Done Painting...For Now...

Most of you know about the painting project from hell. We finally reached the milestone of completing one entire room. It was about 11:00 Friday night and we were peeling off the tape, taking down plastic and generally cleaning up our mess. I went out to the garage to get something and heard the crash. I raced inside to find Sonya and the ladder about 8 feet lower than when I had left and there was blood everywhere.

The ladder had been situated on the green beam running accross the ceiling over the stairs going down to the basement. Fortunately, when the ladder slipped, the top of the ladder landed on the railing at the top of the stairs instead of falling all the way into the basement. I came in to find Sonya and the ladder perched on the railing bleeding. The only thing I could think of was to hold on to her as tight as I could. I was terrified that the railing would give and she would fall the rest of the way into the basement. Sonya, on the other hand, was more worried about the blood she was dripping all over the carpet. I finally loosened my grip long enough for her to swing her leg over the railing and we assessed the situation.

It was 11:15 pm. Sonya definately needed to go to the hospital. We had three sleeping children. The first person we thought of calling is vacationing in Hawaii, and both of our parents live an hour away. We called B & B's mom who generously came over with out hesitation and off we went to the hospital.

It's never a good sign when you pull into the ER parking lot and every single space is taken. I dropped Sonya off at the doors and went to park the van. When I got back she was waiting to be triaged. The triage nurse called us back and asked some basic assesment questions and then we waited for a room to open. We waited less than 10 minutes and were called back before several people who had arrived before us.

A tetnus shot was given, x-rays were taken, a plastic surgeon was called, and Sonya's lip was stiched. The worst part was the injection of the numbing agent. Sonya squeazed my hand harder then she ever did while she was in labor. After about 3 hours in the ER we were sent home.

Despite all of the trauma, it could have been worse. Sonya is pretty stiff and sore, but doing well. The swelling has gone down in her lip and looks much better and the stiches come out on Friday. The dentist says that none of the roots of her three chipped teeth are damaged and when her mouth has healed a little more they can repair those.