Slippery When Wet

Lancaster County saw it’s first significant snowfall in years, during the first week of February. I absolutely loathe the snow and don’t go out in it, unless I desperately have to. Because it’s been quite some time since it snowed enough to “play” in, Greyson had never felt snow before. About a foot of snow fell in our town, so we went out to play in it as soon as the larger flakes died down…..we meaning: Derek, Roslynn, Greyson, Duke and myself. Duke loves the snow, so it was fun seeing him interact with the kids, who were both walking through snow right above their knees. I was very impressed with Duke, who goes outside on a tether that gives him free-range to the backyard. Any time that Greyson would get close to the perimeter of the yard, he would bark or go to Greyson and redirect him back to the playhouse we have outside for the kids. Greyson lasted about ten minutes outside before he got too cold and wanted to go inside. I think he liked the snow, but didn’t like the thick winter clothing.

Roslynn ended up staying outside with Derek and Duke for about an hour, until her cheeks were bright red from the cold. We had a minor snowfall last weekend and last evening, with more projected in the upcoming week. A very active winter weather pattern for the Pennsylvania area. Yay…..not.

We began Greyson’s new seizure medication about three weeks ago now, and we have noticed he’s been doing pretty well on them. He isn’t having any of the side effects that we were warned about, except for flushed skin when he first takes an increased dose (we have to slowly increase this med to avoid blisters, which I guess is a common issue if given too much of this med, too soon.). He hasn’t been too drowsy and his sleep has been a bit more sound, which is always very welcomed. The only downside we have seen is that he has been a little more aggressive recently, but I think its Greyson testing how far he can push us until we react to the aggression. If you’ve ever had a child smack you across the face, or headbutt your nose for no apparent reason, then you know how difficult it is to keep a straight face and not react at all to random acts of violence from a toddler. I have been enjoying all of the snuggles and kisses he’s been giving as well, but once he turns into Mr. Hyde, the gig is up and I am typically protecting myself with couch pillows.

Greyson’s hair was getting super long, so I scheduled an appointment for him yesterday with ShearFade in Strasburg. Kim, the owner, is a former special education teacher and is absolutely excellent with Greyson. She is patient, kind and doesn’t get annoyed when Greyson frequently tries to escape her chair. Probably not the best idea to schedule it on a Wednesday, since its our busiest day of the week, but it was really the only time that Derek had available for this week. Derek took a new position within his agency, so he went from an hourly rate to a salary position, but he did lose some flexibility now that he’s tied to a desk for half of the week. After the busy day of school, therapies, virtual class, and dance, I know that taking G for a haircut was the last thing that Derek wanted to do at 6:30 at night. Luckily, the haircut went well and despite a tantrum, Greyson came home with less hair. Fast forward to about 8:30 pm (Derek was home for about 45-minutes at this point), Derek took Greyson up for a bath, part of Greyson’s nightly routine.

Now, Greyson has been experiencing some difficulties in the bath recently, jumping in and out whenever he has the chance. He thinks it is his personal pooltime, so he isn’t really concerned about anything but jumping around. We have had a few instances where he slips and slides around, but doesn’t get hurt typically because Roslynn is in the tub to catch his fall. Last night though, Roslynn was pretty beat from dance class, so I promised her that she could have a bath this morning since she wanted to go to bed. About five minutes after I heard the tub water stop running, I heard a very loud BANG coming from the upstairs guest bathroom. Immediately after the BANG, I heard screaming and crying……and this was the “I’m hurt” cry that Greyson does when something is very wrong. Next thing I know, Derek is hollering for me to hurry up the stairs and as I approach the bathroom door, there is a lot of blood in the tub and on a bath towel that Derek is holding to Greyson’s face. He managed to jump into the tub, but instead of jumping into the water directly, he hit his face on the side of the tub, right onto Derek’s left hand, clipping Derek’s wedding band on his face. After assessing the siutation, I determined that G was most likely going to need stitches. I made the necessary phone calls to the Pediatrician and had them fax the referral over to LGH Emergency Department (I would’ve taken him to an urgent care, but all were closing at 9 pm and it was 8:52 pm by the time this all happened). Due to COVID-19 and the fact that I can’t handle Greyson very well, like Derek can, so Derek elected to take G to the ER. I felt absolutely awful because Derek was going out again and had only been home for about an hour out of his then 13-hour day, but it was the only way that G was getting stitches.

Derek got to the ER around 9:15 pm and was told that the wait was going to be awhile……little did we know, awhile meant 3 hours. Exhausted from working all day, taking G for a haircut and now waiting in an emergency room lobby, he was done for the day. Luckily, I was able to call and say something regarding the wait time and the fact that our son with special needs was waiting in a COVID infested petry dish, waiting for a few stitches. RIDICULOUS! This helped Derek get put into a “fast care” room almost immediately after. The doc did a quick evaluation of the area and determined G needed stitches…….well, duh. About an hour later, four stitches were put in to close up the very wide wound and Derek was waiting for discharge paperwork. By the time he got home, it was about 2 am. A ridiculously long, busy and exhausting day. Luckily, Greyson had no school today due to the minor snow overnight, so he was able to sleep in a bit. Since waking up, he’s managed to pull one of the four stitches out. Hoping he can keep the other three in until his skin has healed enough to close the gap.

The next week or so will be just as active as the local weather forecast. Greyson is having an MRI next Friday, February 19th to assess for any progression in his PVL, or if there is any new brain damage caused by Greyson’s self-injurious behaviors. Because the procedure require sedation and fasting, we are set to arrive in Philly by 6:30 am. WOOF. He also needs to have a negative COVID-19 test resulted to CHOP before we can check in, so hopefully all goes well and smoothly with that test on Tuesday. Please continue to keep G in your thoughts, since this next week will be hard for us with his school being on a 10-day break and with these upcoming diagnostic tests.

Next time you get into the shower or tub, just remember- it definitely is slippery when wet.