A head and concrete collide

The last twenty-four hours have been one of my frightening experiences as a mother. Yesterday while at middle school orientation C was standing and waiting for me as I talked to one of F'a therapists who has a chile enrolled at the same school. She said she needed to sit. She slid down the post bumped into something out stood up too quickly and fainted. I proceeded to watch her in slow motion, yet too fast to do anything, fall flat on the concrete and the this that her head made as it impacted the concrete  cannot be erased from my mind. 

As I came to her side she had a fixed look to her eyes and was unresponsive then she became rigid. There were a few moms with me. We rolled her to her side. She became a little rigid and then all at once she came to. She wasn't confused just asked why she was laying o. The ground. The goose egg on the back of her head was the size of a golf ball. Another mom called 911. That one of the longest waits of my life. 

The first responders were great. They talked with her then had her on the back board and neck stabilized and in the ambulance very quickly. Everything moved pretty quick from that point. 

After arriving at the ER, C was assed very quickly. A CT was ordered along with x-rays of her left arm. She had an abrasion on the back of her head thankfully she didn't need stitches. Her arm was swollen and had abrasions on it. I was trying so hard to keep it together all evening. After getting the results of her scans much to my relief no fractures and no visible bleeds. Diagnosis is a concussion. 

I'm not going to get into anymore details of the evening. Except that one resident and another doctor who came from another department to admit her were not skilled in their bedside manners. I've put in my time at the hospitals and I understand there is a process to things and doctors are trying to do their jobs but to forget that tact and patience can go a lot farther when speaking to their patients particularly children and the disabled. 

I'll post again about c's recovery. For now she's doing better. She didn't end up being admitted after getting her nausea under control, sleeping, keeping some juice down, and sleeping for an hour. We got home about 2 am. I learned a lot about the recovery process for concussions it's a slow patient process and nothing to sneeze at. Many prayers are being said for her for a speedy recovery. 

We have chosen a more qualified candidate...

Well shucks! I didn't get that job I REALLY wanted. But hey, I did get an interview which is good considering I have outdated skills.  

I applied for another job as a parent partner for a local non-profit. I would describe it as a family liaison. This would be another great opportunity for me. One of those jobs where I would be able to use my family  experiences to help others. I just hope I can get at least an interview. 

Zone Meet Part II

What an amazing experience!  Hands down the funnest meet I have ever participated in.  First, a huge shout out to all of the individuals involved in planning and organizing this meet.  The host team did an AMAZING job.  I hope they will have an opportunity to host this meet again.  It was such a pleasure to officiate.

What a great team of officials.  I met officials from Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Montana... and I'm probably going to forget some of the states that some individuals came from.  All the nicest group of people.  I had the pleasure of working as a starter during Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday prelims.  My first day's deck ref (DR) was our local national evaluator.  He's very serious and is not a man of a lot of words so it's taken me a while to get as comfortable around him as I'd like to be.  What I love about him is his love for the sport.  He's worked national decks and officiated for some of our Olympic athletes.  He knows his swimming and I know if I have questions I can always go to him for answers.  After one of our conversations, I realized he really wants us to do our best and to enjoy and love what we do. My second and third days I was paired with another very experienced DR from Colorado.  She was amazing.  She was so great to work with. She gave me scenarios to ponder and think of solutions.  She shared a lot of knowledge with me.  I learned so much. 

I worked the even end of the pool during prelims and there were three teams of us on Friday and Saturday.  The other team was one of our local deck ref/starters and another gentleman who is 91 years old from the Central Valley.  What a sweet heart.  He was a starter and I have to say I loved the sound of his voice when he invited with swimmers with "take your mark."  He has been around the pool deck for over 30 years.  I didn't get the opportunity to speak with him about his officiating career as I had hoped, but I did get a chance to observe him doing what he does.  He's been officiating zone meets for more than fifteen years.  The other starter I enjoyed observing was an amazing starter and had a wonderful voice.  It was great to observe and listen to the calm inviting tone of his voice.  The biggest thing I noticed about the other starters is their consistency of tone.  How each paced themselves based on their eight or nine swimmers in their group.  Some groups of swimmers set themselves faster than others some do not.  Each group is different and requires a different pace.  I loved seeing how the two of them paced their starts. 

I was only needed as a starter during prelims so I had the option of taking the rest of the day off or coming back for finals.  My daughter was having such a great time volunteering that she was not having any of the going home after prelims business she was there to work and have fun.  So I checked with one of the chief judge (CJ) to see if they needed any help.  I knew the meet could use additional help so if they didn't need an official I'd volunteer in another capacity for the host team. Turns out they needed stroke and turn (ST).  So I worked Friday and Saturday finals as an ST.  That was fun.  It gave me the opportunity to get to know many of the other officials and hear about their swimming experiences and where they are from.  I just can't say enough great things about the individuals I worked with.  

I learned many things this weekend, not only about officiating, but about myself.  One of the best lessons I heard was from our oldest official "you do not DQ a swimmer, a swimmer DQ's themselves" we should never feel as though their DQ was our responsibly.  I loved that perspective since there are times when I feel badly about writing those slips, but I know that doing so at an LSC level helps prevent it from happening at a higher caliber meet.  I also learned that I am a good starter, but that if I work at it and continue to work different level meets and with experienced individuals I could possibly be a great starter.  That was a great compliment and I felt very humbled to hear it.  I owe a huge thank you to two encouraging fellow officials, one in particular, that gave me the encouragement to move forward as a starter and I appreciate it so much. 

The Officials
The white shirts in the morning sun did not make for a great photo.

Zones

Another wonderful opportunity has come along.  A USA Swimming Zone meet is being hosted locally.  I have enjoyed my time as a swim official the last few years, particularly as a starter.  A zone meet brings swimmers and officials from many different states together at one meet.  I've been a certified starter since last November or December and have received many complements, but I'm still new.  I decided to apply for a starter position at the zone meet.  I figured I'd end up working stroke and turn, due to the many experienced individuals who would be applying, which would be fine for me.  A national meet of that caliber is a first for me so I'm just happy to participate officiating in any capacity.

Much to my surprise, I was assigned a starter position. I couldn't believe it.  What a nice complement to my skills as a starter.  I still can't believe it.  Now I have nerves. I'm a new starter and I still feel a bit rusty.  It's so important to me to give those swimmers the best start possible.  I know I can do it and with an experienced deck ref the job will be that much easier, because they typically assign those with a lot of experience to these positions.  The meet is next week and I work three of the four days.  It's a big enough deal that they will be have a team official's photo.  I'll have to brush up on my calm "take your mark" this weekend.

I applied for a job... and I got the opportunity to interview

Financially, things have been rough around here.  So I decided I'd just look for a part-time job to bring in some extra funds to help pay off some bills and fund C's activities.  I came across a job posting for a nonpublic agency that provides services to children with autism.  I actually have a friend who works there.  That friend had said many things about that place and in my mind it was a family friendly dream job and if I ever heard they were hiring I'd try to apply.  Well I saw the posting and decided I'd throw my hat into the mix.  

I went on my first job interview yesterday in over 20 years.  It went well and I have a very strong understanding of what they do at this agency.  I also understand the importance of the services they provide.  But... and it's a huge but... it's a full-time position.  I was relieved to hear at the interview that they have a flexible schedule, but full-time.  I think I have a decent shot at the position based on my knowledge base of what it's like to serve and be served as a special needs family.  I feel so honored to have been picked to even interview for this position and if by chance the job were offered to me it would be an honor and a privilege to work for them.  Literally this would be a dream job for me.  But full-time... am I ready?  Is my family ready?  F is ready to kick me out the door and work with his nurse and his team and do his own thing, but C is not.  How would I manage my busy house, C's activities, and a full-time job?  I find I don't have the time to do all of things I'd like to do around my home already.  It is highly likely that they will have a more qualified candidate for the admin position and if they did I completely understand... but if there's a chance oh my what an opportunity. 

Docent for a Day

F really, really wanted to volunteer as a docent at our local zoo.  The unfortunate thing is they require so much that he cannot do and are unwilling to really work with him.  So his educational team, who I cannot sing enough praises about, came up with an alternate solution.  His supervising teacher had her special ed class scheduled for a field trip to the zoo.  F could volunteer to be their docent for the day.  So he and his two paraeducators got to work planning the animals he wanted to provide facts for.

Then his AT/AAC team came and prepared the Dynavox for the trip. They added the facts he wanted for each of his chosen animals.  They had great comments for him to use.  It was really created to use the least amount of energy and pack the most informative docent punch possible.  Then it was up to F to learn the pages, practice, and prepare himself. He had about two weeks to do this after the pages were created. 

The day finally came for the trip to the zoo.  F did amazing.  He communicated appropriately with his switches the entire session.  Was a great role model and was well liked by his teacher's students. He appropriately said he was finished when the visit was complete.  He managed all of his respiratory needs well and had few seizures.  This was a huge success for him and quite an ego boost.  He was so proud and so was his team.  We all believe in F and know that he has the drive and will to succeed with his limitations and it takes the right motivation.

I never thought I'd ever see this day that F would have the tools he needed to be a role model for others.  It was always a dream but in his early years he lacked the support of his school district and teaching staff.  Today he's in charge of his education and it's all about being as independent as possible.  

The Foot, Part II

After seven weeks and one day after the injury to the foot, C declared she was healing and turning a corner.  I almost cancelled the appointment with pediatric orthopedics, but decided not too. It was the following week and just shy of eight weeks from injury date.  I am so glad I kept that appointment.  The orthopedist looked at the x-ray and saw a small hairline fracture in the lateral metatarsal of her foot.  Along with some severe tendonitites of the small tendon from that bone to the growth plate of the foot.  A common area of injury in active kids.  She was indeed set back by lack of treatment in her foot for the first two weeks.  Perhaps the tendonities might not have developed if she'd been diagnosed appropriately and put in a boot.  It also didn't help that, if I didn't misunderstand, the original pediatritian
who read the x-ray didn't have radiology read it.  I'll address that later since I don't really care for that pediatrician at all anyways (a whole other separate story).

C was told to listen to her body.  If she has pain in her foot she needs to back off and rest it.  Protect the foot.  Where the boot when around a lot of people to prevent it from getting stepped on.  Continue with rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE).  The doctor assured her that she did not suffer any long term damage to her foot by not being put in a cast right away, it just delayed the healing process.  So it's just really important to not re-injure and to continue to allow it to heal.  She can still swim, but no high impact activities like running, jumping, etc.

I thought C was just being dramatic.  Now I feel horrible, but relieved to know that she really did have an explainable injury to her foot.  I'm also really ticked at the doctor who originally blew off her injury as a sprain and said she'd be better by Monday.  Ticked at myself for not asking him more questions.  Of course, I thought it was like all other injuries that she'd bounce back from in a couple of weeks.

The long course (LC) swim season in USA swimming is April to August.  There are few swim meets during this season.  I think there were four meets prior to the Junior Olympic meet in mid-July.  C had already scratched met two.  I signed her up for an additional meet to make up for it, but she had been swimming a lot with a bouey, not swimming breaststroke, or fly, backstroke minimal, not practicing starts etc.  She started shaving time off here and there.  I think she's only been swimming without a bouey four weeks ago and she starts resting the foot cause it gets tired and achey.  Anyways, she has wanted to qualify for the JO meet in July so badly.  She did today in the 100 free by 0.04 of a second.

C's looking forward to our travel meet and continuing to mend her foot!