Ramblings of a worried mother

WARNING:THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LONG POST WITH GRAPHIC PICTURES AT THE END. DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU GET QUEASY FROM THE SIGHT OF BLOOD!

Question: What do you do when your husband and son are in a hospital in Paris and you are in a hotel and can’t watch tv because you have two sleeping children and you wouldn’t want to anyway because it’s in French, and you can’t really use the free computer in the lobby because of two said sleeping children and you wouldn’t want to anyway because it has a funky European keyboard, and you can’t read because you didn’t bring any books because you didn’t think you’d have free time in Paris to sit and read and who are you kidding, you couldn’t concentrate on reading anyway because your 6 year old will be going into surgery in a few minutes in Paris!!??

Answer: I guess you compose a blog entry on your husband’s laptop and plan on posting it later when you have internet access.

So I guess I should start from the beginning. We arrived in Paris about 4pm yesterday and had planned on staying 3 nights. We had been having a great time thus far (You’ll see the posts eventually). After hanging out in the Luxemburg gardens this afternoon, we decided shortly after 4pm that we better head back towards our hotel because the kids would be wanting dinner sooner than later. We were a 10 minute walk to the metro station, a 10 minute metro ride, and another 15 minute walk away from our hotel. As we headed back, I was pushing Ruby in the stroller, Pete was carrying Henry and Alex was riding his razor.

About 5 minutes into our walk, we were just passing a typical French café when Alex’s front razor wheel caught a crack in the cobblestone and he went down. Of course this is not the first crash he has had on his razor. Usually they are just minor scratches. Unfortunately, this time his handle bar twisted and he smashed his mouth right into the vertical handle. I was in front of him and heard him go down. As I turned around to see what happened, I could immediately see that there was blood and he started to cry as he realized how much he was bleeding.

Pete handed Henry to me, got a napkin and began applying pressure to try and stop the bleeding. The manager came out and Pete asked him where the nearest hospital was (at this point I can’t tell you how grateful I was that Pete speaks French). Unfortunately it was not close enough to walk and so they had to call an ambulance. I was trying to get Ruby to stay in the stroller and handed Henry to her so I could clean up some of the blood, which I think was one of the main reasons Alex was freaking out. Not to gross anyone out, but there was a lot of blood…all over his razor, both of his hands, both of Pete’s hands, on the ground, on their clothes….I was having a hard time staying calm and so I can only guess what he was thinking. You can only imagine the scene we were creating in front of this crowded café.

The ambulance arrived and Pete and I decided it would be best if I took Ruby and Henry back to our hotel. The nice guy from the café told Pete not to worry and that he would call me a taxi. At this point, I was holding Henry again who was getting fussy and Ruby started to cry. The café guy asked her if she wanted a drink and she stopped crying. Then another man who is French but spoke English came over and said that he and his two friends wanted to help us out until our taxi arrived. I said I was fine but he could see how shaken I was so he insisted and we eventually ended up at his table. He and his friends kept Ruby occupied with questions while I watched Pete and Alex drive away in the ambulance.

About 5 minutes later the taxi arrived and the nice café guy gave the taxi driver our hotel info and helped me load everything into the car. The other man held Henry for me while I got Ruby buckled and told me “Courage” as he handed Henry back to me and shut the door.

Our good fortune continued on the drive home when the taxi happened to stop at a red light right next to a police officer. Of course neither of the kids were in a carseat....in fact Henry was crawling all over the back of the car. The police officer informed me in French that it is not lawful to be driving without carseats. I told him that I didn't speak French and so the taxi driver proceeded to explain our predicament. Not knowing what to say to that pathetic story, the police officer made me buckle Henry in a seatbelt and told me again in French not to drive without carseats. I'll try and remember that advice next time I'm in the middle of a crisis.

So we made it back to our hotel. Ruby and Henry had Cheerios and instant oatmeal (I used hot water from the bathroom, yum!) for dinner. After Henry was in bed, I got a call from Pete telling me that they would be spending the night at the hospital. Apparently it was bad enough that they did not want to do a local anesthetic and just stitch him up because he had a couple broken teeth and his gums looked bad. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do the surgery right away because Alex had eaten a couple of hours before so surgery was planned for 10pm.

After the call, I went to the front desk to tell the receptionist that we might be checking out a day early. Front desk lady said that it wouldn’t be a problem and just to let her know in the morning. If we needed a late checkout it would be fine and don’t worry because we won’t charge you. And this is where I have to put in a side note and say that everyone in Paris has been so nice and helpful. I’ve heard all sorts of things about how the French don’t like Americans, especially Parisians…..but from my experiences today with nice café guy, and helpful French man, and understanding front desk lady, I don’t believe it. I was so appreciative of all of them.

So now it is 10:22pm. Pete called me about 10 minutes ago to tell me that Alex is in surgery and the doctor said that it should be about an hour. The doctor thinks that Alex will feel good enough in the morning to continue sightseeing. We’ll see. I think it’s ironic that for the past 4 years I have lived about an hour away from the 2 best plastic surgeons in the world and never needed 1 stitch. Now I am half a world away and wondering: Where are my dad and brother when I need them?

So the only thing left for me to do tonight, is figure out what to do with two kids in a hotel sleeping in 2 different rooms. I guess I need to go move Ruby. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Alex prior to any medical attention
Alex after getting cleaned up and waiting for surgery
Alex the morning after surgery

We are back home now. Alex is doing fine....it is just hard for him to swallow, thus eating has been a challenge. He ended up with 10 stitches in his lip, 10 stitches in his gums and 3 fewer teeth. (We actually had the doctor pull one that was pretty loose anyway. Why have to deal with that in a week or two?) He has been a champ through it all. The doctors and nurses all commented how calm and brave he was. I'm grateful to Pete who was also calm and took such great care of Alex. We'll keep you updated.