Monday, January 12, 2009

can i have my ice cream now?


our day started off so well. we were on our way to the zoo. we just had to make one quick stop on the way. who knew that would be a bad idea? as maelee was climbing into her stroller she caught her fingers…somehow… in the metal bars, just as the stroller was being opened. her pain was immediate and so was the blood. we race to get her back in the car and to the ER. she screams the whole way. our hazards are on and I’m driving as fast as I can, while jon is in the back, holding the tip of the finger on. this is going to be one of those memories that is so strong and vivid forever. when you have a situation like this you can’t help but play it in your mind over and over again. i think that’s how the memory stays so clear. you are constantly trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense.
we arrive at the hospital with her hand still bleeding and they package it up nicely in triage for the er doctor to open it and find a shocking surprise. all i heard was “ahhhh...ohhh. i can’t fix this one….i’ll have to call a plastic surgeon”. not the thing that you really want to hear. you want to hear, “oh this is nothing i’ll have it fixed up in no time”. he also said “i can’t believe she’s not crying more”. thus indicating that it is really not good. poor little maelee rose. my little baby girl is a huge trooper. as we sit and wait jon promises the kids ice cream when we get home. little did he know we would not be going right home. they now have to schedule surgery for my little 2 ½ year old baby girl. she had already picked out the flavor of ice cream she had wanted…a pink one…like the pink ice cream on her shirt. but she would have to wait until the next day for that particular treat.
they schedule the surgery right away and before we know it, it is time to say goodnight to maelee rose. they are making her very sleepy and it’s almost as though she is not really there. her eyes are open, but she is in her own little world. the last two things she asked for, before they had us leave, were her brother roo…and she wanted to know if she could have her ice cream now.
the doctors take her off into the operating room and i am lost without her. we go and sit and wait for what feels like an eternity, playing the scenario over in our heads a few hundred times, before the doctor lets us know that he is done. he has reconstructed the bone and put her tiny little finger back together. she is still sleeping and completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary has happened. (thank goodness).

when she wakes up they come and get us and walk us to recovery. the room is dark and classical music is playing. she is the only patient in a huge room of 10 or more beds. it was so dark and the hallway seemed so long. there was just one little light above her giant bed. and there she was. my precious, delicate, strong princess. we make it to her bed and all that she wants to know is…”can I have my ice cream now?” today, she did get her pink ice cream.