Leslie

Well, here we are.  And by "we" I mean, of course "me" but you get the picture.  I hadn't really considered getting to this point back in November 2013, but time does what it does and so...

For those of you that haven't kept up with the rest of the class, November 2013 is when the Great Vincenzo and I brought Leslie from Houston, TX to the greater Downers Grove, IL area.  Leslie, in case you didn't know, is a pink fire engine.

She's a 1989 E-One Hush pumper, or, she was in a previous life.  She has been a part of the Pink Heals family since 2012 and has seen parts of both coasts and (since November 2013) a good portion of the Midwest.  That's when several of us started the "Chicagoland" chapter of Pink Heals.  In that time we've done countless home visits (ok, maybe not "countless" but I'm not going to sit here and try adding them up.  Let's just say we've done a lot) and multiple other events, trying to put a smile on the face of someone going through a bad time health wise.

I've been involved with this fine organization since 2011.  I wrote about my adventures out on the road with the National Tour a lot, if you check out the archives over >>>>>> here, in 2012 and 2013 you can get a good idea of the fun we had and the people we met.  Also, after exhaustive (not really) research, I've discovered my all-time favorite PHT picture is not commemorated in any blog posts...  I now have a sad.  Sigh.

Well THAT was an odd little detour.  I'll blame it on hunger.  Yeah, that's it.

So, to the reason for this post.

In November 2013 it never occurred to me that Leslie would ever be housed anywhere but DuPage County.  I mean, it's a well populated area and with my numerous Fire Department (and non-Fire Department) contacts from working there for 24+ years, I figured she'd always have a home there.  But, as the time for me to retire inched closer and I started looking in earnest for someone to take her over, I realized the number of people with the availability and/or the required time commitment were few and far between.  And I get that, I really do.  I learned a long time ago, not everyone has the same level of interest in any given thing.  I don't take it personally and I don't hold grudges.  But, I can't just let something like Leslie fall by the wayside either.  I've seen first hand how much of an impact she can have on someones mental health, at least for the short term.

So I started thinking of suitable homes for her.  And the first thing that popped into my head was this. The Rock Falls/Sterling/Dixon/Morrison area has done an amazing job of supporting both Leslie and the National Tour for the last several years.  They get what we're doing and they embrace it fully.

So, I reached out to some folks I know out there.  And after a few conversations, they're thrilled to be getting Leslie.  As much as it saddens me to take her out of an area with so much need, it helps to know there are three other chapters within an hour of DuPage County and all are really good at what they do.

And so, finally, to the point of this little literary adventure.

Last fall, while returning from the last (good timing) home visit of the season, Leslie's motor blew.  Technically, she dropped six fuel injectors, but the end result is what it is.  She's been sitting at a repair shop over the winter while we scrambled, trying to find funding to get her up and running.  My feelings on running a non-profit is, as long as we've got enough to go out the door, we're ok.  And that philosophy works fine, by and large.

But when you're faced with a major, unexpected repair, well, not so much.

So, to that end and after much debate, we've decided the best way to raise the $6,000.00 we're looking at in repairs is to set up a Go Fund Me page for Leslie.  Just click on the link and you'll head over to her page where you can (if you like) donate any amount.  And by "any amount" I truly mean "any amount".  As in, no amount is too small.

I fully recognize economic uncertainty.  I also recognize, and I hope you do too, that more and more people are falling through the cracks of society and furthermore that those cracks are getting larger and larger.

Leslie is very good at helping people through those moments.  We're hoping that right now, you'll be good at helping Leslie through this moment.

Thanks so much for any help you can provide.

Peace

And unto us, a child is born. In the back of Medic 2.

So, the other day, as I related the wonderfullness (wonderfuliciousness?) of (wonderfulosity?) Wes, I mentioned how we occasionally, and especially around a holiday, get visitors at the firehouse.  As it turns out, on Monday, I got some very special visitors my own bad self.

Mary and her family stopped in to say "hi" and to drop off a card of thanks.  Last November we had a great time stopping by their house for Mary's 7th birthday. 

Now that's not something we usually do, visit someone on their birthday.  But Mary is kind of a special case. 

Allow me to explain...

Seven years ago we delivered Mary.  In the back of the ambulance.

The 9-1-1 call came in late in the evening (I don't remember the exact time, but it was before midnight) and we were dispatched for "a woman in labor."  This is not as exciting as you might think.  It's not at all unusual for a minor communications breakdown (you hear the Led Zeppelin riffs now, don't you?) in between the caller, the dispatch center and the broadcast to us.  Think about the childhood game of "Telephone" and you get the idea.  A nervous caller sometimes either doesn't relay the information accurately or details sometimes get overlooked or relaying info to a coworker at dispatch so we can get rolling while the call taker gathers more information and you can see how this can happen.  So, when we get a call of this nature it's often taken with a grain of salt.  That doesn't have any effect on our response however, you still have to act like everything you hear is accurate.  But more often than not, it's a false alarm.

We arrived at the address, just a few blocks from the firehouse, and were met at the door, by Jim, the husband.  I don't recall him being particularly anxious ( a good sign) as he told us his wife was on the floor in the upstairs bathroom.  We went in and climbed the stairs and as I walked in to the bathroom, I met Anne.

On the floor.

In active labor.

Gulp.

Her water had broken and she was in mid-contraction.  I checked for crowning, a sign of imminent delivery where the top of the baby's head starts to appear, and thankfully saw none.  I asked her how long the contraction had been and how far apart they were and from her answers, we knew we didn't have a lot of time to dally.  One of the guys went down to the ambulance to grab a device called the body splint that we use to haul people up or down stairs, similar to a backboard but more... engulfing.  As we loaded Anne onto the body splint she started another contraction.  We worked on her breathing, waited till it passed, and carried her downstairs to the cot and on into the back of the ambulance.  As we loaded her in, another contraction started.  Now, because I was the passenger in the ambulance on this particular day, my assignments included playing "catcher".

Lucky me.

While this was going on we (I'm going to switch back-and-forth between pronouns here because, frankly, I don't remember who did what at this point) got out the OB kit and got that prepped while my partner started an IV on Anne.  

Because this time, when I checked for crowning, I saw a head.

Again, gulp.

We started toward the hospital, typically about a 7 or 8 minute trip from where we were, hoping to beat the stork to the ER.  But, as we crossed the railroad tracks a minute or two later, Mary decided she had had enough and was ready to make her debut into the world.

Now, as part of my (read every paramedic, everywhere) training, I spent time in the hospital's Labor & Delivery department, and took part (a small part) in a few births there.  I was also in the room when my kids were born.  I even delivered a baby in the field in my first year on the job here.  But those were a loooong time ago.  We do have semi-regular training on pregnancy and delivery in the field, including potential complications.  And, one of the things we are taught is to prepare for an "explosive birth".

I had no idea that was literal.

Until I literally caught Mary.

It seems that, since she decided she was ready, she didn't want to waste any time in the whole delivery portion of our program.  I caught her cleanly though (yay me!) and started to dry her off and wrap her to hold in her body heat and passed her up for Anne to hold.  The remaining few minutes of the transport to the Emergency Department, where we were met by a crew from Labor & Delivery and escorted right up to the birthing suite was, thankfully, unremarkable.  I always joke that at least Mary knew what she was doing.  One of the things that did get my attention though was that her cry was SOOO soft.  It kind of startled me at the time.  I found out later though, from talking to the L&D nurses, that it was more normal than I'd thought.

That started our (my) relationship with Jim, Anne, Mary, Elizabeth, Jimmy and the rest of the family.  It's been pretty cool I must say, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to remain in contact with the family.  Too many times in this job despite doing everything well; the proper training, the right medications, the right procedures, in the right sequence, at the right time, we have a poor outcome.  To be able to randomly run into the family somewhere in town or at a special event where they've chosen to include me just reinforces how cool that day was.

Here's a picture from last summer at one of those "randomly run into" things.  Mary and two of the guys that helped deliver her, mugging for the camera.  These days always make me smile.  The "thank you" card Mary gave me from her birthday party does too.  I don't have it with me as I write this, I left it at home, but I'll do my best to paraphrase her closing...

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here"

That may a bit of a stretch, like I said, Mary knew what to do, lol.  But it was so sweet.  And so was the book full of pictures from the party.  Mary, I may have been in the back of the ambulance when you were born, but sometimes, when I look back on that day, it's you that brings life to me.

Peace

Aaaand we're slowing down...

Maintenance day yesterday.

June, the pink SUV (she's new to the tour this year) needed some minor stuff done to her (don't we all?) so Vickki (that's NOT misspelled, she really spells her name that way) took her to a local (for real, that's how she spells it) Ford dealer that (I know, right?  Too many "k's") one of our contacts (she's from south Texas, that's all I'm gonna say about that) hooked us up with.  If I knew who it was I'd thank him.

So, before we left McHenry (once home to the #1 arm-wrestler in the world, and I'm not even making that up) we needed to secure lodging for three nights before we set up our base camp for the first two weeks of August (more to come on that later) which meant we hung out at the hotel for a couple more hours.  Along with several Little League teams from various parts of the globe. 

Like these guys, from Puerto Rico, here demonstrating what they think of both the Pink Heals Tour and how they'll finish their tournament.  Loud, but polite kids.

So after multiple phone calls, texts and emails we found a place to land thanks to some friends of the program.  One, a local elected official who shall remain nameless because I didn't seek permission to use said person's info yet and two, Becky Nelson from the Downers Grove Chamber of Commerce.  Becky, I told you this yesterday on the phone and I'll tell you here today on the interwebz... YOU RAWK!!!  A couple semi-frantic phone calls on my part to these two people resulted in three rooms for three nights at the Marriott Suites in Downers.  Simply amazing!

So, while Vickki (I swear it's right) sat at the Ford shop, John, Dave and I shuttled the girls down from McHenry to Downers Grove (birthplace of such dignitaries as Emo Phillips and Randy "MACHO MAN" Savage) and we managed to do it without utilizing the wonderful Illinois Toll Road System.  Instead, by using state roads we not only saved $20 in tolls, we got free kidney massages driving through numerous construction zones. Hooray us!

Now, don't get me wrong.  I love the town I work in.  I genuinely do.  I recognize what it has allowed me to do for my family and the support I've received over the years in my various projects.  But I've never, NEVER, been happier to pull into DG than I was yesterday.  Holy moley I don't think my butt will ever recover...

And then, after our trip in, John was in need of a little TLC.  He's been fighting migraines the last couple days.  Since I know people here, I escorted him over to our local Level 1 Trauma Center and had him checked out.  I told him I wouldn't take any embarassing pictures...

I lied.

 

We spent three hours of quality time in the ER, John got a reasonably clean bill of health (it's naaaht a tumah) and after Vickkkkkkki (OK, that might be a few too many k's) picked us up, I took those two out for dinner.  Chicago-style hot dogs woohoo!!!

 

Cultural dining, it's what I do.

 

Still no edition of "Meet Your Pink Heals Tour Driver" I'm banking stories...

 

Pink Heals

 

Peace

Day whatever it is (I don't want to turn this into "NIghtline")

Here we are... 

I've been home for almost a week now, trying to settle back into the non-road routine.  I still miss being on tour, still miss being with those guys, but it's good to be back home.  I miss the knuckleheads (an ABSOLUTE term of endearment) at work (most of them were off Wednesday when I went back, are they trying to tell me something?) and can't wait to see them all again.  

I wanted to go back out (still do) and I was looking at the first week or 10 days of October, but my real-life calendar wouldn't allow it.  Work commitments, home commitments and the like.  

Stuff happens.

I was really looking forward to it too, SoCal to PHX had a nice vibe to it, travel-wise.  Dave also talked about trying to put together a "town hall meeting" tour this winter.  Traveling across the south for 6 or 8 weeks meeting with small groups of people to explain what we want to accomplish with this movement.  He said he's not sure if he'll be up for going back on the road like that in between this year's tour and next year's.  It's quite a grind, especially for him being out from start to finish.  I want to be a part of that, in addition to going on tour next year and trying to start a chapter here.  I think the experience of going out and sitting in on, and speaking to, groups like that would be invaluable for me.

As people have asked me about my experience on tour, I always tell them the Baltic, SD story.  The one about the couple on the motorcycle.  Here now, to enhance that story, thanks to my guy Mike from FL, is a picture of the lady with the sign.  It's a little blurry and a tad distorted due to raindrops on the window, but you can see and read the sign pretty well...

Cool, no?

***Teaser Alert***

I have one more (at least one more) tour related post coming up here, hopefully tomorrow, but as soon as I get the ok.  I just got a sneak peak of it a little bit ago and it turned out really nice.  Waiting for final approval from the authority types, but once they ok it, I'll write a little something and post a link.  

I think regular readers (both of you) will enjoy it.  

Off to do real life type stuff for now, as always...

Pink Heals!

Peace