Back to the wrist again.

The following telephone conversation took place between myself and a nurse at our pediatrician's office yesterday at 5:0o pm:

Me:  Hello?

Nurse:  Erin?

Me:  Yes.

N:  I don't exactly know how this happened, but Shaun's complete hand x-ray was not read by the radiologist last week.  Apparently he only looked at the thumb x-ray,  which was normal.  We received a call from another radiologist this afternoon who says that it looks as though Shaun's wrist may be dislocated.  Can you come to the Imaging Center right away for some more x-rays?  

M:  What?  His wrist is dislocated?  How did this happen?

N:  I'm not sure and I'm really sorry, but it needs to be looked at again.  The Imaging Center closes at 6:00 but they will wait on you.  As long as you're there by 6:00 they'll take you in.  

M:  (with tears springing to my eyes and my chest tightening in a panic)  Okay.  We'll get there as soon as we can.  

I hang up the phone and yell for Chris to get changed and pack Jordan's bag.  I hadn't showered and had been cleaning all day.  I started my shower water then tried to call my dad to watch Jordan.  Couldn't get in touch with him.  The phone rings again and its the same nurse.  Now she's telling me to just take Shaun to the ER.  That way, she reasons, if we need to see an orthopedic doc, we'll be in the right place.  I hang up slightly relieved.  ERs never close, now we don't have to rush quite so quickly.  I take the time to iron a shirt and am about to get in the shower when the phone rings again.  Same nurse.  She now tells us to just take him on to the Imaging Center.  The doctor on call at the office said that it would be quicker there and we wouldn't have to sit all night in the ER with a non-emergency.  I call my granny and ask her if she can watch Jordan.  She agrees, and I finally get my shower.  The entire time I'm seething.  I cannot BELIEVE that Shaun's wrist has been injured this whole time.  Over a week.  I'm thinking that this negligent radiologist is going to hear from me when we get to the Imaging Center.  If we even make it in time.  I throw on some clothes and run a comb thru my hair.  No makeup, no nothing.  I rant to Chris and he tells me to calm down, these things happen.  He totally pisses me off with this attitude.  He says he wants me to calm down so that I don't embarrass him.  Whatever, I think.  We make it to the Imaging Center at 5:58   The doors are locked and the worker won't let us in.  So off we go to the ER, after all.

We wait for a few hours then get our x-ray.  The PA tells us he doesn't see anything dislocated or broken, but that the wrist is sprained.  He gives us a brace and tells us to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday.  Which we will do.  I asked Shaun if his hand hurt and he said yes, it has been hurting since he fell of the monkey bars.  I asked why he hadn't said anything, and he just shrugged.  I had noticed that when we put his brace on him at night his wrist would not lay down like it used to, but I shrugged it off because, I don't know....the doctors told me EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL!  I know everyone makes mistakes, but Shaun has been sparring, doing Taekwondo, all kinds of things with a sprained wrist.  I'm so relieved nothing else happened to it.  On Monday I am calling the Imaging Center and I will speak to the doctor who "overlooked" his wrist x-ray.  I know everyone makes mistakes, but people should still be held accountable.  I'm not going to sue or anything like that, I just want him to know that I'm not happy.  So that next time, all of my children will be taken care of.  

Stepping off my soap box now!

Nothing Abnormal

...about Shaun's x-ray today.  Thank God.  I have the feeling he was playing me a little bit this morning.  But you know how it goes...if I hadn't taken him in to have his foot checked, it would have been broken.  Murphy's Law bites sometimes.  I'm not in a good mood.  Some crap happened today.  I'm just gonna go read Jodi Picoult and then go to sleep.  I must must MUST clean the house tomorrow.  Or I'll really be in the dog house.  Not that I think Lola would share with me.  There's not room enough for us both out there.  And anyway, seeing as how I don't have a job outside the house and Chris works his butt off to provide for us, I figure I need to start being a better....what?  Housewife?  Homemaker?  Domestic engineer.  Whatever folks are calling it these days, I need to start doing better.  And I resolve to start tomorrow.  

Drama

Its 7 am, and already we have drama.  Yesterday Shaun and Jordan were playing on the spinning chairs.  Shaun apparently fell off and landed on his foot.  It was sore yesterday, but this  morning he can't put weight on it without screaming.  I just sent him back to sleep and I'll call the doctor when they open at 8:30.  Now I think I'm going back to bed myself. 

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Is it Monday again, already?  Here goes!

I do NOT have a nine year old!  There's no way Shaun can be that old when it seems like we only brought him home from the hospital yesterday.  I know, cliche cliche!

Jordan did not throw his Leap Frog computer out of the car window while we were stopped at a red light.  I also didn't leave it there in the road, go to our appointment, and then stop on the way home to see if it was still there.  It was, by the way.  

I work hard to prepare healthy meals for my family on a tight budget.  My wonderful husband understands how hard I work at this.  He also understands that the children need to eat FOOD rather than just snack on junk all day long, so NO WAY did my children not eat their delicious dinner one night this week because they ate an entire box of Cheez its just before I got home.

I did not have to tell my precious 2nd born son to "Please put your clothes back on" on numerous occasions this week, including out in public. 

My children have been through a ton of medical stuff.  I've seen it all and sat calmly through numerous tests and procedures.  I've watched them get shots, have ph probes involving long tubes being put up their nose, watched them endure having catheters inserted and seen them through several surgeries.  All while keeping my head.  So I did not, therefore, completely freak out and lose it at the sight of Shaun's hand after the infamous "monkey bars incident" last week.  My first born also had no reason to use the words "Mom, you're embarrassing me" during the doctor visit due to my hyperventilating upon the sight of his bent hand.  Especially since the hand wasn't even broken.  

And the sad thing is, this was actually a pretty boring week.

The Big Loser

My friend Jada is a loser...or at least she will be soon!  She was selected to participate in Atlanta's Biggest Loser, and I am so excited for her.  You can check her page out here :http://atlanta.momslikeme.com/members/groupabout.aspx?g=767759  Okay, I'm majorly jealous, but I'm still excited for her and cheering her on.  I was able to check out her interviews online today, and she was FABULOUS!  She was able to share her testimony and her love for God on National tv, AND she gets a personal trainer and ready-made food delivered to her door.  How great is that!  Its also great for me, because I am motivated now...I'm tired of being overweight and I finally feel like its time to do something about it.  9 years is way too long to be fat, don't you think?  I don't have a game plan yet.  I've tried Weight Watchers in the past and was successful when Shaun was about 2 years old.  Money is tight right now, though, and I don't know if I can swing the meetings.  For sure I'm going to start walking and getting some exercise.  I'm also going to ask God to help me with this.  I have a horrible relationship with food, and I think God's the only way to break it.  But I'm pumped.  I'm ready.  Ready for a change.  Woah.  That sounds familiar, right?!

Monkey Bars

Got a call from the nurse at Shaun's school yesterday.  He fell from the top of the monkey bars ladder during recess.  Of course, he fell on his left hand.  It was hurting him, and since he doesn't have much feeling in that hand, I knew it had to be pretty painful.  It turned out fine- the x-ray results were all normal...nothing broken, fractured, or sprained.  Praise God!  This whole situation is so ironic.  Shaun can't actually DO the monkey bars, since he can only use one hand.  But he does love to climb, hence the reason for being at the top of the ladder.  I found it strangely funny that my child, who cannot do monkey bars, had a monkey bars related injury.  And I was also proud.  Extremely proud that he would get out there and try to do it anyway, to defy the odds  and play on things like monkey bars with his friends, even if he has trouble.  That shows major back-bone.  I was also proud when, after the doctor said he shouldn't go to Taekwondo yestery, Shaun said he wanted to go anyway and just not punch or hit anything.  So of course I let him go.  In the past, his self esteem has been so low that he would have just wanted to stay home.  He's always been so self-conscious of his differences.  My prayer has always been that Shaun will learn to accept and love himself just the way God chose to make him.  For the first time, I feel like he's headed that way.  To God be all the glory!

So sweet...

Today I had a rare treat.  Jordan fell asleep in the car during the drive to pick Shaun up from school.  He slept away until we arrived at the allergist's office for S's shots, through me getting him out of his seat and walking into the building.  Then, to my delight, when I sat down with him in our chair, he snuggled up against me and FELL ASLEEP AGAIN.  He proceeded to sleep through the entire appointment, and I was able to hold him...can't remember the last time he let me hold him for more than 10 minutes, he sooo active.  So sweet.  I miss that.  Holding my babies while they sleep.  Shaun played his DS, and I just sat and rocked Jordan, prayed for him, and observed his cuteness.  For a while there, I wondered if he was coming down with something, but he was fine the rest of the afternoon.  

Jordan also had an appointment with the allergy/asthma specialist this morning.  She was so impressed with how "well" J's been this winter that we're going to consider weaning him off of one of his inhalers in the spring.  Great news!  Compared to winters past, this winter has been a breeze.  No scary asthmatic breathing scares.  No nebulizers.  No ER visits.  The docs thank the medicines, but I thank God!  He is truly Jehovah Raffa.  

Not Me! Monday

I finally gave in and decided to become a part of Not Me! Monday, courtesy of MckMama (www.mycharmingkids.net).  I had way too many Not Me! moments this past week to ever have time to list them all here, so here are a few of my favorites:

My three year old son is potty-training.  Since he's a boy and we live in the country, my husband and I allow him to do his business outside when we're playing in the yard.  We allow this, however, we are not back-woods rednecks and we definitely stressed the importance of not relieving yourself outside at public place, or in fact, ANYwhere except our own yard.  So no way did I witness, as I was substitute-teaching for my son's preschool class, my sweet, innocent baby doing NUMBER 2 on the playground grass.  No way.  Not me!

I am a stay-at-home mom and expect order, respect, and obedience from my children.  That's why there's no way that, in order to get some much-needed housework completed, I turned a blind eye to my 3 year old as he continually climbed on top of the living-room chair, screamed, and jumped to the floor... pretending to be Nacho Libre.  No way, NOT ME!  I would never allow that kind of ruckus in my home!

I expect my kids to sleep in their own beds.  So I would never, out of pure frustration, give in to my whining 8 year old and let him sleep in bed with my husband and myself, just to give myself some "me time".  Not me!

I realize that I am an adult and have a responsibility to get my children to school on time.  Therefore, I did NOT give in and let my kids sleep in last Friday until just enough time to get to the Valentines Day Party.  No way, not me!  

So, there you go.  I feel better with those things off my chest...even if the incidents listed above are only a small fraction of my imperfectness!

Disgusted but content...

That pretty much sums me up today.  What am I disgusted about?  Well, my van wouldn't start yesterday.  Turns out it needs a fuel pump.  A six hundred dollar fuel pump.  Ugh.  Disgust disgust.  This brings back bad car memories from this time last year, when my Honda started messing up.  But-- we have money to get it fixed, so Hallelujah for that.  We won't have any extra cash until next payday,  but I know God will provide...hasn't He always given us what we need?  So, in spite of all the car drama, I am calm and content with what I have.