ER

It started out as a lovely weekend. We are now officially on spring break. I took the boys to Aurora to the historic pioneer museum. They are starting a study on the Oregon Trail when they get back to school. Riley's teacher wanted us to have some hands on experiences. Gigi gave us a couple pioneer recipe books to borrow. Because of budget cuts all the museums in Oregon City are closed at this time, indefinitely, including the Oregon Trail museum. So I was glad to find the privately funded Aurora Museum was still open.

They had a real wagon on display. It was surprisingly small. The boys were impressed on how small it really was for the whole family. It was also heavy to move, even empty. We also admired the tools on display to build the community. Aurora was a Utopia set up, with everyone sharing for the common good. Because of that foundation, the town prospered, with every one's help. No one person suffered a burden, and everyone contributed.

One of their leaders had died two months before leaving the East for the Oregon Trail. The museum guide shared with us how, rather than leave this beloved member behind, they made a coffin, lined it with copper and pickled the body with whiskey. He had the longest funeral procession in the history of The United States.

One of those small world moments came during a short film when they talked about arriving, after crossing the Oregon Trail. The group first came to Willipa Bay to settle, where my mom's beach house is located. They found it too forested to farm, so they went looking for more appropriate land south of Portland, in the Willamette Valley. They found 18,000 acres for sale with a mill already built. They named the area Aurora. Those hills above Willipa Bay are still forested today.

The boys made a list of what would be necessary to cross the trail and survive. The wagon would hold food and water for everyone and the tools needed to make a new start. The movies make the wagons look bigger than they really are. You really would not be able to sit two abreast in the seat. It was only wide enough for one person sitting. The rest would walk. It would be more like car camping for months.

Tom offered money to the boys for washing his car. Someone had written wash me on the driver's side. The boys had fun spraying the hose and getting wet. The weather was beautiful. Riley came in tired from the activity, but a good tired. he said, though, that he had a small head ache that would come and go, when he watched a lot of TV especially. He thought his eyes might be tired.


The head ache lingered through Sunday. Sunday evening the head aches became more prominent. I called the on call Doctor. We didn't have any oxycodone and it was Sunday night so the pharmacies were closed. I asked if I could give Riley Tylenol as he didn't have a fever. He does not want to go to the ER, having had that experience before. He would rather wait until clinic in the morning if he can. The doctor said that would be fine as long as we checked his temperature before each dose of Tylenol. She also said she would put him on the clinic list to be checked in the morning.

Middle of the night, 3:00 am Riley comes into my room crying. The pain is unbearable. We try more Tylenol but he is beyond that pain threshold. Riley wants to go to the ER. As I dress the mill calls. Tom is on weekend duty and a machine has been down. They want him to come in to work. I wake Trevor and ask if he wants to stay home. He says he wants to go with Riley and me to the ER. For Trevor it is all an interesting adventure, middle of the night excitement. Riley can barely speak through the pain except to tell his brother to be quiet. I have Trevor call the doctor again to let her know we are coming in and to expect us in 20 minutes. It gives Trevor something useful to do.

It is another long drive. It dawns on me I could have gone to a closer ER, Willamette Falls. But we are so used to this trip and the hospital knows Riley's case I don't have to explain it as much. We arrive just before 4:00 am. We are the only action so we are seen right away. Riley's red is at 6.7. Platelets are 19. For us the platelets are a good number, but for the doctors in the ER, they stress. They want to check him for Meningitis and mention that if the headache doesn't recede we should contemplate a brain scan for bleeding in the brain. I tell them these are good numbers. The white is even at 1.6, that is the significant improvement stage.

At first the doctor doesn't want to mask the headache with drugs in case it is a sign of something more serious. He would like to see if the red blood transfusion makes it go away, just to confirm that is the reason. But I know the blood takes too long to arrive. The doctor says 20 to 30 minutes, I read 2 hours into that. I tell the nurse we aren't going to last until the blood arrives consulting with Riley, who is being very stoic now that we are at the hospital, and everything is under control. He wants his oxycodone.

The nurse has to find food so Riley can take his pill. All they have is baby food peach applesauce. It is one very small pill. In desperation, Riley takes the baby food with the pill. 15 minutes after he takes it, the pain is gone. He says now he knows why people like this drug a bit too much.

Trevor has been reading in the corner the whole time. Riley wants to dim the lights and sleep, so Trevor gets the computer up and going, as he can play that in the dark. Riley sleeps on the bed and I curl up on two chairs. I am surprised at how soundly I sleep until the blood arrives at 7:00 am, and the nurses flip the lights back on.


It was a good call on the pain killer. blood delivery always takes longer than they say it will. Red blood takes longer even than platelets in delivery time, to me.

The Red is very viscus. It has to be mixed with saline as it goes in to keep it moving. Infusion takes at least a couple hours. Tom calls for a status. I tell him everything is under control, but he says he will swing by anyway. The infusion is still going when he arrives at 9:30am. It will still be at least another hour plus the wait time afterwards to make sure Riley doesn't have a reaction.


This allows Trevor and me to go fill a new prescription of oxycodone to have at home. We get it in liquid form, which will make it easier for Riley, as he will only take pills with food. I drop Trevor off at home and run a couple of errands. Tom calls my cell a little after noon, they are home. I head home also, so Tom can get back to work. Riley and I sleep. Trevor goes to hang at the neighbors. I put a roast in for dinner so I wont have to do much preparation. It cooks until Tom comes home from work.

Tom is exhausted by the end of the day and goes to bed soon after dinner. He is asleep by 9:00 pm. I send the boys to bed. Thank goodness we didn't go anywhere for vacation.