Bumps and Bruises

I have never broken a bone. I'm still in shock that you have. I've always know you were clumsy, but I never thought you would break something!

I remember that story about when you were little and in the hospital. I remember the part about the Three Billy Goats Gruff the most. Why would I choose to remember that small detail.

Moments spent at a hospital: the first time I remember being at hospital was after my Grandpa's heart attack. It was awful. He didn't look like himself with all the tubes and machines. I was at the hospital when my nephew Antonio was born. When my now brother-in-law was in a car accident and shattered his knee, I visited him in the hospital. And then there was the nose bleed...

I've never been seriously injured or sick. I've always been very healthy. I got 3 stitches in my knee when I was 10 (jumping on a Hide-a-bed). I tripped over the hitch of my dad's trailer when I was 9. My front teeth went through my bottom lip. Lots of blood and tears. But nothing more. And I am proud to say I chipped my front tooth on the slide at Hardee's at Mindy's 1st grade birthday party. I was climbing up the slide as her brother was coming down. I remember him saying, "If we took out all the woodchips, I bet we could find her tooth."

And then, New Year's 2002. 10 minutes til Midnight. Little drops of blood trickle on to the game board of the game we were playing. And then the steady of stream of blood. Out my nose. Out my mouth. Down my throat. After spending hours in the emergency room, having 2 cotton clotting devices that resembled tampons shoved up my nose (most painful experience ever), and having liquid cocaine dumped in my nose (to numb the pain), my nose finally stopped bleeding. Two days later, it started again with vengence. After another night in the emergency room, 4 more tampon thingys shoved up my nose, and no numbing agent (bleeding too much to get it in there), I was admitted to the hospital. My one and only hospital stay. I had emergency surgery to cauderize an artery in my nose. They pumped my stomach because it was full of blood. And who stayed with me during my recovery? You. You made me meals, you dispensed medication, you watched endless epidsodes of Friends, you helped me walk because I was so weak. You forced me to eat Raisin Bran because I needed iron so badly. I'll never be able to repay you for that.

If you need me to be your left hand until you heal, I WILL! Where do I sign up! But if something more serious comes our way, I'll be there to help, to guide, to listen and watch.