Tag Archives: injuries

Our Return to the Emergency Room

It was a good run.  We made it just over 8 months without going to the ER and then…..this happened. Broken Boy On the evening of July 26th, we found ourselves back in the ER for the first time in 8 months. Alexander had been outside, playing at the park across the street from our house.  He was climbing on the outside of the tube slide, that he had just been told NOT to climb on, when he fell  about 6 feet to the ground and landed on his shoulder. He banged up his face pretty bad when he hit the wood chips too. Of course, I made sure I was prepared to keep him entertained in the ER….it’s the little things that make kids smile! After seeing the doctor and a few xrays, the diagnosis was a fractured clavicle and a separated shoulder.  You can expect to see him looking like this for 4-6 weeks. From the time he fell until we got home from the ER he apologized for not listening to us and climbing on the outside of the slide and promised he would never do it again.     During his recovery you can find him walking around the ‘hood, watching movies, playing on the iPad and playing with Legos….LOTS and LOTS of Legos.

Can we get a group discount?

In my post on Monday, I briefly mentioned that my New Year didn’t exactly start off as I had planned and there are a variety of reasons for that.

You see, I rang in the New Year heavily medicated thanks to my good friends Percocet and Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release.
Did I mention that I was very, very, heavily medicated due to the fact that I was in excruciating pain?
Because I totally was.

We spent New Year’s Eve with the kids, my good friend and 2 of her children and enjoyed some deep fried foods for the last time.
That night went great and honestly, so was New Year’s Day (with the exception of the Wisconsin Badger’s losing the Rose Bowl—that was depressing. –Did I mention it was even more depressing because my cousin Mike is the Badgers starting linebacker?—Yeah, completely depressing!)

Moving on….the following day, Sunday, was even good because well…the Green Bay Packer’s kicked some Chicago Bear butt!

On Monday, Zack and Libby returned to school and I went to see the ENT for the 3rd time….you know after having already been in the ER three times between Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas in addition to that trip to my family doctor.

After my visit with the ENT, things began to look up.
That was Monday.
Tuesday came and went and everything went great.
And then…..then Wednesday arrived.
Wednesday evening, I found myself back in the ER.
This time, the Alex was the patient.
What happened you ask?
Well…..he managed to slice the tip of his right ring finger off while chopping apples for that night’s dinner.

The Alex before the Physician's Assistant (that we LOVE from a past experience) came in to check things out.

The Alex all bandaged up with a finger filled with Lidocaine to numb it and a prescription for some Vicodin!

Needless to say that night we found ourselves dining at the local IHOP with the kids since we didn’t get out of the ER until after 7PM and hadn’t fed the kids beforehand since you know, he was making dinner when the tragedy happened.

So, here I was, finally feeling better and now I had to take care of the Alex.
What I’m really saying is that I drugged him HEAVILY and sent his happy ass to bed!
I even let him sleep in the following morning until he was ready to get up.
I know……I’m such a nice wife!

This brings us to Thursday.
On Thursday, I had a great day.
I had a chance to hang out with both Alexander and the Alex which is a rarity since he works 3rd shift.
I picked my pseudo niece and nephew up from school after scooping the Libby from the bus stop and came home to get some work done, help prepare dinner and then head back to the school to pickup Zack from wrestling practice at 5:30.
At 5:13 PM, as I was getting ready to head to the school, I got a phone call from Zack’s wrestling coach.
The boy was hurt.
Something went awry during practice and he had been basically crushed between a kid 25lbs heavier than him and the mat…on his side.
Soooo…I went and got him, brought him home and saw the amount of pain he was in as the tears streamed down his face.
I packed the diaper bag, called my dad, loaded the family in the van, dropped Alexander and the Libby off by my dad and Zack, Alex and I headed to the ER…..again.

Yes….

For the 5th time within a 2 week time frame.
The 2nd time in less than 24 hours.

Headed down to x-ray to make sure nothing is broken

Thankfully the x-ray is clear! No breaks!!!!

After sitting in the ER for almost 2 hours, the boy was diagnosed with a muscle spasm in his trapezius muscle with orders to follow up with our family doctor on Monday.

From Thursday night until Monday morning, Zack was heavily medicated to help with the pain and inflammation.
I took him to see our family doctor for a recheck on everything.
New x-rays came back clear.
New diagnosis…..muscle spasm of the trapezius muscle, shoulder strain and chest wall contusion.

So, after 5 trips to the ER, 2 visits with our family doctor and 3 visits with the ENT Specialist, I think we should get some kind of group discount or at least given the option to enroll in a frequent visitor program with rewards!