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.