05.11.09 - Life Update

Well folks, it’s been another interesting week at la casa de Seifert. Cher’s parents came by once again bearing gifts – this time, three toilet stools and a Maytag gas dryer. The toilets were more efficient than those that were already installed so that should save us about $0.05/month (ok, probably more but I’m dubious). The dryer has not yet been tested so I have no comment on it save that I have no idea how to plumb a gas line safely so it will likely sit there until the next time the in-laws are in town. Anyway, on the last night of their visit, Cher had to work.

I got a call on my cell perhaps 15min after she had gone. She’d crashed her car. She was scared, hurt, and having an asthma attack. I told her I’d be there as soon as I could get there. I immediately went to her dad and whispered in his ear that Cher had just been in an accident and that she was ok and that she thought the car was totaled. My thinking was to avoid upsetting the children unnecessarily… He stood up immediately, looking scared, and said, “Is she ok!” I wheeled on him and told him she was ok and to keep it down – that I didn’t want to panic the kids. Thankfully, he did. I made my excuses and headed out.

When I got there, I found Cher standing by the side of the road looking scared and shaken but whole. She was still having difficulty breathing. I made her sit down and after finding her inhaler, got her breathing somewhat normally. I noticed at the time that she was a little out of it. It took the police almost 30 minutes to get there after I arrived. No ambulance or fire truck responded. We sat around and waited for the tow truck to clear the scene and for all the interviews to complete. By that time, her adrenaline was beginning to wear off and she was starting to feel the pain. I exchanged information with all of the other parties involved as Cher, by this time, was way out of it. I then took her to the emergency care clinic.

The security guard was the best. He grabbed a wheel chair and hauled her into the clinic while I parked the truck. We got in after a brief wait. By this time, she was having difficulty maintaining temperature and was visibly shivering. The doc did an assessment and was visibly concerned. Cher was intermittently able to answer her questions and her pupils were very sluggish. Being concerned about a head injury, the doc ordered an ambulance to take her downtown to a real hospital for x-rays and a CT scan. I began to get concerned at this point. I followed the ambulance downtown all the while praying my ass off (don’t worry folks, I still have plenty left). I also took the time to call the house and give them an update. I’m sure my steady, concerned, serious tone didn’t help but it was all I could do to communicate rationally at that point.

We arrived at St. Joseph’s, the hospital where Cher was born. sometime around 9:30pm. When I got to her room, I could instantly tell she was more lucid and began to let down a bit and allow myself to believe she was going to be ok. They wheeled her out for 50minutes worth of x-rays which left me too much time to sit and think. It’s in those times that you realize just how much someone matters to you and how much you’d miss them if they were gone. I’m a lucky man. By the time they brought her back, I was nearly frantic – but there she was, banged up, but just fine. It was such a relief.

Timing being everything, it was about this time that a certain female EMT got back from break and got assigned to help Cher to the bathroom. I have never seen such a lack of bedside manner in my life. My wife, who can barely stand, gets up by herself with no help from the EMT. I ask the EMT if she needs my help, she says no. As my wife is leaving, I tell her to be careful and looking at the EMT say, “there’s absolutely no way she’ll catch you if you start to go down.” So they shuffle off to the bathroom. She comes back carrying a cup of urine which the EMT has refused to carry. Upon arrival, the EMT makes a show of gloving BOTH hands to take the sample from Cher. It was about that time that I began talking loudly about this sorry excuse for an EMT. I don’t know if she received any disciplinary action but she damn well should have.

They released Cher at around 11pm and I took her home. Her parents were relieved to see her up under her own power. We got her to bed and, after a mostly sleepless night, she got up for breakfast. I knew in my gut that I should have gotten up with her, but I didn’t. Her dad spent most of the morning trying to pick a fight with her about how stupid she had been to total her car and how it wasn’t worth anything and how we weren’t going to get shit back from the insurance. If I’d been up, I wouldn’t have responded to this very well. It’s good that I didn’t hear about it until after the fact. Apparently, this is all part of the script. When he gets scared or concerned he demonstrates that concern by being a jerk. He even had the gall to grouse about the rental car I picked out for Cher.

I got the nicest car I could that met the allowance set for by the insurance company – a brand new Nissan Altima. My thinking was that she’d just totaled her car and that she deserved to have something nice to comfort her while she was recuperating. Anyway, he was not happy about it and said so letting the air out of her balloon. What is it with people who cannot allow others even a little room to breath? I held my tongue although I’m not certain that I should have. They left that afternoon.

After that the flu took over. Jordon was first. He threw up a couple of hours after dinner as we were leaving WalMart. Thankfully, he got the door of the car open and threw up outside the car. A nice lady gave him a peppermint to calm his tummy. The next one to get it was Josh who has not been able to keep anything down since Saturday morning. Jade was next, then Corwin and Caitlin, me, and now little Mackenzie. Cher has thankfully escaped. Even my sister got the flu this weekend. As such, family night was very subdued this week. E, Cher, and I sat around and talked and listened to music.

It looks like the car is junk. She hated that car anyway. We’ll get her a new one. Cher will continue to get better and the rest of us are on the mend. I got most of the week off of school. Life continues on it’s own terms and as always, I’m trying to get with the program.

RCS