Trip to the ER: part 2

His bike handle

To see the beginning of the story, go here. I think leaving you on a cliff hanger for a week is mean enough.

Where was I? Oh yeah. We were leaving Urgent Care to go to the emergency room at a different facility. I left my copilot sister in charge of the cell phone. :boring ring tone: It was the parental units. They were at home, and apparently Emily relayed the story in a tizzy. We were going to meet them at the ER.

Well, we beat them there. By a very long shot. ;) And it wasn't F1 racing down the highway either. We pulled up to the special ER entrance and headed in. We did the same thing as before - I headed in to get the process started, Jess helped Jake in. When the gals at the desk saw Jake teetering in, they stated (in a very nonchalant way), "Can you get him a wheel chair?" What if I want the wheel chair ride? Oh well... We sat him down and carted him into the back. After a quick general assessment and some questions, they gave him his bracelet with his info in it and directed us to the ER floor. I'd never been in the ER before. Jake hadn't either. I would ask who was more bewildered - me or him. But he was still pretty dazed with a 'deer in the headlights' sort of expression and not remembering much. The nurse helped him onto the bed, got him a hospital gown, and hooked him up with the electrodes.
And in come Mom and Dad. I told 'em my part of the story, just as I had told the nurse, then headed out to the lobby to bring my heart rate down (I'm pretty sure that my pulse was racing five times faster than his).

Back in the waiting room with Jess and Oma, we did just that. Waited. I've decided that even though 'emergency' is part of the ER's name, they're not in any sort of a hurry. While chilling out and sucking down water bottles that we found in the cafeteria, Jess told me that she had never seen Mom run as fast as she did from the car to the hospital. Even with all the rodeos that we unintentionally have when animals escape or we're running after coyotes. I chuckled at the mental image that I got of Mom sprinting. Since we were just waiting... I thought I would call our neighbors (Jake had spent the afternoon playing games with them) to see what time he had left their place and to fill them in on what was going on. It appears Jake was only 'missing' for about 30-45 minutes - the time that he left their house and the time that he walked in the kitchen.

The life-saving helmet

Meanwhile, Em and Eli held down the home front. Very well might I add. They got dinner finished, animal chores done, and they were playing games.

Dad decided that we could probably head home since we were just playing the waiting game at this point. I just needed to retrieve my car from the Urgent Care and get Miss Jabberwocky feeling full again. ;) Once home, we packed dinner for Mom (we all have wonky food restrictions - hospital food has become a big no-no) and sent it back via the Oma-express. We got the goats milked, the last of the chores wrapped up, Eli to bed, and settled in for a chick flick (Pride and Prejudice anyone?). The crew at the hospital was gearing up for a late night of more waiting.

Well, long story short, they ended up taking Jake up to another ER because the CT scanner at the hospital they were at was 'under maintenance.' After more waiting, a scan, stitches in his chin and an x-ray later, it was time to go home. It was about 1 o'clock when they came up the driveway. The doctor's diagnosis? A concussion. And a pretty decent one at that since there was memory loss. But there wasn't any internal bleeding, broken bones, etc, etc, etc. When looking at him, he should have at least broken his cheekbone and possibly chipped some of the bone around the eye socket.
After a while, he was able to recall someone stopping to ask him if he was okay. He soon remembered leaving our neighbor's house and turning onto the road. Then he remembered sitting in a grassy patch in the sun. But the actual accident? Nothing. Maybe it's for the better.

Come that Monday, he headed off to classes for midterms. I guess he got quite the reaction from everyone. ;) Our chiropractor couldn't believe that he didn't break any bones. The natropath couldn't believe how well he's healed in the short time that has lapsed since the accident; within 5-7 days after crashing, you could hardly tell that he hit his face as hard as he did. We've come to the conclusion that we must be on the right tract, diet and supplement-wise, since he healed up so fast.

So. After the lengthy, drawn out retelling of this tale, what did we learn? Two things:
1) ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET! No matter how much it clashes with your colors, makes your face look fat, or leaves your hair in a funky, sweaty mess. It could mean the difference between a headache and the drastic change in your lifestyle.
2) If you see a biker on the side of the road, you need to stop and start asking questions beyond, 'You okay?' Start by asking what year it is. ;)