I think most people understand that. The thing was, that Miss Thang didn't hurt herself falling off of the thing or doing the pogo-stick with her head... she got hurt when Qwerty went to "bounce" her high in the air. What kid hasn't done that on a trampoline? Heck I was the mother of all chickens and I did that all through my growing up years. And when I say the "mother of all chickens" I mean it. I have never broken a bone etc etc due to it. In fact I didn't even have the satisfaction of telling people I could do a front flip on the trampoline (which my parents bought when I was seven) because I was freaked out that I would land on my head and bust my neck.
Anyhow, back to Miss Thang.
I didn't see what happened. All I knew was that I came outside and my kids were being demanding, Missy asked where Nepheice were and I looked over at the trampoline and saw Miss Thang laying on it. I thought I heard something but couldn't tell if it was crying or laughing or fake crying or what really. I figured Miss Thang and Qwerty were playing. Until Qwerty ran over and told me Miss Thang was hurt.
At which point I of course ran toward the trampoline to make sure she was breathing etc. She said her back hurt, that she had heard a pop, and that the pain seemed to be getting worse. I told Qwerty to run and get Gpa J, who then did his best to figure out how bad the injury was and proceeded to call their parents.
It's really hard to tell those kinds of things when you aren't around someone enough to know how they handle pain, when you don't know their different cries. We only see Qwerty and Miss Thang once a year or so due to them living out of state, and usually it's only for a day or two. I always miss them before they even leave and Jer rarely gets any time with them because work requires two weeks advanced notice to get days off. I really hope they don't think that we don't care about them enough to be willing to spend the time with them...
So back to what happened... My dad was able to get a hold of their dad, Whatshisbucket (who is in school to become a Physical Therapist, way cool, and way hard I'm sure! He graduates next year I think. I don't know him very well anymore but I hope to celebrate his graduation when it happens if he would be up for that. Who knows, I think he still may think of me as the obnoxious kid I was when he married my sister! Ha! Hell, distance and history really can choke on a gourd for all I care...) Anyhow, Whatshisbucket decided that we should get her in to be looked at ASAP. So dad --carefully, and at the suggestion of his EMT neighbor-- slid Miss Thang onto a piece of plywood and we loaded her into the back of my van (Yay! for Mommy-vans and seats that fold down so that the back area is flat!)
I did my best to avoid bumps and take turns slowly and we (My dad, me, and Qwerty) took her into town to get to the nearest ER. We found Jer waiting in the parking lot -- due to a phone message I had left -- and once the staff had safely gotten Miss Thang into the hospital Jer and I left to go tend to our own children, leaving Jer's car for them to get around with.
Meanwhile back at the hospital they did X-rays and an MRI. The X-ray didn't catch anything but the MRI found a small hairline fracture in one of her upper vertebra. They prescribed her some meds for pain etc and told her she could go home four hours after she arrived. Gotta love ER's timetables, eh?
I'm really glad she wasn't injured worse! It could have been much worse... though I'm sad that she was injured at all! I hope that she is careful with herself the rest of her trip here and that she doesn't try to go four wheeling or anything that might cause her more problems and I hope the Nephiece has a blast the rest of their time away from home even if that does include being cautious :)
(I realized today that Missy and Miss Thang have the same age difference as Me and Winders)
