i quit

We took our little wagon ride yesterday as usual. It’s not a major source of exercise; if we walk even a couple of miles I’d be surprised. All was going fine until we were a block from home when the 4th grader decided she had walked far enough.

Just stopped. Parked herself on the curb. Otherwise known as right in front of someone else’s home!

I had to explain to her that one way or the other, those legs of hers were getting her back to the house because there was only room for one of ‘em in that wagon.

They spent part of the day putting a puzzle together today. A flat tray helped out a lot.

Tornadoes are swirling around my sister’s house. Bad news for her, given that 2008 has been the Year of Weather for them so far. But at least it gave me a chance to call Mom and tell her to keep an eye on the weather at her house since what starts west must move east at some point.

I was so embarrassed this afternoon. That same aforementioned 4th grader was reading a book before it was time to take her to karate practice. I didn’t recognize the book so I asked her if it was a library book. She said no, it was a book Mrs. Thompson gave to her when I was in Indiana earlier this year.

News to me; I knew of no books handed over when I was out of town. The daughter assured me that one afternoon when she, her dad, and her brother got home one afternoon that was while I was in Indiana, my friend had left a big box of books for both her and her brother.

That was probably 2 months ago and I just found out about it. I’ll bet my friend was wondering why she never heard so much as a simple “thanks” from me. Needless to say, I called her as soon as I found out this afternoon!

elbows

One recollection of our friend Phyllis, from Fort Worth, who spent something like 6 months in Memphis at St. Jude’s with her daughter because she needed a bone marrow transplant – that’s someone who has been through a lot. Or our other friend whose child was born with a cleft palate and went through multiple surgeries – that’s someone who could teach me a thing or two.

Here’s the latest fyi on spica casts. They will cause callouses on elbows. That’s a bit of a technicality; it’s actually all the scooting around he’s been doing over the past 6 weeks (and 1 day – not that I’m counting!) that’s helped toughen him up a bit, both mentally and physically.

That’s my left hand holding his arm in place because he wasn’t taking my photo documentary very seriously. This is an accurate portrayal of his personality for the most part (once we got past the first 2-3 weeks).

claim

I wondered when we were finally going to get “the letter”. The mail carrier was early today (substitute; why do they run the route in a different direction than the regular carrier?). So here it came.

Your insurance company has processed medical benefits on your behalf for the treatment referenced above. We have asked The Rawlings Company to assist us in determining if this treatment occurred as the result of an accident or injury for which another party may be responsible.

And so forth.

I thought briefly about calling the number listed instead of filling it out online but I was afraid they might trip me up on a question I wasn’t expecting. It started out simple enough – name, date of accident, contact info.

Then it asked if it happened on someone else’s property. I knew where that was headed – they want to see if they can foist the bill on to someone else’s insurance. I can’t blame them; it’s part of the job.

Then they wanted to know if I had settled “the” lawsuit against them. It didn’t ask me “if” I had filed a lawsuit – apparently they just assumed I had, based on the way it was worded. No, amazingly enough not everyone files a lawsuit when their child is injured on someone else’s property.

How am I supposed to answer that question? Yes, it’s settled because I didn’t file one in the first place and don’t intend to. Or do I say no it’s not settled because how do you settle a case that won’t be filed?

I said yes. Finally I had a page come up where I could type in comments. I told it to them straight – it was an accident and that’s all that it was. It could’ve happened to another child, but it happened to mine. It could’ve happened at home, but it happened at pre-school. I told them the state had investigated and found there was no negligence or faulty equipment and I had thoroughly talked to every single person involved, some of them several times.

I clicked on the Send button and now it’s just hope for the best. I called the director to tell her I expected the letter, but to give her the heads-up who our insurance company was, and the company doing the investigating for them, and how I had responded.

It’s not that I want to pay all those bills, really I’d rather not. I’d rather not pay for the individual care he’s getting at home for 8 weeks while he can’t go to pre-school. But the truth of the matter is, it really wasn’t anyone’s fault.

summer

8 weeks in a spica cast, let’s face it, really isn’t that long in the big scheme of things. 8 weeks ago – Houston marathon. Doesn’t that seem like a long time ago, like time has just flown by for you since the marathon? I’m guessing so. It’s the same length of time that we’ll contend with the cast, just a different set of two months.

I’ve probably said it before but it bears repeating. Spend some time at Texas Children’s hospital in the halls with kids dealing with cancer month after month after month, or permanent injuries, etc. that are there literally every week. I have a friend who’s there literally every Thursday for speech therapy with her daughter who is deaf.

8 weeks…not that long, not that serious. And since it’s not July, not that hot either thank goodness!

I did have a little pity party on Easter (I miss my mommy! I want to be 10 and be home hunting eggs! I don’t wanna be the mom with a kid in a cast on Easter!) but I got over it. I pretty much yelled at myself (Snap out of it Barbara. You’re not helping the situation and whining won’t change it anyway!) and then I was done with that incident.

perfect pic

We keep missing the picture of the boy in bed that has stuck with both of us. He likes to sleep on his side. Several times we’ve found him sleeping on his left side with his right, fully casted leg, stuck up in the air and covered with a blanket.

It’s a challenge to describe which is why we need the picture. He had yet another bad night’s sleep (I don’t even bother blogging about this anymore). Wait, I will say one thing. He’s had exactly one night in the past 40 nights where he slept entirely through the night.

That translates into Barbara has had exactly one night in the past 40 nights where she got a full night’s sleep. Hey, it’s my blog.

Anyway, he slept late this morning. It was almost 8 and he was still sound asleep. I found him sleeping on his left side with that right cast stuck way up in the air, covered with a blanket and said today is the day I’m going to get a picture of that.

I ran in with my camera. Dead batteries – too many pictures this weekend. I ran to get more batteries (at least I use rechargeable or I’d never have any). Put them in and ran in to take the picture – didn’t have the memory card in.

I ran to grab the memory card and put it in. I ran back in to get The Perfect Picture. He’d changed positions. Laying on his stomach. I don’t need that picture…

If push comes to shove, I’m going to have him re-enact it for me just so I can save the memory to film, even if it does end up being a fake pose. This doesn’t do it justice, but pretend this is him in bed, and then pretend there’s a blanket over him.

Can you imagine sleeping with one leg stuck up in the air like that? It’s amazing what we adapt to when it’s what’s required of us.

Easter recap

That wasn’t as chilly as last year but a sweater for each of us outside wouldn’t have been the craziest idea either. Mom told me yesterday it was snowing there (on top of the still-flooded roads in some areas).

A friend brought this over last week; it bloomed just in time for Easter.

They were very busy checking out each other’s “goods” to make sure the split was even. Their dad put the baskets together Saturday night. While we did clear the food, etc. from Saturday’s dinner, I had not taken the tablecloth off yet and reset all the “stuff” back on it (flowers, runner, etc.). It took every ounce of strength I had not to re-do everything he did so that the pictures would have a clean table and not the tablecloth from the day before in them.

The girl and I cleaned up for church and left the boys at home this week. Her claim on the number of eggs picked up was that she got some for her brother also. Even at 10, she still loves the fun of the hunt. Last night when she was ready to go to bed, she took the big basket of now-empty plastic eggs up to her room. Just to remember the event.

The candy went into a community jar and I plan on sending nearly all of it home with Elsa tomorrow! I had hard boiled eggs for breakfast (and too much ham and not enough water for dinner – lots of sodium).

She had white gloves to go along with the dress also; they must be in the bottom of her basket. I’m guessing it was easier to get eggs with bare hands. It’s hard to get many pictures of a 10-year old on the run!

Mom asked yesterday if the 4-year old was upset that he couldn’t go to the Easter egg hunt. I told her I’ve decided different kids just have different memories and I don’t think Easter is going to be a big one for him. His first one, he was only 6 months old. When he was 18 months old, my dad had passed away during Holy Week and we were on a flight home from Indiana on Easter after returning from his funeral. I don’t remember when he was 2 1/2. Last year it was so cold and wet and the grounds were a quagmire of mud, that they had it inside.

So he’ll remember Christmas. And his birthday. And baseball. But probably not Easter egg hunts at the rate he’s going!

I think they all had a great time and it was so nice to get to see everyone at church again. Their dad has been taking the daughter each Sunday while I stay home with him. I almost felt like a visitor after being gone for so long.

the hunt

I found out at the last minute that Mr. Boone had Friday off as a holiday (we used to but they changed ours to MLK Day) so I took a vacation day and headed to the fabric store to finally make the cushion for a wrought iron bench we bought way back in January. After heading home with the foam cut to the size I needed (which took some persuasion to get them to cut it for me at the store but the manager was fabulous in the end) and some very cool ultra suede fabric, I was ready to go.

Yes, I use my kitchen table for a sewing table. It’s the only way I’ve found I can ever get anything made with keeping an eye on the boy at the same time. It doesn’t take long to sew one straight seam and then tack up the ends by hand. I made the matching side cushions this morning (the coordinating ones I made a few months ago for the living room). I was in a hurry because we had family coming over; I’ll tighten up the ends a bit more later to get the wrinkles out.

Before long, we had a back yard full of family so naturally I suggested a game of horseshoes because that’s just what you do, right? Funny thing is, I was too busy taking pictures to play but it was as much fun to watch.

Remember all those eggs and more eggs and still more eggs that we stuffed with jelly beans, and then the 3 dozen hard boiled eggs we decorated? We waited the rest of the day for the other little ones to arrive who were supposed to be coming. In the meantime, we finally all got hungry and sat down to eat, thinking they would be along.

Finally it was hours later and now close to 7 and still no little ones other than our, and all those eggs! So I told the adults that audience participation was needed to at least make it a bit of a challenge for the girl.

Bessie (the statue) held one too. She really needs to cover up! I think the daughter wished she had a larger basket by the time it was done; since her brother can’t participate in the one at church tomorrow I may have her borrow his basket.

The casted one slid around on his creeper and picked up the ones we planted along the edge of the driveway. After a while, he figured out it was easier just to tell his dad where they were and let his dad pick them up for him!

Did I mention I found him some kid-sized gardening gloves the other day to help him scoot around on the concrete more easily? A good time was had by all!

Lincoln

I was on a quest for Lincoln logs last week; I never found them. My problem was I had snuck out of the house for some “me” time, which meant the 10 year old didn’t go with me. Well any sane person knows, if you want to find a specific toy at a specific store, take a kid with you. Duh.

She found the Lincoln logs. And the oversized Legos that I wanted also last night. My challenge in the past 5 weeks has been to find toys that are age appropriate, that keep his interest for more than 5 minutes, but that he can also play with on the floor with limited movement.

Train tracks were out; we tried and our family likes the big tracks that cover an entire room. Oh, we still have that set up, but it’s too much for him right now. Some things, like the smaller Legos are too tiny and they get lost in his cast.

And Jennifer knows I just love her to pieces, but if there’s one thing you do not give a child who has a cast on, it’s Floam! We found that out the hard way. Oh boy did we ever.

But they did have fun with the Lincoln logs. I was on the ball and bought 2 sets with the idea that he could build bigger and better cabins!

After lunch, they set out on the Easter egg decorating project. Being the wise one, I of course moved that outside. I wasn’t sure how well that would work for him, but having that creeper paid off in spades today because it was the perfect solution. He was able to scoot around to the different bowls as well as transfer them to the dry tray.

And he only busted one! Well under the expected quota. Sidewalk chalk followed that. It didn’t take long for his sister to figure out that the day was better suited to shorts and a t-shirt; she changed clothes shortly after I took this picture.

TCH2

The long-awaited follow-up visit at Texas Children’s was today. First thing I saw as we headed out the door was one of many beautiful dogwoods in bloom. Houston is just alive with color from trees and flowers right now; it is beautiful.

While we can consistently guess the driving time to get there, the amount of time needed to find a parking spot is always anyone’s guess. Last time we barely got there before our appointment; this time we were very early.

It took some prodding, but I finally won through and we used the valet parking. I feel compelled to bring that up as a “Heloise Helpful Hint” because if anything in this world is worth $13, it’s valet parking at Texas Children’s Hospital. I know the game, so as soon as Mr. Boone had the gear in Park, I hopped out and opened the back to get the wagon out. That way, I knew whoever came behind us would have to give us extra room to get him out of the car, or risk hitting me.

I did not get hit BTW.

Oh, and I tried for the first time to prop a pillow behind him and have him sit upright for the ride down there. It worked really well. For us, this would not have been comfortable right after the cast was put on, but 4 weeks later it was just fine.

We didn’t wait long before they called us back to the orthopedic waiting room. I had told him they would take x-rays of his leg again and then we would talk to the doctor. He just wanted to know if he was getting a sucker. I have no idea where that came from because he doesn’t normally get one from there.

While we were waiting for x-rays (which wasn’t more than 5 minutes; they are very timely), he spied a telephone in the corner of the waiting room. I let him play with it just long enough to snap his picture. Fortunately, right as I was telling him he’d have to put it down, they came to get him for x-rays.

We got into his exam room and guess which one of them was most interested in playing with the toys? I thought it was cool how it was at floor level for kids like him. His sister sadly was not in her finest moment during the visit. I think the Little Green Monster showed up about that time and took over her body.

Once I got a chance to hear what the doctor was saying, I saw the x-ray. OH NO!!!! That looks terrible!!!

Seriously. That x-ray was so much worse than I expected to see. How to describe it… Okay, when it first broke, it looked like 2 identical bones; or one bone split in 2. Nice and even. Symmetrical. Yes, that’s the word. It looked symmetrical.

Today? It looks more like a Y. He tried to assure me as long as all the bones were still inside his body, it was fixable. I think that’s what he said; I was entirely too stressed out to really comprehend what he was saying. I know his take-away message was it was healing nicely.

What I saw was - if I say what I am thinking, my mother will surely wash my mouth out with soap.

So here’s the scoop. And if your child has a broken leg and there’s one thing you really need to know ahead of time, this is it.

The leg will still look “broken” in the x-ray that they take 8 weeks later when they’re ready to take the cast off.

I had no idea. I thought the x-ray by now would show it was 80% healed, then even though we would be there at 6 weeks, I thought it really would be healed and then we’d throw another couple of weeks on at the end for good measure to really make sure.

I was so wrong. So very wrong.

You can bet I heard what he said next. The 4 weeks after the cast come off are very crucial. Any bad fall or misstep and the leg will easily break again within those first 4 weeks after the cast comes off.

There is good news and scary news in there. The good news is he thinks he should reasonably be able to walk once the cast is off. The scary news is we are going to have to watch him like a hawk and there needs to be no running, jumping, or heading back to gymnastics class for another month after the cast is off.

We have 4 weeks from now to figure out how to make that happen.

April 14th is the expected Big Day. I don’t want to put too much hope into it in case something happens but that’s the expectation for now.

I had planned to ask if I could take a picture of the doctor with him but I forgot all about it after seeing that x-ray.

The weather north on Fannin after we left the hospital was nothing to write home about, but we got back with no problems.

We got home and I said I need to go run an errand. I went out and bought some hibiscus, geraniums, and fresh cut flowers which helped calm me down. No pictures of them though; I’d taken enough today.

shoes

I thought I would just post a quick note about 2 things.

One – this is what his shoes looked like the day he broke his leg. I’ve always wondered if the sand and dirt on them (it was muddy that day from the rain the day before) was part of the reason for his fall. I had just washed and dried them the day before; I remember getting them out of the dryer that morning.

So my question is, are there any parents who have better suggestions for shoes with better grips? I’m considering something like work boots for him to help stabilize his feet once the cast comes off – more on that in the next post.

Second, since the only thing I did to help make the creeper was the glue, and then to put the flannel topper on it, I of course had to show off my part of the hard work. That’s Lightning McQueen if it’s not obvious – the finished product.