Neuroblastoma

Long day. We only did six calls. It felt like 20. We did a few BLS calls during the day. We also did an ALS MRI that took forever. The kid was 18 and had overdosed on heroin. Crazy.

We had a transfer going to a Children's hospital. It sounded like a routine call. We were dispatched for epistaxis. I got the whole story at the ER. We were taking an 8 year old boy with neuroblastoma. He was bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose. My partner was in back. I drove on priority all the way to Milwaukee-60 miles. His nose was packed and his eyes and ears had stopped bleeding before we left the ER, and he rested comfortably for most of the ride. The boy really tugged at my heart. He said he was going to me a fireman when he grew up. When we got to the hospital we had to wait for a few minutes for a clean room close to the nurses station. We stood in the hallway. While we were waiting for the room he reached up to his ear and pulled back his finger. He looked at it and there was blood. He said in a tiny voice, "I'm scared." I could have broke down right there. He was so innocent and so scared. There was absolutely nothing I could say to comfort him. It really made me feel useless.

We did one more call-a return to a home address. Nothing good. Just a crabby old man that wanted to call a taxi, but couldn't because he was a paraplegic.