One of my kids is in the hospital

Today was my last day with kids this school year. Tomorrow is my last work day and tomorrow evening I am going to a graduation at another school where two of my former students transferred after life fucked them over. But they never stop being my kids.

Today was a daze for everyone. No one wanted to be at school, not because it was sunny and gorgeous, but because of something bad that happened last night. One of my kids was in a sever car wreck. She was driving her brother to his 8th grade promotion/graduation. The car is totaled. From what I understand it flipped/rolled 2 – 3 times.

I was feeling sick from the heat when my phone rang at 8:00, and I answered to hear one of my kids sobbing so badly she couldn’t talk. She could barely choke out that “K. was in an accident” and tell me which hospital she was air-lifted to.

After I got my bearings all I could think to do was call my principal… That’s how logical I was. I called the ‘witch’ but in my heart all I could think was what today would be like and she needed to know so we could start to set up safe places for kids. I got her voice mail.

Then I broke down for 20 minutes.

K. is one of my kids. She goes out her way to greet me every morning with “Good morning favorite teacher.” And every day before she leaves “See you tomorrow favorite teacher” – usually I get a hug. She is the top of her class, an amazing athlete in volleyball, basketball, and track – in track she has placed in the top 10 state wide in her events every year for the past three years; her dream is to go to the Olympics for shot-put and javelin, and to be the first person in her family to go to college. She is also the nicest, most loving student in the school. She has the best sense of humor and ALWAYS has a smile on her face; and has the greatest laugh when she gets going.

A story about her. As a junior K. asked me a few months back about how Valedictorian works; she has a 4.0, but so does another student – ‘Meg.’ Meg has Downs Syndrome so is on a modified curriculum; she shows up she gets As, she is also our high school Princess and everyone looks out for her and takes care of her – and GOD help anyone who tries to mess with her, ESPECIALLY if K. is around. Well, K. asked me about scholarships and since Meg is not going to college for academics, K. asked if Meg could be Valedictorian of the class, with the student behind K. being Salutatorian. All she was hoping was that she could have the ranking fixed on the transcripts so she and the rest of the class can apply for scholarships accurately. She wants the scholarships, but she wants Meg to be Valedictorian because she knows how happy that would make Meg and how much it would mean to her family to have Meg up on the stage and recognized.

This is only one story about K. She is the nicest, happiest, most kind girl I know. She gives all of herself to every one and loves others so openly and unconditionally.

When I was called she was in surgery because of brain injury.

I was at the hospital 20 minutes after I got the phone call. And I was not the only one – I got there at the same time as the PE teacher, and we were met by a parent of two of our other students. Talking to her our superintendent and his wife (middle school teacher) came out of the ER from visiting with K.’s little brother who was being checked out for injury. –Because of K’s kick actions and throwing herself over her brother he came out bruised and scratched, and that is it.

We got up to the ICU and there were her parents, ALL of her siblings whom I had never met because they are all much older (she and her brother were surprise babies – her siblings are my age and older). And with them were more of my students, her classmates, and friends from the community. While waiting to hear anything from the doctors more students and parents showed up, along with other teachers. The Pastor from the church up there, who leads the youth group, came down as well – that is saying a lot since very few of the people there were members of his congregation; he came because that does not matter – the community is what matters, and the community was all in the tiny ICU waiting room last night

Out of everyone I live closest to the hospital – 15 minute drive. Everyone else lives up around the school so they had a 40 mile drive. They were there for K. and her family.

When I got there her mom just started crying and hugged me. No mother should ever have to go through this. She told me that K. has a traumatic brain injury, that she had a “blood clot.” She showed me the X-ray, and I did not see a blood clot – K. had a hematoma, and I could not tell if it was subdural or epidural. My heart never sank so fast in my life.

While sitting there the principal called me back; she could not get my message to play but had heard the news and knew I would be at the hospital. She wanted to know what I would need to make today okay for the kids. She also wanted to know who (kids) was at the hospital so we could get things set up for them where they would not have to worry about school.

At 9:45 a doctor came out and gave the family an up-date, which they passed on to us. The doctors were able to “get the blood clot.”

I just sat there with my kids, letting them cry and hugging them. I can’t stand to see them hurting to begin with – this was a nightmare. During this her brother, B., came out. Just like his sister he is one of the nicest kids I have ever met – he is a teddy bear! He is going to be that HUGE football player who is so worried about hurting someone that he will say “Sorry” with every tackle. I know he is going to earn Sportsmanship awards throughout high school because he is just so kind hearted.

It wasn’t until a little after 10:00 that K.’s parents were able to go back and see her for the first time.

They came back close to 10:30 – This up-date was both heart-wrenching and positive. When K. had got there there was no cognitive response on the right side of her body at all. By 10:00 the doctors had taken care of the ‘blood clot’ and either had her skull open or some sort of draining tube in place to release pressure on the brain, I was not clear on that. They had put her in an induced coma so she would stop trying to kick the doctors (knowing her this made me smile inside) and so they could fully asses how hurt she was. They were able to take her out for it for a bit, and she had regained some of the cognitive responses, which apparently surprised the doctors.

They said that a doctor would be with her all night and the next update would be at 5:30 am. He told them to get some rest – yeah right.

I stayed until 11:30 – I just needed sleep. The brothers and sisters went home, and mom and dad stayed. Some of her classmates stayed as well – one boy, A., said he would stay until she walked out of the hospital.

I cried all the way home, and cried myself into what passed for unconsciousness – no one slept last night.

Today the principal had me break the news to the staff since I was at the hospital. I broke down in front of the staff; I didn’t cry but I couldn’t talk. Our athletic director, a guy that started as a volunteer and who all the kids LOVE, left and contacted the local news to do a human interest story to get support for the family, and he went to a local bank to set up a donation fund for the family to pay medical bills.

I spent my morning with the only student in my class who had not gone to the hospital – she only found out this morning about what happened to K. She was beside herself.

The kids who stayed at the hospital came up to check out and promptly went back to the hospital.

My superintendent told us we could leave early if we needed to, so I went back to the hospital to check on the kids who were staying there. I know that there is nothing I can do right now for K., but I can try to help my kids.

Whatever is the polar opposite of okay, that is where I am.