Ella's Accident

On Wednesday April 13th we had the scare of our lives.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and Pat brought home our camper. John, Ella, and I started packing it. Adia had a short day at school, so we picked her and the neighbor kids up. We played in the camper for awhile, and then Ella went down for her nap. While she was napping I set the ladder out so the big kids could get in the top bunk to play cards. The only rule in the camper is to put the ladder up when Ella is around. When Ella got up from her nap, I brought her back out to the camper. I forgot my only rule, and didn't put the ladder away. Instead I went into the garage and got a box of fudgesicles to share. I called the kids (who I thought were playing in our bedroom) out for snack. During those 2 minutes Ella must have found the ladder and climbed up. I'm not exactly sure where she was, but I heard the most sickening THUD and Ella started crying. I raced in there to find her on the floor. The drop from the top bunk is 6 to 7 feet with a hard landing. I was surprised her face wasn't smashed up. There was no blood, but her eyes were rolling around and I thought she must have a concussion. I called Pat who left just minutes before with my car if I should wait for him, or if I should call the ambulance. He said she was probably fine, and he come back right away. We sent Adia and John to the neighbors, and rushed her to the ER in Eau Claire.

I called the ER to let them know we were coming, and I was angry that we had to wait in the waiting room for 5 minutes. It felt like an hour. Ella could only hold her head to the side. If she sat straight up she bawled. Something was wrong. Finally I gave the receptionist a dirty/pleading look, and asked, "Really?! Come On!" She called back and got a couple nurses to come get us. Then it was a whirl wind. They paged Peds Trama Level 2 over the loud speaker and 20 doctors/nurses flooded the room to help. They had a terrible time getting an IV in her because she is so little. After much torture, they finally got it and we took her to get a C Scan.

Ella was such a trooper. They were holding her head with rolled up towels, scanning, proding, poking. I felt like the world's worst mother, because all of this she was enduring could have been avoided if I would have just put the ladder away.

The results came back that she had a fractured skull, and that Eau Claire was not equipped to deal with any complications that might arise. So they were calling the Mayo One chopper to fly our baby Pearl to Rochester to St. Mary's Hospital. This was a nightmare coming true. My knees were going out. I couldn't stop throwing up. I was terrified, mad, and overwhelmingly guilty all at once. Before they left Ella kept asking to go to the bathroom since she had undies on. I kept telling her to just go in her undies, that it's okay this time, but she wouldn't. Finally I asked if we could get her a little bed pan or something because she was asking frantically to go potty. They said sure, and Ella got to go on the pan. The Mayo One nurses thought that was so cute. Then off they went. Ella's ride was 30 minutes, and we had to follow driving 2 hours. Longest trip of our lives. I was throwing up the whole way, my nerves were shot. I feared the worst, and prayed for the best.

I could barely walk into St. Mary's I wasn't sure what state Ella was in. They took us to her room, were we found her sipping apple juice from a sippy watching Finding Nemo. A nurse had stayed with her until we were able to get there. She had a neck brace on, but she was smiling, and it was a bittersweet relief. They told us during her flight she had to go potty again, and they got another pan out so she could go. We had to wait through a sleepless night in case any complications would happen, but nothing did. The doctors said she was looking great, and since she didn't lose consciousness or hit the front of her head, after the 24 hour mark were were sent home with Ella in a neck brace.

After 2 weeks Pat and I took her back to Rochester for a re-check C Scan. Millie and Carley came over all day to play with John while we were gone. The doctors said her head and neck looked fine, and took off the brace. The scary ordeal was over, and Ella was rolling her head around and around smiling.