A Prayer Request...

Last Thursday I receive a call from Joey while he was at his wrestling practice, that he hurt his back while teaching one of the newer teammates some techniques.

When I went to pick him up he seemed a little stiff but he was OK. We put one of those icy patches on his back and thought that he would feel better in the morning. Friday came and he got up and went to school, he was still a little stiff but insisted on going to school because he had an exam to take from one of his honors classes. Around 10:00 am he calls me to tell me that his back is really bothering him, and asks that I pick him up from school.

Being that I work over an hour away from his school I called my sister and asked her to pick him up. She headed over to his school with my mom and called me as soon as she got him. She told me he was walking really stiff and that you could see he was in pain. My Mom got him settled in the bed at her house and she put the heating pad on him and gave him some extra strength Tylenol. She told me not to pick him up that she would attend to him and that she would take him to my house later that evening.

When they got home I could see the pain he was in and told him I would take him to the ER. He told me that he just had a little bit of pain and that he would be OK by the next day. When I went to check on him on Saturday morning, he could not get out of bed. My Mom and my nephew Tony had spent the night home and they helped me get him up and ready to take him to the ER.

They did some x-rays on him and told me he did not have any fractures that it was more of a muscle spasm. They gave him a shot for the pain, prescribed some Flexeril and Ibuprofen 800 mg and sent him on his way with instructions to get lots of rest and to stay home from school for a couple of days.

My mom took him to her house so she could take care of him while me and Luis worked. Come yesterday (Wednesday) he went to school still with pain to try and makeup some of his school work and take some of his mid-term exams. I get a call at 9:00 am that he is in a lot of pain. My Mom once again stepped him and went to pick him up at school, while I frantically called his pediatrician to explain what has been going on and what would be the next step to take. She recommends I take him to a Pediatric Orthopedic ASAP.

I thank GOD that the first place I called they told me they could take him in at 2:00 pm that same day. I left work to go and pick him up from my mom’s and headed to the Dr’s office. I explained the whole ordeal to the Dr. and she ordered some x-rays to confirm her suspicions.

It turns out he has a fracture on his rib and he has a torn Thoracic muscle. She ordered and emergency MRI on him and had her staff schedule it for me. I was to be in the other side of town at 6:00 pm. She prescribed him some Vicodine to help him with the pain on top of the other meds he was taking.

I finally got him settled at my mom’s house yesterday at around 9:30 pm. He is to be in bed rest until further notice. She indicated that this could take weeks to heal. I am so grateful to my Mom and my sister with all the help they have given us!

She is upset that in the ER this was unnoticed. I am upset at that and also the fact that I am yet to receive a call any of his three wrestling coaches to see how he is. And my heart is broken that he is in so much pain and I cannot do anything to help him.

The doctor will call me today as soon as she gets the results of the MRI. She is hoping that there are no internal injuries.

So please say a little prayer for my baby boy. He may be 16 and almost 6 ft tall but he is still my baby…