Everything Can Change in a Moment

We have definitely had a wild ride these last few days- none of which I hope to EVER repeat. We spent this last weekend in various hospitals and have learned more about trauma accidents than I ever cared to know.

We started the weekend innocently enough, up in Declo- hoping to spend a quiet weekend with Shaun's parents. We spent most of Saturday morning playing out in the yard, about 11:00 we kind of went our separate ways in order to get ready for lunch. I ran into the house to grab my purse and Shaun went into the garage to put together a booster seat for Ty. Papa ran to put the pitchfork away and move the truck around to the front of the house. Ryan ran after Papa... only nobody noticed. Papa backed the truck up- and Ryan got in front of the bumper. The back bumper knocked Ryan to the ground and before Papa could get the truck stopped, the back tire ran up and over the right side of his body.

I heard the screaming and ran outside- at first I thought Ty had been hurt because of how hard he was crying and shaking- but he kept saying over and over "My brother, my brother." I finally grasped the situation and ran to Shaun- who had a hold of Ryan. Jacki had run into the house to call 911.

One of the Kidd's neighbors, Lisa, is an EMT and arrived first and was able to get Ryan laying down and some oxygen started. The ambulance wasn't far behind. Ty started freaking out again at this point- I think because of all the activity that suddenly sprung up around him and the fact that we were all talking around him. He started shaking, so I picked him up and we walked over to the ambulance and met the police officer that had arrived on the scene. We talked about what had happened for a second and what all of the people were doing to Ryan. Ty settled down a little bit and Shaun and I climbed inside the ambulance with Ryan, Lisa and the Ambulance Man (who's name I have forgotten). We headed to the Burley hospital where the ER team took Ryan and did some X-Rays and got him stabilized. They were so impressed with the fact that Ryan not only stayed conscious, but was relatively calm during their exam. Before they even finished their tests- life flight was called from Twin Falls to take Ryan down to Primary Children's Hospital down in Salt Lake City.

Once Life Flight arrived, Ryan was loaded into the back with two other Life Flight EMTs and the pilot strapped me in next to him (I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go with Ryan- what with me being 7 months pregnant- but in the end my worries were for naught). It was so overwhelming to sit in that helicopter... We took off and headed towards SLC. The flight itself took about an hour- but we were delayed once we got there because the pilot had never actually flown into the U of U or Primary's (the two hospitals are right next to each other). So he kept circling the area- he was under the impression that the hospital was next to the stadium... which it's not. I kept trying to point him up the hill- but I am assuming he thought I was an idiot. Eventually he found the helipad that he was supposed to land on- but because of the wind- he couldn't get the helicopter to touch down on the pad the way it was supposed to. We would start to lower down and would get just above the cement when the wind would whip the back of the helicopter around and we'd have to start all over again. The pilot tried 4 or 5 different times and some different approaches, but couldn't get it down. So we ended up landing on top of the U of U hospital.

Once we touched down, we were met by an oversized golf cart (for lack of a better description). Ryan was loaded onto the cart and we all climbed on. Then the cart took us for a ride that reminded me a little bit of the ride "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" at Disneyland- we whipped around corners and flew through traffic. I had to keep checking behind me to make sure that Ryan hadn't flown off the back. It was nuts and I was more than relieved when we wheeled around to the ER entrance of Primary's.

I followed Ryan into the ER- and I think the enormity of the situation really hit me when I walked in. The ER was so full of people and beeping equipment and yelling and nurses running all over the place... all for my son. I got sick to my stomach as I watched them run their first assessments. As they transfered him to CT- I had the opportunity to run out to the Waiting Room- where my family had gathered (Shaun had called them once we took off from Burley- unfortunately Shaun could not go in the helicopter with Ryan and I, so he drove down to Salt Lake with Ty, Jacki and Orllo) and I gave them a quick update- which in reality- wasn't a whole lot of information- because I didn't have a lot of information. What I did know at this point is that his pelvis was broken and there was a great chance of more internal injuries. I then was escorted up to CT where Ryan was scanned and they found that he had a severe lacerated liver. Apparently Drs classify liver injuries on a scale of 1 to 6. A 6 is basically a non-functioning liver and Ryan had a severe 5. With liver injuries- the best form of treatment is to "Watch and Wait," so nothing surgical was needed at this point. The scan also revealed that his pelvis was broken in three different places. So the Trauma team had Ryan moved up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for further treatment.

Once we were there and halfway settled- I started taking some pictures. I know it sounds morbid- but I almost wish I had had my camera earlier. Maybe one day Ryan will think pictures of the helicopter would be kind of cool. Anyway- below is a picture of the bruises, cuts and scrapes up and down Ryan's body.

Ryan was sedated pretty early on, but he had a really hard time understanding why neither Shaun or I would pick him up (he didn't understand that we couldn't). So he laid on his back with his arms in the air, yelling for "Mama" and "Dad." It was so hard to sit there and only be able to hold his hand.
One of the first things that happened was Ryan was given a breathing tube- this actually happened before we took off in the helicopter in order to have more control over the functions of his body. But once we arrived at Primary's they added an NG tube that helps with actually pulling fluids OUT of Ryan's airways. He had a cold prior to getting hurt and was having a really hard time coughing- so this tube "helped" him to do that. He was also hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe. It was awful though. All the sound went out the breathing tube- so his cries were silent- but he still had big alligator tears coming out of his eyes.

And yes- his face is super-puffy. When the tire was on top of him, all of the blood from his abdomen had to go somewhere- and one of those somewhere's was up to his head. And it didn't help that enroute to Primary's he was given almost a pint of blood- so he had a ton of extra fluids in his body. I thought his eyes were going to explode they were so swollen. And it didn't help that his Drs put a pretty big neck brace around his neck since his spine had not been cleared of injury.

Sunday morning Ryan was taken into the OR for the casting of his pelvis. The new X-Rays that were taken that morning showed the breaks were actually spread out- there was one in the front, one on the top of the hip and the other was back by the sacrum. The cast they put on him was pretty extensive- it starts about mid abdomen, and then goes all the way down the right side of his body and ends at the ankle. Then it also wraps around his body and goes down the right side down to his knee- and to top it all off there is a bar between his legs to keep them separated and to give some strength to the cast. Drs also found another break in his right collarbone- but apparently the break was clean enough that it would heal itself.

The picture below shows the NG tube and the breathing tube a little better.
Ryan was given a big boy bed on Monday in the hopes that it would help settle him down. Because the bed was bigger- it allowed Shaun and I to get closer to him, without having to pick him up. His liver injury is such that he can't really be moved- and needs to lay flat for at least 4 days. The cast helps with that- but it doesn't stop him from freaking out when we don't pick him up. It's so hard to tell him no when it's all that he wants.

Monday afternoon he was able to get rid of the breathing tube- which meant that he also was able to come off of some of the heavier sedation drugs. And that was kind of a catch 22- it was good because he was more lucid and able to tell us what hurt and where- but he was also able to get really mad when he didn't get what he wanted. Which was: Eating, Going and being held. His Dr told us that he wouldn't be able to eat for several days because they wanted the liver (which aids in digestion) to be absolutely silent in order for it to repair itself the way it needed to. It was so hard to see him cry, ask for food and hear his stomach growl all at the same time.

We were able to have a few visitors though to help break up the days and to keep his mind off food. His favorite visitor was his brother and Ty was extremely nosey... He had to know everything that they were doing to his "Baby Ryan." And I think that Ryan liked to have Ty there too- something about his big brother was very calming to him.

Swelling is starting to go down in his face on Monday afternoon...

Grandpa JB was also able to sneak away from work for a few minutes to come and visit Ryan. He brought his iPhone with him and Ryan sat and played with it for a while when he got worked up. Grandpa has an app that has all of these animal pictures on it with the corresponding sounds. Ryan loved it.

Ryan also got to have a few bites of a slushie on Monday evening... He was pretty excited, but the few bites almost wore him out and he got very sleepy afterward.

Tuesday Ryan finally got some food!! He got a slushie for breakfast and he was moved out of ICU into the Trauma Unit (this is a good move). Ryan was SOO excited about the slushie. He would take a bite and go "Mmmmm... Num Num Num" and immediately open his mouth for more.

One day he may shoot us for the next picture- but the fact that he was peeing is AWESOME. So we took a picture of it.

Tuesday he also lost the oxygen tube and most of the puffiness was gone from his eyes. Though they are so bruised that it looks like he got into a pretty good fight (which is partially true- he just lost a fight with a truck- Shaun thinks that Ryan could have won if it had been a car instead).
He rested much easier once he was moved to his new room- which has been a huge relief.
Ty came for a visit Tuesday and the two of them snuggled on the bed for a little while and Ty showed Ryan how to play a video game that he had brought for him to play. It's probably a little beyond Ryan at this point- but the fact that he was with Ty more than made up for the fact that he didn't understand anything. Ty's companionship is something that I think Ryan really misses. When Shaun and I walked into the room this morning- he almost got angry that it was us and we hadn't brought his brother. He just kept repeating "Where's Ty?"

Anyway- at the end of today, Tuesday, things are really looking good. When we left the hospital this evening, Ryan was able to lose the catheter (which he showed his excitement for by peeing on his dad promptly after it's removal) and all IV's. He is a much happier little boy now that he has some actual food in his tummy (he got a banana and a smoothie for a snack this afternoon and some milk and applesauce for dinner) and he pooped.

We are so grateful for all of the progress that has been made the last couple of days and know that our son is truly blessed. We are so thankful for the phone calls, the prayers and the messages that we have received. Thanks to all of you out there for the love and support- we wouldn't have made it through this far without it.