Broken Promises

Chapter 12 - A New Normal Begins

Shortly after you came home from the hospital with the tracheostomy tube, I trusted no one to care for you. Too many doctors had failed you. You were my responsibility. My dad understood as I refused to let any other family member care for you. I never left you with anyone who was not a nurse. He went to get advanced CPR training that included rescue training from a local fire station, so he could handle a tracheostomy tube breathing emergency. He did this so I would allow him to watch over you while your mom and I had some time to ourselves. Instead of learning the cartoons you loved like a normal grandfather, he learned how to keep you alive. This was the kind of Papa he was.

December 1999

Y2K. Depending on one's age, this likely means nothing or it ends in a laugh. The transition from 1999 to 2000 was interesting. Many computer programmers had been using a two-digit date due to memory restrictions on the original computer systems, so 1999 would be stored as 99. For programs that tracked dates, which were many, you would do 99-98 for 1999 minus 1998 to get one year. Simple. Now the problem was that you would have 00 for 2000. So 1998 or 98 to 2000 or 00 would give you negative ninety-eight years. It was feared that this could cause massive computer system crashed and would shut down the internet, including the electric grid and send society into chaos. Everything was potentially at risk.

Because of your heavy dependence on medical equipment, there was no way I was taking a chance with this. You had about two hours for most things before there was an issue, although you had enough oxygen tanks to last for a while. Too much was unknown with this Y2K bug. If there was a significant issue that affected the world, we would be on our own. It may seem like a silly worry now, but it was a real concern then. "What ifs," no matter how remote, could not be ignored. It seemed prudent to take reasonable measures just in case. I would rather deal with extra things later than not have something you needed. This alleviated a lot of worrying.

I bought a gas-powered generator and stored it and about fifteen gallons of gas. If the worst did not happen which was probable, at least we had an option if the power went out at a later date. It made sense and was the responsible thing to do. Fortunately Y2K was nothing, and people had a laugh about it. The question became was it nothing or did we last-minute fix everything in time? All I know is that I am glad nothing serious happened...until a few months later.

Early 2000

I believe it was around this time that we learned that the birthing hospital and OB practice had settled the suit. We were very fortunate that we would not have to testify and relive the entire experience. The hospital acknowledged mistakes and stepped up. While I cannot go into details, it included extra nursing care and support that helped provide for you that otherwise would not have been possible. Without it, you would not have had much of a chance to progress. We could cover more supplies, nursing, and therapy.

We could get a minivan to transport you, and, outside of the nursing, that was one of the biggest improvements to how we could take care of you. Even a doctor visit required a lot of devices and gear. If we were to take a trip to see family, the minivan could find itself filled easily. It is strange how such a small kid could require so much space.

As spring approached, it was time to mow the yard. I had used all but the last five gallons of gas that was stored up for Y2K. I filled up the van with them. I pulled out the lawn mower and filled it up with the gas can that was outside the basement. I moved the can with the remaining gas just inside the basement door as I was going to be cleaning off the back patio after I mowed since the mower blew grass everywhere. I began to mow the back yard.

A few minutes into mowing, I saw something out of the corner of my eyes. Smoke was pouring out of the basement door. I went inside the basement to a huge fire. Stupidly, I tried to run up the top of the basement stairs to the fire extinguisher and barely made it back down and out. The heat was more intense than anything I have ever experienced. Getting back down the stairs and out the basement door was a miracle as the entire floor was like a lake on fire. Somehow the door was not blocked by flames.