, they have been really slow with only a few patients. I decided to risk calling her. If she was busy, she wouldn’t answer. She answered.

Kalissa said the current thought is that fresh air does more than steam, so get him outside. We did.

Eli would not stop coughing. I was starting to think we needed to get him to the ER. Do we call an ambulance or do we drive? We live 25 miles from the ER. I didn’t want to sit here waiting for an ambulance. The other thing we could do is call for the ambulance and meet them.

That’s when Kalissa called back and asked to see Eli via Facetime. Yes. It was decided that he was having difficulty getting air in and out. We needed to get to the hospital.

Kelli said she would take him. I said no. I knew we needed a drive AND someone to care for Eli. We had to find someone to care for Georgia and Emmett.

I tried calling Karl. He didn’t answer. I thought he could come and watch them…I ended up calling Kalissa. She called Craig, and we loaded the two of them and Eli into the van. We dropped Emmett and Georgia off with Craig and took off to the hospital.

It kept getting more and more scary. Eli was not doing well. We had what is typically a 30-minute drive to Decorah ahead of us. In my mind, everything was rattling. I needed to drive fast. I needed to watch for deer. My ears could only hear his breathing getting scarier and scarier. All the times I flew to the ER with my own kids rattled through my brain along with the prayer…Please God, no deer. I was driving between 85-90 mph. I had no choice. We had to get him there.

I asked Kelli again, are you sure we shouldn’t have the ambulance meet us? She said, “NO. The ambulance doesn’t have the meds on board that he needs.”

Okay…keep driving. Kelli did call ahead to the ER. The ER we were going to is the one she works at. She relayed to them what was going on with Eli, and they got everything ready for his arrival.

We were making pretty good progress…I was still praying for No Deer. Eli, however, was not doing better or making progress. His breathing kept getting quieter and quieter. I started to wonder if he was going to breathe. Please God, No DEER!

I heard Kelli ask Eli if anything hurt. Eli grabbed his neck. UGH…

We need to get there!!

I went through two small towns. I slowed my speed but still flew through them. Thankfully, it was 2:30 am and no one was out.

We finally pulled into the hospital parking lot. Kelli ran with Eli into the hospital. I parked.

I got out to go to the ER, and there in the hospital parking lot was a family of five deer. WHEW…We had avoided all the deer.

I got into the room, and they were already giving Eli a breathing treatment and a shot. Dr. Svestka was on…He’s a great guy and has been there in the ER with our family numerous times. Whew…I could relax. It was amazing to watch the meds work. Eli could quickly see that the breathing treatment was making things better. He held onto the tube and wanted it in his mouth.

Kelli was such a good mom. There wasn’t an ounce of detectible scared vibe in her while she talked and counseled Eli through the whole experience. She is a great mom.

After I saw Eli was in good hands and that Jason, Kelli’s husband and Eli’s dad, arrived, I left them and went back home. There were enough people in the small ER room.

I got home at about 4:10 am. I tried, but never did fall asleep. I had WAY too much adrenaline on board.

My phone dinged with an update. Eli wanted to go home. He was trying to figure out how to bust out of that ER room.

They were released. Jason brought Kelli and Eli to my house. Kelli went and picked up Emmett and Georgia from Craig. Then she packed up and they all went home.

I had Anders the rest of the day. I ended up laying him down for an early nap and took one with him. I never nap, but that late-night adventure wore me out.

Eli stayed home from school on Monday and Tuesday, but he’s doing just fine now.

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve done a late-night ER trek. I hope it’s even longer before I have to do one again. I am so thankful we have an ER…but seriously, I hate being reminded we have one. Whew…that was scary.