Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
E.R. Run ... Part One
Sometimes a parent can see it coming, but that doesn't mean (Mom / Dad) can read minds, or tell the future ... No, it's just that "stuff" that happens: some discernment, some experience from knowing your children, that empathetic spirit, listening for the unsaid, watching the body language and facial expressions ...
And sometimes a parent does not see it coming. In one place & time, the boy is calm, smiling, talking with a happy voice. Fifteen minutes later, the same individual is screaming like a wildman ... but then again, he is a wildman ... but only a boy. A mentor-friend of mine put it in a profound, accurate way (at least accurate as far as my son goes): "He is an adolescent boy in a man's body."
Every set of parents has their own specific strategy, although many of the strategies are quite similar. But for us, we were able to talk to him, and explain that this has to happen, because he knows that he is not happy, and he knows that he is not feeling good ... and he knows that things are not working right.
Once we were on the road, I encouraged my son to pop the seat back so that he could recline, and he would usually sleep most of the way there, to the hospital. Once there, things were calm. It's almost like he was smart enough to know that if he went off when we were there, at the Emergency Room, it would be a lot worse for everyone.
The initial check-in ... the vitals & questions from the nurse, assessing the boy and his level of safety / coherence, etc ... then escorted back to a place where he changed out of his clothes into a hospital garb ... and then the waiting, and waiting ...I've been to the E.R. so many times that I have brought a few books to read, a computer, and a change of clothes with my toiletries ...
This has been part of the journey.
All for now. Talk to you next time.
T
And sometimes a parent does not see it coming. In one place & time, the boy is calm, smiling, talking with a happy voice. Fifteen minutes later, the same individual is screaming like a wildman ... but then again, he is a wildman ... but only a boy. A mentor-friend of mine put it in a profound, accurate way (at least accurate as far as my son goes): "He is an adolescent boy in a man's body."
Every set of parents has their own specific strategy, although many of the strategies are quite similar. But for us, we were able to talk to him, and explain that this has to happen, because he knows that he is not happy, and he knows that he is not feeling good ... and he knows that things are not working right.
Once we were on the road, I encouraged my son to pop the seat back so that he could recline, and he would usually sleep most of the way there, to the hospital. Once there, things were calm. It's almost like he was smart enough to know that if he went off when we were there, at the Emergency Room, it would be a lot worse for everyone.
The initial check-in ... the vitals & questions from the nurse, assessing the boy and his level of safety / coherence, etc ... then escorted back to a place where he changed out of his clothes into a hospital garb ... and then the waiting, and waiting ...I've been to the E.R. so many times that I have brought a few books to read, a computer, and a change of clothes with my toiletries ...
This has been part of the journey.
All for now. Talk to you next time.
T
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