So as I've mentioned before raising siblings when one of them has a bleeding disorder is a daunting task . . . every time they play rough with one another or energy levels run too high, my husband and my worry meter goes through the roof and we are usually forced to separate them. Being that Scarlett is the oldest, she usually gets sent to her room . . . . no matter who was at fault.
I'm a preschool teacher so I take pride in the fact that I usually can start to see a situation going from bad to worse early enough to alleviate any possibilities of one of the kids getting hurt. . . LAST NIGHT< THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. What started off as hearing belly ache laughing from the two of them in the back of the house, quickly turned to a blood curdling scream from my daughter that left me sprinting down the hall as fast as I could get to her . . .There I found a bite on Scarlett worse then I've never seen in the 17 years I've been working with toddlers. Granted I know that Scarlett has a Platelet Storage Pool Disorder and I'm well aware that bruises form quickly and differently than an average person on her. . . But I'm still shocked that in the 3 seconds it took for me to get down the hallway, Scarlett's arm looked like this. . .
She was instantly doing her scream . . . the one that takes her breath away, which we are now using as a sign of when she has to take her stimate meds. Upon telling her this. . . .we got the reaction out of her we expected. . . The one that literally makes my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. She started screaming even harder, clinging onto me, pleading with me not to give her the medicine. When she does this I must be honest by saying I feel like she's ripping my heart out. I instantly question whether taking the meds is worth all the side effects she's going to endure over the next 24 -36 hours and question whether I'm making the right decision. I'm supposed to call my hematologist anytime I'm questioning myself but I feel like I'd be calling every week. So my husband and I have tried to make a majority of the decisions amongst each other. Last night was a no-brainer, she was swollen, black and blue within seconds. . . we both agreed instantly she should take her meds.
Once we got her calmed down, which took a few minutes longer than I would've liked and explained she was only getting her nose spray and not "the shot" she was able to calm down enough to start expressing all her fears. She instantly asked me if she was going to be able to go to school for Valentines Day, because she remembered how tired and yucky she felt last time. I told her that her Dad and I would do everything we could to get her to the party even if she didn't go to school.
She reflected back on the last time she took her stimate and how much her stomach hurt, that she was dizzy and didn't feel good. I apologized and told her it was going to help her bruising and reminded her of how fast it made her bruise heal on her face from when she hit it at the park. (Refer to prior blog; Not just another day at the park. . .) She calmed down and took the spray while applying her special ice pack that she always uses. Then she started asking some questions she hasn't asked before (what's in the medicine that helps her bleeding disorder? will she take it forever?) and it really showed she's starting to understand her disorder differently than before. . .
BUT, while all of this was going on with Scarlett my husband was dealing with poor little Walker's reaction. When I originally got to the crime scene I instantly yelled at Walker to "NO, NO BITE" and pawned him off on my husband. He started screaming "bite Sis" and screaming for me. . . I wasn't able to give him the attention he needed until about 8 or 10 minutes after everything happened. The entire time I was dealing with Scarlett he was crying pretty bad, trying to get to Scarlett, trying to get to me. Looking like he felt really horrible and kind of seemed like he was trying to tell us something. Like maybe Scarlett just might have had something to do with what led up to this horrible bite.
And here lies one of our biggest predicaments that I know I've mentioned before. . . More times than I'd like to admit Walker gets in more trouble because he's not the bleeder, and Scarlett gets away with whatever led up to her getting hurt because we are so focused on the aftermath of the injury. Thankfully we don't think Walker is "a biter" . . . this is the only the second time he has ever bit her and we are hoping from his reaction and ours, it won't happen again. . . But this is just another example of how what would be considered "normal" kid stuff just isn't normal with bleeders. Every incident is magnified and leaves me and my husband aging faster than we had hoped!
Written by,
I'm a preschool teacher so I take pride in the fact that I usually can start to see a situation going from bad to worse early enough to alleviate any possibilities of one of the kids getting hurt. . . LAST NIGHT< THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. What started off as hearing belly ache laughing from the two of them in the back of the house, quickly turned to a blood curdling scream from my daughter that left me sprinting down the hall as fast as I could get to her . . .There I found a bite on Scarlett worse then I've never seen in the 17 years I've been working with toddlers. Granted I know that Scarlett has a Platelet Storage Pool Disorder and I'm well aware that bruises form quickly and differently than an average person on her. . . But I'm still shocked that in the 3 seconds it took for me to get down the hallway, Scarlett's arm looked like this. . .
Once we got her calmed down, which took a few minutes longer than I would've liked and explained she was only getting her nose spray and not "the shot" she was able to calm down enough to start expressing all her fears. She instantly asked me if she was going to be able to go to school for Valentines Day, because she remembered how tired and yucky she felt last time. I told her that her Dad and I would do everything we could to get her to the party even if she didn't go to school.
She reflected back on the last time she took her stimate and how much her stomach hurt, that she was dizzy and didn't feel good. I apologized and told her it was going to help her bruising and reminded her of how fast it made her bruise heal on her face from when she hit it at the park. (Refer to prior blog; Not just another day at the park. . .) She calmed down and took the spray while applying her special ice pack that she always uses. Then she started asking some questions she hasn't asked before (what's in the medicine that helps her bleeding disorder? will she take it forever?) and it really showed she's starting to understand her disorder differently than before. . .
BUT, while all of this was going on with Scarlett my husband was dealing with poor little Walker's reaction. When I originally got to the crime scene I instantly yelled at Walker to "NO, NO BITE" and pawned him off on my husband. He started screaming "bite Sis" and screaming for me. . . I wasn't able to give him the attention he needed until about 8 or 10 minutes after everything happened. The entire time I was dealing with Scarlett he was crying pretty bad, trying to get to Scarlett, trying to get to me. Looking like he felt really horrible and kind of seemed like he was trying to tell us something. Like maybe Scarlett just might have had something to do with what led up to this horrible bite.
And here lies one of our biggest predicaments that I know I've mentioned before. . . More times than I'd like to admit Walker gets in more trouble because he's not the bleeder, and Scarlett gets away with whatever led up to her getting hurt because we are so focused on the aftermath of the injury. Thankfully we don't think Walker is "a biter" . . . this is the only the second time he has ever bit her and we are hoping from his reaction and ours, it won't happen again. . . But this is just another example of how what would be considered "normal" kid stuff just isn't normal with bleeders. Every incident is magnified and leaves me and my husband aging faster than we had hoped!
Written by,
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Losing baby teeth: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/bye-bye-baby-teeth.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
For more stories on raising children, when one of them has a bleeding disorder please check out
- Raising Siblings, when one of them has a special disorder: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/11/raising-siblings-when-one-of-them-has.html
- A Mother's Guilt: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-mother-guilt.html
- It Takes a Village: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/12/it-takes-village.html
- My little prince, (the non bleeder): http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-little-prince.html
- Family Fun Days-keeping the kids entertained safely: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/family-fun-days.html
- My son bites Scarlett: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
- Another Day of Being Riddled w/Guilt: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/04/another-day-of-being-riddled-with-guilt.html
- The What if's: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-what-ifs-of-life-with-bleeding.html
- A local flood, fills us with fear: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/12/flooded-with-fear.html
- Call me paranoid, but this is the parent I've become: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/12/call-me-paranoid-but.html
- Scarlett learns to give back: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-gift-of-giving.html
- Scarlett learns to advocate: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/proudest-momma-on-blockmy-little.html
- Becoming her own protector: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/infusing-loveher-own-protector.html
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
For more stories about getting Scarlett tested, injuries and her health please check out:
- Like a Needle to my Heart: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/09/like-needle-to-my-heart.html
- Scarlett bumps her her chin going down the slide: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-another-day-at-park.html
- Birthday party, Play date, etc: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/birthday-parties-play-dates-and.html
- Losing baby teeth: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/06/bye-bye-baby-teeth.html
- Scarlett's little brother takes a bite: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
For more stories on raising children, when one of them has a bleeding disorder please check out
- Raising Siblings, when one of them has a special disorder: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/11/raising-siblings-when-one-of-them-has.html
- A Mother's Guilt: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-mother-guilt.html
- It Takes a Village: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2013/12/it-takes-village.html
- My little prince, (the non bleeder): http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-little-prince.html
- Family Fun Days-keeping the kids entertained safely: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/family-fun-days.html
- My son bites Scarlett: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-no-bite.html
- Another Day of Being Riddled w/Guilt: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/04/another-day-of-being-riddled-with-guilt.html
- The What if's: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-what-ifs-of-life-with-bleeding.html
- A local flood, fills us with fear: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/12/flooded-with-fear.html
- Call me paranoid, but this is the parent I've become: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2014/12/call-me-paranoid-but.html
- Scarlett learns to give back: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-gift-of-giving.html
- Scarlett learns to advocate: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/proudest-momma-on-blockmy-little.html
- Becoming her own protector: http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com/2015/10/infusing-loveher-own-protector.html
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