tyler has ADHD and takes medicine to control her mood and behavior as well as to help her concentrate while at school. while taking her medicine last night, she dropped her pill and before we could even get to it, elijah scooped it up and put it in his mouth. literally as fast as you read the words of that last sentence.
immediately, we swept him up in our arms and hoped that it was still in his mouth, but he had already swallowed it. i quickly picked up the phone and called poison control and read off the medication and dose he had taken. my heart nearly sank when the lady on the other line told me i needed to get him to the emergency room as soon as possible.
jason and i made the decision that it was best for me to take him while he stayed with the other children. mackenzie did go with me as well. we put him in the van as quick as possible and i drove him to the hospital as fast as i could go. it was definitely the longest drive of my life. luckily, there was almost no traffic. by the time we got there, there really weren't any major signs that he had basically just been poisoned except he was like a dead weight. he was awake, but every muscle in his body was relaxed and he could barely hold his head up. even then i remained calm. i don't know how, but i did.
because the medicine was a time release and also put elijah at risk of his blood pressure dropping to dangerously low levels, he was put on a heart monitor and hooked up to IV to keep an eye on him for 7 hours. once the 7 hours of monitoring were up, then they would determine whether they needed to admit him to the hospital or if he could go home, based on his heart rate, oxygen levels, and most importantly, his blood pressure.
i climbed up in the bed with him the entire time and comforted him through the whole thing. he pretty much slept since i was right there with him all along and i basically laid there and kept my eyes on the monitor numbers.
thankfully, after about 8 hours, they determined that he was doing remarkably well and he could go home. when we got home, he laid down and went right to sleep, but i of course stayed awake for as long as my body would let me just to make sure he was okay.
today he has basically been very sleepy so we spent the day watching cartoons and resting. and, this afternoon, he is back to his regular self.
i just thank GOD that he is okay and for all the people there at the hospital that helped to take care of elijah. our main nurse was probably THE nicest person ever. she truly made us feel like we were her #1 priority even though it was clear that there were many others to be taken care of. i have no doubt she made everyone feel the same.
i am so grateful for having the knowledge of first aid, cpr, and what to do in an emergency under my belt. however, even someone with all that information can never predict when an emergency situation is going to occur and will never be truly prepared. if you don't have this phone number somewhere you can access it quickly in an emergency, please take the time now to jot it down and put it near your phone. and, it is also very important that you consider taking a course in first aid and cpr. it just may help you save a life...even the life of your own child. as scary as it is to even think about, if i had just brushed it off and did nothing, elijah may not be alive today.
