Caleb Keeping Me Busy (in the worst sorta way…)
Posted By Jacque on April 30, 2008
Today, I got to take Caleb to the ER. Again. Yes, my dear little two-year-old had to go to the hospital again. You know, he loves being outdoors. He loves it so much that I had to put a latch-eye-hook on the screen door for his safety. And, still, that is not enough. The problem is that we go out and chase chickens off the porch throughout the day, and the latch gets left unhooked.
So, this afternoon, for the umpteenth time, Caleb went outside and we called him back in. A minute later (which was apparently too long), Rachel got him inside. All of a sudden, we are asking if the gas is on in the kitchen. Rachel said that it smells like gas outside. We realized, no, Caleb smells like gasoline.
I bolted to Caleb, tore his little shirt off, ran him into the bathroom, turned on the tub, grabbed the organic shampoo and started rubbing it onto his face. At this time, I realize he is rubbing his eyes, so I keep his hands away from his eyes and wash them too. I had Amanda call 911, because I didn’t know if we needed to do something besides flush his eyes. Frankly, I wasn’t sure I should put water into his eyes. I think my children stood there in disbelief, because I really was not sure what to do beyond washing the gasoline off of him.
Rinse. That’s what the 911 operator said to do. Flush water into his eyes, and she was sending an ambulance. And, I needed to do it until the ambulance arrived. Caleb was really ok as I did it. I had already asked him if his eyes burned. He said no. I asked if there was something in his eyes; he said no. I asked if he drank it or if his mouth burned. No. This was all good, and I kept flushing his eyes and drying his face and hair every so often. I seriously had no time to think about what happened up until this time. I could only worry about rinsing his eyes, praying that his eyes would be ok, thinking about the worst.
As I stood there, rinsing his eyes out for 15 minutes, I thought about how there was not a thing I could do but what I was doing. I truly understood that there is an end to my capability as a mother and protector of my little guy. It was my end, but, it didn’t end there. I knew in that instant, also, that he truly was in God’s hands. That our children are truly His, and there is nothing more than that. At the moment all my children had a look of dread and wondering if Caleb’s eyesight would be affected, I knew it did not matter what I did, that God was the true caretaker, not me. I was just physically helping in my own limited way, but God was there to heal and save him.
I had flushed his eyes for the 15m before the EMTs got here. The EMT’s finally arrived. Two ambulances. Not sure why. Four people (they were all exceptionally nice) coming into the bathroom, looking at Caleb. They asked what had happened. From what I had gathered, from what was on his shirt, and the fact he was rubbing his eyes (and the fact that the gas can was laying down in the yard), Caleb had picked up the gas can and it spilled on his shirt. I am sure, *if* it splashed into his eyes, it was more what was on his hands that he rubbed into his eyes than anything else. Maybe the fumes had gotten into his eyes from what was on his shirt, and then he rubbed his eyes. They wanted him to identify a favorite toy from a distance, which he doesn’t, which he doesn’t really have. Outside. That’s his favorite toy. I finally got him to tell me that Isaac’s shirt was red and had a ball on it.
They said he looked good. His eyes were not red. He saw colors correctly and identified objects. The outside of his left eye was red from rubbing. He had a Dr. appointment – influenza check-up that afternoon, but they wanted me to take him to the ER, which was fine. Everything went well at the hospital. The first thing Matt said to Caleb when we got to a room was, “Do you like being here?”. Of course, the answer was no to that and all the similar questions. So, he let Caleb know that this was where we go when he disobeys and is hurt. : )) I hope the Lord will instill that into his little 2 year-old heart.
The Dr. put drops in his eyes and also something that illuminated it under a fluorescent light. She was looking for chemical burns. Matt and I were in the ER with him when she put the liquid and coloring into his eyes. He was crying, and we had to restrain him while she shined the fluorescent light into his eyes. Within five seconds, the fluorescent liquid was leaking out of his nose. It was quite the realization of how the sinuses are all so closely intertwined. The ER doctor said that, surprisingly, gasoline isn’t very caustic and didn’t expect any burns – which there weren’t, Praise GOD! So, thank God he is fine. We are believing that his eyes will continue to be healthy.
As I said before, we are so very thankful to be a part of the Body of Christ and to have friends like you all who prayed when we emailed!
((((HUGS)))
Oh, and LucyLillie took four real steps yesterday! : ))
blessings~
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14 Responses to “Caleb Keeping Me Busy (in the worst sorta way…)”
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Oh man! I am SOO glad that boy is ok. Thank God for his safety net that Cal-Eb keeps falling into when he gets hurt!
I hope he is done being sick and getting hurt, because I really don’t want to have gray hairs yet! And I am sure you don’t either!
He is just too precious and sweet to keep getting sick and hurt!
Man, I LOVE that boy! Cutie!
Love you Mom!
Amanda
http://superangelsblog.com
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Wow – I must’ve missed the post about you moving over here. I’ll have to bookmark you in another way. So glad I was paying attention this evening! Hee-hee…
Blessings
Angela
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I am so thankful that Caleb is all right and how exciting that Luli is walking. Maybe you could post some video of that!
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I’m so glad all worked out for little Caleb (and for you!). What an ordeal! I was telling Amanda that little boys certainly keep us on our toes. I know my youngest definitely did. (I think we helped to fund the renovations at Children’s Hospital!!) I didn’t realize that you are moving blog homes (she gave me the link). I’ll look forward to visiting you here!
Amy
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Yikes, those kids keep us hopping don’t they!! Glad all is well.
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SO thankful that precious Caleb is OK
And we’ll pray for less “excitement” from this sweet little one!!! Blessings to you all Dixon Crew!!! LOVED seeing your oldest girls this week. Big hugs to all 
Misty
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Wow, that must have been really scary. I think the only two things that my brothers have ever done was the following.
Once, while shopping in the grocery store, my brother picked up a can of bug spray. Heaven know why, but he looked at it, and sprayed it directly into his eyes. Of course, he screamed. We were kind of freaked out, but Mommy just picked him up, and asked a employee where the bathroom was, and washed out his eyes. The employee looked at little distraught himself!
The other thing that happened that really scared us, happened to my other brother. He is very good at sneaking away when nobody is looking and getting into things and making messes. This particular time, he snuck into my parent’s bathroom, and somehow got into a bottle of pills. When Mommy found him, he was happily crunching away, on his nobody-knows-how-manyith pill. Yikes! Mommy ran him to the emergency room and they gave him charcoal to neutralize the chemicals from the pills. He is still alive and healthy though, so I don’t think there was any damage done. I don’t remember back that far!
Thank goodness that Caleb is okay. How exciting that Lucy took four steps! I probably would have squealed with excitement. I can’t say that I ever have becuase I don’t remember back to when my brothers and sister started walking!
Have a very bright, very cheerful day!
Eyebright
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Praising the Lord for protecting Caleb! Oi! It’s a wonder little boys live long enough to grow up to be men, huh?
And HOORAY for little Lucy’s steps!!! I think that’s more than enough excitement for one day… or even week, month…
Love,
Marsha
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I am trying to get my posts over here from HSB. I LOVE HSB. I love the community and I LOVE the owners!!
I have been planning to move to my own url for awhile. We already host Amanda’s and Jocelyn’s blogs, so I decided to take the plunge! I haven’t made a formal announcement or anything though. 
I am amazed at how much sickness we have had this year! We seriously are never ever sick. I can count on one hand how many times we have been sick since we got married – til now! We even went a year or two with no medical insurance and didn’t use it at all.
I am thankful for God’s staying and healing power through all of this. I am thankful, too, for the trust I have learned – am learning – to put in Him through all of this!
Haha! Yes, Marsha, it is amazing! Praise the Lord is right! And praise Him for keeping all of us through it.
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EyeBright- I am truly amazed at that! That is crazy that he sprayed it, and it went into his eyes!
And the pills! Man! Yes, Caleb (as you probably guessed) is good at sneaking off. We are always stopping what we are doing and making a “Caleb check” to see if he is still in the room!
Misty-
I am so glad the girls could drive to Warsaw! Now, for US to get together!! I hope you all can make it to Jocelyn’s birthday party!
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I’m am so sorry you had to go through that with Caleb. How scary! I have read your blog here and there and when I read this post it reminded me of my middle son. He was in the ER 5 times by the time he was three. He had split his lip way open, stitches twice, broke his wrist and then sprained 3 weeks after the break. I pray that the Lord keeps your little guy safe!
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Hi there Karrie! Thanks for your comment. I love “meeting” new people who read about our family!
Fortunately, Caleb has not broken anything, and I am praying he doesn’t. Eric had a broken leg when he was two, but that was because a girl was carrying him down the stairs on her hip and fell on his leg!
I had just asked her to PLEASE not carry him on the steps, because ours are steep and slippery. I cried when thye told me it was broken. I couldn’t believe it. My poor baby!
Thanks for your prayers!
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Hi,
I just read this on the carnival & the part that hit home the most was when you said “Outside. That’s his favorite toy” My Little Man is almost 2 & “Ow-yide” is his favorite toy also. So thankful your little man is alright.
Blessings,
LKS
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Carnival of Homeschooling
Welcome back to the Carnival of Homeschooling! As always it is so much fun to host and get to read all of the great posts people have submitted. I tried to make sure that I got every post in, but if you see that I missed your’s just let me know …