when swinging from a tree branch,

be careful when you let go.

There is a low dogwood branch in the backyard. Ben likes to reach up and swing on it. Wednesday evening he let go and fell on his wrist. An ice pack was grabbed and after lots of hugs, rubs and kisses he rested on the couch as I finished cooking dinner. At dinner, he kept his hand in his lap and ate with his left (he's one of my two righties). I know what that means. Abie did the same thing two years ago when he broke his wrist.

After dinner Clara, Ben, Lydia and I headed for the ER. Lydia is still nursing, so she had to be with me and Clara went to help with her, just in case. Bill stayed home with the other kids because he had to get up for work in the morning.

We got there around eight and as we walked up to the door Ben announced that his arm didn't hurt. Clara and I looked at each other and I said that we might as well get it looked at while we were there. Abie had said the same thing two years earlier and his was broken.

After waiting for over an hour (during which time Ben danced and twirled around, climbed up and down out of his chair (definitely not favoring that arm), we decided it was foolish to be there. The child was obviously fine. I went up to the desk to let them know they should take his name off the list. But his bed was ready..."they're ready to take him back now." Ok. Might as well.

Twenty minutes later they called us back. We were tired and bored and I was feeling stupid. I just knew they were going to think I was that mother who is looking for injuries where there are none. The doctor literally held Ben by the hand and swung his arm up and down, side to side and twisted it around. Fast. Ben was nonplussed. No problem here, doc. He smiles and says they'll do an x-ray, but he's confident they won't find anything. Yeah. I should have left. I could be in my bed right now. What a chump I am.

The x-ray tech was super nice and chipper. She showed Ben the dials and buttons on the machine and told him to go ahead and play with them while she got set up. Then she walked away. Um...isn't this machine expensive? Maybe she was a disgruntled employee who was hoping the machine would get broken ("The kid was a maniac--he started pushing buttons and turning knobs...I couldn't stop him. The mother just let him...") so she could go home early. At this point he was tired and wasn't even that interested. He did manage a big, "CHEEEEESE!" as she took the x-rays, though.

Back to the bed and more waiting. The doctor eventually comes back and tells us to follow him...he wants to show us something.

GET. OUT.

The boy really did break his wrist. Someone else eventually comes and gives him a fiberglass splint, two ace bandages and instructions to see an orthopedic surgeon in two days for a cast. Within five minutes of the cast being on, huge tears started streaming down his face. Now it hurt. My poor baby.

A dose of liquid tylenol with codeine, written instructions and a discharge slip and we're on our way home. We were tucked in our beds by 1:30 a.m. That was a long night. During all that waiting, we saw four kids ranging from around 10 up to teens) there with injuries from football practices. See, kids? I told you it's a dangerous sport!

Ben, with his splint and bandages

Thursday was spent on the phone finding an ortho who is part of our insurance plan (but, hey! I'm thankful we have insurance!) who could see him the next day, then driving around...hospital to pick up copies of x-rays, Billiam's work because he accidentally took Ben's pain killer prescription with him, the pediatrician to pick up a referral slip (gotta love hmo's), the drugstore to fill the prescription (whoever thought of drive-through pharmacies deserves a medal and a big fat raise. I was so happy that I didn't have to drag a sleeping baby and two fidgety little boys inside. Home again, home again. Jiggety jig.

Today was the casting. The doctor suggested an above the elbow cast (based on Ben's age--he said he sees three year olds pull lower casts off sometimes--and the fact that Ben had already tried to remove the splint/ace contraption when he decided he didn't like it), but we agreed to try a just below the elbow one. Ben decided on dark blue and the casting began.

see how stoic Ben is?
poor wee thing, so serious
the second the casting guy (what is he called?) turned around, Ben was all puffed up and full of grins.
safe in the car, Ben is thrilled with his new cast

We got home in time to quickly nurse the baby and then run back out the door to Abie and Emma's open house at school.
first grade means you get a desk!

No pictures of Emma. We were the only ones in her classroom with the teacher most of the time we were there and she would have been praying for the earth to open up and swallow her whole if I had taken my camera out while her teacher was talking to us.

leftover adrenalin from the er meant a dishcloth could be finished in the wee hours of the morning. Pattern courtesy of PurpleDuckie.com. On PurpleDuckie, the other side is shown as the "right" side, but I am liking this side better.

As a side note to the casting adventure, the ortho's office was very close to where my mil used to live. I was sad to see that the dogwood we planted for her one Mother's Day appears to be dead. It had grown so big and looked great the last time I saw it, but now it is leafless with lots of the branches roughly hacked off.
Tomorrow Christopher Columbus, delayed by the broken bone saga, will set sail for his next destination.