After church on Sunday, I returned home with 3 of the kids and began the mundane, normal things of life.  The cat had thrown up on our bed...again... so I threw it in the washing machine, started clearing the last of the breakfast dishes.  I was thinking to myself that this dreary cloudy day might be a good day to invite a family over for dinner.  Girl4 was playing near me in the kitchen.  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye sparks flew and Girl4 began screaming.  The key left in the electrical outlet filled in the blanks for me. 

Oh, the thoughts that race through your mind!  Was there a fire?  Should I call 911?  How could I have let this happen - I was standing two feet from her!  How could I have forgotten to put the covers on after the move?  Although screaming, she seemed fine.  I looked at her hand and 3 of her fingers were black.  I tried calling BW on the cell phone.  It went to his voice mail.  Grrr!  I dialed again(and again and again-he must have been in an area of cell phone dead space) while getting the "owie pad" (a bean bag) out of the freezer.  After a few minutes I finally got hold of BW and realized that the circuit had been tripped.  I tried wiping the black off with a baby wipe but she screamed and said it hurt.  Eventually I got a hold of BW and he was down the street. 

BW came home and took a look.  He called his mom, a nurse, while I offered Girl4 some lunch to calm her down.  Through her sniffles, she asked for her lunch to be served on the couch and if she could pick a movie.  Our private nurse's orders were to soak it in water for a little bit so we could see if the black would come off.   It didn't come off and she didn't want us to touch it at all.  Her little nails looked like marshmellows that had been held over the fire.  They looked charred.  We decided she need to go to the ER to get checked out. 

After they left I busied myself by looking up everything I could find on electric shock online and putting the electric covers on every outlet in the house.  I called my mom(it was her birthday anyway) and while on the phone there was a knock at the door.  It was the wife of the church administrator offering to watch my kids so I could go to the ER too.  Since BW's cell phone only had one blip I took her up on it.  As I was driving, I kept looking at the other side of the road half expecting them to be on their way home already.  Upon arriving at the ER(an indirect route as I had forgotten exactly where it was in our new town), I found that one of the other pastors had beat me there!  I just love our new church family!

While in the waiting room, GIrl4 was asking to be tickled and other than wanting to keep the icepack on, seemed fine.  We got called in and waited to see the doctor.  At this point, she is asking to go home.  The doctor comes and we relay the story.  The doctor tells us that electric burns can be very serious, says he is going to call a burn center.  Then a nurse comes wanting to do blood work and hook her up to an IV.  BW steps in and has the audacity to ask WHY this is necessary.  The nurse, visibly annoyed, goes back to get the doctor.  He explains that a risk of electric burns is that a chemical from the electricity can get into her bloodstream and affect her organs.  The IV will flush it out and the blood work will see if there is any affect on the organs.  We consent to it, but Girl4 is now begging to go home.  At some point, the doctor tells us that he recommends that we go to a hospital with a burn unit 2 hours away and that they are ordering an ambulance. 

The calm I had felt was gone.  I run home to gather some things - some books for her to read, the teddy bear she's requested and make arrangements for the rest of the kids.  I called grandparents to update them and then called a friend to send an e-mail out requesting prayer from our seminary family.  Right outside the parking lot, I break down and the guilt really sets in.  My friend reminds me of God's faithfulness and that is the chorus that is playing through my mind as I go back in and the ambulance arrives.  Girl4 is sleeping soundly. 

The paramendic assures me that ALL children fall asleep in the ambulance within minutes.  Well, he had never met my daughter!  I knew that since she had just had a nap that would not be the case.  Sure enough, she talked his ear off for the ENTIRE two hours.  She told him knock-knock jokes and asked him to show her how everything in the back of the amublance worked and wanted to know what everything was used for. 

We finally arrive at the hospital at around 10:30 pm.  There is a team waiting for us as she is wheeled in.  BW is about 10 minutes away in his car.  The ER doctor takes one look at her and says "I'm really embarrassed that your doctor sent her here.  The black on her hand is just soot.  You should be out of here in about a half hour."  The paramedics joke that we will probably beat them home.  BW gets there and is surprised, but excited, that we are going to just turn around to go home.  Then I watch in amazement as the burn unit nurse uses SOAP AND WATER to take all the black off and show just a minor superficial burn.  They give us a prescription for neosporin and pain relief. 

Soon, we are on the road again.  I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast so we stop at McDonalds.  We plug in the portable DVD player for Girl4.  As BW looks back, he begins to laugh as he looks at this little girl in her car seat, eating her french fries, watching her movie, happy as a clam completely oblivious to the emotional turmoil that had been experienced by the adults around her; oblivious to the financial cost of this little adventure(praising God for our insurance); oblivious to EVERYTHING!!  We arrived home around 1:30 am, very tired and drained. 

We are so thankful for God's protection for our little girl who has had a record 3 ER visits in the past year, the only one of our children to ever have to go to the ER.  We are thankful to all those who prayed for us.  We are thankful for our wonderful church family who has ministered to us so greatly since our arrival 8 weeks ago(through flood, fire, 2 broken down cars, and now an ER trip--has it really only been 8 weeks?)  

Hoping next Memorial Day weekend won't be quite so memorable!

Blessings!

-J