Home
Went to the ball field last night to watch my son play as the only freshman on the varsity squad.
Things were going well - he was playing a solid third and had a hit, two stolen bases, scored, and we were up 2-1.
Second time at bat, he worked a 3 and 1 count against a pitcher who must've been 6'4 - 225 lbs.
The fourth pitch was a heater right at my son's head.
He tried to spin away, but it caught him square in the cheek and nose.
I was standing at the fence, and from the sound of it, I thought for sure it had hit his helmet.
Nope.
I happened to be taking pictures of my son's stance with every pitch, and that catcher certainly was calling for high and inside.
He didn't even crotch down.
I guess I'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt and think he was just trying to brush the batter back and the ball got away from him.
Anyway, my son hit the deck, and when he got to his hands and knees, blood was gushing.
By the time I got through the gate to him, the coaches had him on his back and were applying pressure.
The head coach later told me that as he was lying there he had asked him, "Coach, am I still pretty?".
The EMTs finally got there after twenty minutes and loaded him up and carted him to the hospital.
The ER was a nightmarish scene.
They could not get the bleeding from the nose to stop.
They tried different types of plugs to staunch the flow, but they kept failing and the room was awash with nose blood.
I finally gathered up all the bloody gauze and tissue and towels and dumped them myself.
Apparently, nurses are above that kind of work these days.
They finally used an inflatable type of plug, and it appeared the bleeding had stopped, so they sent him for a CAT scan.
But, the bleeding hadn't stopped - it was just flowing down his throat into his stomach.
So, he began vomiting blood repeatedly.
We got to the ER around 8pm.
They got the bleeding sufficiently slowed and got us into a private room at 3am.
The CAT scan revealed a severely broken nose and a long sinus fracture.
At 8am, he was taken to surgery, where a plastic surgeon team reconstructed his nose, and packed and splinted it.
I guess it took about two hours.
Now, we're back in the room in limbo because the plastic surgeons who treated him this morning say he's ready to be discharged, but the EMTs who saw him last night have not signed off on that.
At this point, I think he would like to just go home and curl up in a ball.
I'm right there with him.
Things were going well - he was playing a solid third and had a hit, two stolen bases, scored, and we were up 2-1.
Second time at bat, he worked a 3 and 1 count against a pitcher who must've been 6'4 - 225 lbs.
The fourth pitch was a heater right at my son's head.
He tried to spin away, but it caught him square in the cheek and nose.
I was standing at the fence, and from the sound of it, I thought for sure it had hit his helmet.
Nope.
I happened to be taking pictures of my son's stance with every pitch, and that catcher certainly was calling for high and inside.
He didn't even crotch down.
I guess I'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt and think he was just trying to brush the batter back and the ball got away from him.
Anyway, my son hit the deck, and when he got to his hands and knees, blood was gushing.
By the time I got through the gate to him, the coaches had him on his back and were applying pressure.
The head coach later told me that as he was lying there he had asked him, "Coach, am I still pretty?".
The EMTs finally got there after twenty minutes and loaded him up and carted him to the hospital.
The ER was a nightmarish scene.
They could not get the bleeding from the nose to stop.
They tried different types of plugs to staunch the flow, but they kept failing and the room was awash with nose blood.
I finally gathered up all the bloody gauze and tissue and towels and dumped them myself.
Apparently, nurses are above that kind of work these days.
They finally used an inflatable type of plug, and it appeared the bleeding had stopped, so they sent him for a CAT scan.
But, the bleeding hadn't stopped - it was just flowing down his throat into his stomach.
So, he began vomiting blood repeatedly.
We got to the ER around 8pm.
They got the bleeding sufficiently slowed and got us into a private room at 3am.
The CAT scan revealed a severely broken nose and a long sinus fracture.
At 8am, he was taken to surgery, where a plastic surgeon team reconstructed his nose, and packed and splinted it.
I guess it took about two hours.
Now, we're back in the room in limbo because the plastic surgeons who treated him this morning say he's ready to be discharged, but the EMTs who saw him last night have not signed off on that.
At this point, I think he would like to just go home and curl up in a ball.
I'm right there with him.
