Injury Update and What to Wear

Well the boy had a restless nights sleep, talking a lot and tossing and turning but he did sleep.  He doesn’t seem to be in too much pain today so I am assuming that he is following the Dr Google that claims the injury is self healing.  He can keep his arm in a sling for a few days until he feels comfortable moving it again.  At least if it is in a sling he will be less inclined to run around and climb trees.  He can go to his orthopedic appointment next week to make sure that there will be no other underlying issues and fingers crossed all will be well with the world of little boy elbow injuries.

As for the big boy elbow issues, well it too seems to be healing well.  His arm is out of the techno-brace that it has been in for the past month.  He begins physio next week and is looking forward to playing sport again eventually.  Unfortunately eventually won’t be for at least another 4 months.  It is going to be a long 4 months but at least there is light at the end of the injury tunnel for both of my boys.

In the rest of my world, I have been in to work, emailed home everything that needs to be done and isn’t likely to be done today or tomorrow.  The biggest dilemma I face is what to wear tonight to my swanky work do.  Now there seems to be 3 trains of thought as to what a ‘day dress’ is;

1. A more casual version of what you would wear to work, that you would also wear out and still feel comfortable
2. A nice dress but one without shiny glitz and glam of evening wear
3. A dressy outfit but with casual accessories and flat shoes, what you would wear to a day wedding

Now there really isn’t much that I can wear that is more casual than what I normally wear to work – shorts or jeans and tshirts!  I guess it is referring to what normal business-like women would wear to work.  I do have a nice grey dress that would be suitable for someone who did work in a professional environment that I would feel comfortable wearing out in a professional like arena.  I also have a dress that I love that I have worn to weddings, it is summery and pretty and yellow.

Looking at the definitions above, either dress could be deemed appropriate.  I often like to wear loud clothes but this might not be the most appropriate time to be loud and visible, it might suggest that I know what I am doing.  With that in mind, perhaps I will wear the grey dress.  Or change my mind again later.  Why can’t they just have a real dress code that makes sense?

Big Words, More Pain and Dr Google

Repeat after me, Subluxation of Radial Head.  Lots of big pretty words that aren’t fun to say nor are they fun to deal with but alas, that seems to be the current health status of boy-child.  Now how he got to this status is a not very long nor is it a very interesting story but I like to share so I will tell you anyway.

This morning I was helping out at school in girl-child’s class for an hour or so.  I ran upstairs to say hi to boy-child before he went out to play and I had to head back to the office.  I hadn’t even made it back before my phone rang and it was the school.  I was hoping that they would be calling to say I had left something in one of the class rooms but no, the message was to let me know that boy-child was sitting in the sick bay after falling on his elbow, his recently mended elbow.  I turned around and headed back to the school.

Boy-child was sitting in the sick bay, a sling on his arm and tears pouring down his dirty face.  His arm looked pretty normal to my not-so-educated eye, well as normal as an arm can look when it is super weedy with a gigantic joint and scars.  There looked to be a little bruising but nothing too disgusting looking or deformed.  He was declining an ice pack but wanted to go to the doctor just in case.  I was happy to take him thinking it would have a placebo effect and calm him down.

I packed him up and walked him to the car and off we went to the doctors, via work because I needed to get changed and swap cars.  We barely sat down at the doctors surgery when he was called through.  The doctor was like me, thinking that it was probably nothing but with his history we should err on the side of caution so a referral was written and it was time to wander over to the radiologist for xrays.

Yay, good news; the xrays didn’t show a break.  It did however show an area of concern that is reported as a subluxation of the radial head.  Another referral was written, this time for the Royal Children’s Hospital.  I have called the hospital and an appointment is made to see another orthopedic specialist next Thursday.  In the mean time we need to keep boy-child still so he can’t damage his arm any further.  At the moment that shouldn’t be a problem.  I have already told his teacher that he won’t be at school tomorrow but there is an entire week before he is due to see the specialist.

Of course if when the pain increases it will be a trip to the Emergency Department.  I almost wish that I had gone straight to the hospital from the doctors office and spent the next umpteen hours sitting in there waiting.  The outcome will be the same but at least the joint can be stabilised immediately if it needs it rather than waiting for more damage to be done.

Now that we are all at home, waiting for the inevitable trip to the ED, I have had a chance to play Dr Google and subluxation of the radial head appears to me to be a minor dislocation of one of the lower arm bones, the radial.  It is also referred to as ‘Nursemaid Elbow’ because it is a common injury in littler kids who are lifted by the arm or are grabbed to prevent a fall.  What doesn’t make sense if he fell on a bent arm, how did he end up with this injury?  He couldn’t even straighten his elbow let alone have anyone lift him by his dodgy arm.  Oh the mysteries of my world.

I keep Dr Googling and it is making the decision about whether to stay here and wait for the specialist appointment or to head in to the ED now even more difficult.  One site will suggest that natural movement by a child will unlock any ligaments trapped in the dislocation naturally and simply by being a child they will work within the limitations of their own body.  Then I look at another site that suggests immediate medical attention to have the joint realigned to prevent long lasting damage.  Long lasting damage, hell we are already there should I already be at the hospital.  Then I think the boy is comfortable and not in pain so perhaps it isn’t too bad.  The decision is just way too hard.  Why can’t Dr Google just say one answer, any answer and then I don’t have to think about it?

The boy is exhausted, so I am letting his exhaustion make the decision for me.  He has had a shower, a dose of painkillers and is tucked up in bed, almost asleep.  If he wakes in pain we go, if he doesn’t I get a good nights sleep and think about it tomorrow.  Perhaps Dr Google will have a better answer then.

Oh and can you believe it, another elbow injury a day before man-child finds out the update of his injury and whether he can survive without a transformer-like brace on his arm!

A Letter From the Fairies

So the fairies really did write back to girl-child, on a pretty coloured piece of paper cut into the shape of a rain drop.  The fairies even used sparkly pink ink to write the message.  I really couldn’t think of a tactful way to say get over yourself the spiders are minute the spiders are friendly and won’t hurt you.  Instead I wrote that the fairies were thankful to have such a lovely balcony garden to share with their friends.  I think that she understood it was a reference to the spiders, either that or she is just braver today.

However, I wish I had checked the comments on my last post before getting up this morning I could have made life so much easier for myself, Susan suggested that I let girl-child know that fairies think that spiders make wonderful pets.  That would be a sure fire way to ensure that the spiders were no longer a threat to her equilibrium.  Lou even sent me a link to a fairy door that her beautiful daughter is lucky enough to have (I see a possible Christmas gift?).

I also wish I had the foresight to write another fairy note to girl-child, hoping that she would feel better.  Of course when you have been called at work by the school to notify you that your precious child is sitting in the sick bay with what could be a dose of the puking pestilence you don’t really think much about fairy notes.  Naturally after riding home from work in order to collect the car to then collect the ill one you don’t have much time to think, you just rush about in the sweltering heat.

I swear as soon as I signed the ‘get out of school early’ permission slip, the colour returned to the girl’s face, her eyes sparkled and she smiled.  She positively skipped out of the sick bay to collect her bag from the class room.  We spent a quiet afternoon on the couch watching a movie and waiting for school to end so a friend could come over and play because she was ‘bored’!  Personally I enjoyed the enforced quiet of an afternoon at home.

Question time

So boy-child has been pretty good all day. Not exactly normal but close to it. He spent much of the day playing with friends and fantasizing about life as a wrestler.
We spent the afternoon in the park with a rather group of friends sharing a picnic to celebrate Halloween. The plan was to let the kids eat too much junk food and run wild. In actual fact boy-child spent his time snuggled on my lap.
Afterwards I went to a friends for dinner but man-child took the boy home to rest. I am not long home and already his temp is up to 39.2 and not as hot to touch as last night (mine is currently 36.7).
The pharmacist was suggesting that over 38 was a trip to the emergency room. I am not sure though. Whilst hot he is not unwell. He is eating and drinking, he is hungry he is just hot and has a headache. I don’t know what to do. The emergency eo is likely to let is sit there all night saying it is just fever and ther is nothing they can do.
For now he is burning up andeatcjimg Toy Story 2, wondering why je can’t have popcorn. I think it is going to be another long night. Should I plan a trip to the emergency room or try wait it out?

More Plans Out the Window

I have grand plans for this weekend, plans that included sleep. I negotiated with the kids that of they wanted to go to the Halloween picnic they had to allow me to sleep in. Also as I still need to make/finish costumes I need them to clean up their room and put toys away as they do every Saturday morning prior to getting their pocket money. Once that was done we were going to make witchy fingers to take to the picnic. I even tried to circumvent the mess I anticipate will occour during the biscuit making so I pre mixed the dough before going to bed. And yes I made the dough to prevent mess not just because I wanted to snack on it!
Anyway, that was my plan. It was spimple really, how could it go wrong? Oh I forgot the moons have aligned in a most conspiritoral way again and I am spending the wee hours of the morning wide awake listening to the ragged, rapid breathing and delusional rants of boy-child as he lay beside me on the sofa bed in the study.
He woke up about an hour ago (about 3 hours after I went to bed) screaming. He has a headache, fever and by the sound of it a blocked sinus. Even after nurofen the poor boy is so hot it is like laying next to a radiant heater that can only be comfortable if draped over my body. I don’t think much sleep will be happening this morning

Normalish?

Well I am finally heading towards normal.  It is Sunday afternoon and all is quiet and dare I say ‘drama free’ in the house.  Girl-child and a friend are upstairs destroying playing quietly in her bedroom.  Boy-child is outside playing wii with our latest family addition (the new student arrived safely this morning), man-child has wandered over to a friends for a drop of red and I am sitting down to enjoy a drop of red also, relaxing to some great music, smelling the wonderful aromas of dinner gently simmering on the stove.  Mmmm, red chicken curry.

Today has also included a flying trip to Ikea to get a desk and chair.  In the 90 minute round trip I managed to get the items I required, plus a laptop bag, 1 1/2 dozen glasses, a desk lamp, power boards, napkins for tomorrows picnic in the park if the rain holds off, as well as stopping by the florist for some much needed fresh flowers to brighten up the place.

Oh and speaking of tomorrows events, I have made Honey Joys to be taken into girl-child’s class to be shared by all (hooray for simple sweet food that meets the class allergy criteria list), and because they were so easy to make I made a second batch to be eaten in the park.  When that was done, girl-child and her friend and I made an ice cream cake for her party.  OK, so we didn’t actually make an icecream cake, we partially melted some ice cream, added choc ripple biscuit chunks and chocolate toffee pieces, poured it in to moulds to re-freeze ready for the party!  Now all that is left to do is chop up some fresh fruit and vegetables and the party food is covered.  As for activities I think I will take a pile of dress ups to the park and they can all run around as fairies, princesses, mermaids or puppy dogs and make their own fun.

The easy part is done, trying to get 8 hours of work done in 5 hours or less tomorrow will be much more interesting but it will be done.  Fingers crossed I will get a better sleep tonight and not one that is filled with dreams/nightmares of me being injured.  I dreamt the same dream over and over all night – Some incident would occur (the incident would change with each variation of the dream) where the outcome was me being taken to the hospital for xrays of a broken ankle.  Of course knowing that I didn’t have the time or energy to be injured I had the hospital staff put a cast on my ankle that was black.  I then put a heel on it so I could pretend it was a boot and I was able to go about my life and work unhindered.  Naturally my walk was very suspect and ungainly looking so people were always questioning me about my strange footwear.  I must have been holding my foot as if it was in a cast all night long because today my calf muscle is as fatigued as if I had run a marathon in ill-fitting shoes!

Hopefully sleep tonight, aided by a drink or three will be more relaxing and sleep like, ready for a day of celebrating girl-child’s 6th birthday.

Edited to add:  OK, so I am clearly not back to normal yet.  I decided that I should post a link to the Honey Joy recipe as I had touted it as being so simple and delicious for the kids.  Doing this I noticed that right at the top of the recipe it says Preheat oven to 150°C. Oops I forgot that part, I haven’t cooked them yet!  How awesome am I?  A simple 7 line recipe and I forget the first and last of them.  I had better go do that now before I forget again.

Deja Vu

Well I have just returned home from the hospital.  Man-child was finally being wheeled towards theatre as I left, a mere 16 hours after dislocating his elbow.  Further tests and scans have shown that not only was the joint dislocated but there were bone fragments and a fracture to deal with.

It all sounds so similar to the day dubbed as ‘Alexander and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day‘.  A fall that resulted in an awkward landing and the arm hyper-extending then crunch, bones out of alignment.  The results of boy-child’s fall was a 3 hour surgery where the joint was relocated and the bones were screwed back together.  That was followed by months in a cast with him becoming depressed and forlorn, not knowing who he is or where he fits in.  It was probably one of the worst times of my life and I am more than happy to have (albeit temporarily it seems) moved on from there.

Man-child has done one better, whilst he is in surgery the plan is that he will have 2 screws and a plate attached to the radius, holding his arm back together.  I have no idea how long the surgery will be, when the kids will be able to visit or what will happen next.

When I told the kids this morning that their dad was playing copy-cat and that he had a dislocation just like boy-child the poor boy went white.  It was like he was reliving the experience.  I am expecting that he will struggle through this time more than the rest of us.

I was hoping that we could go visit this morning but unfortunately he was still in emergency waiting for a bed or surgery – which ever happened first and I really didn’t want the kids hanging around the trauma in an emergency ward.  Hopefully he will be out of recovery this afternoon and the kids can go visit whilst he is still high on pain meds and looking cheerful, unlike when I just visited.  I think it is going to be another long day and night.  Did I mention how much I love hospitals?

Updated to add – The hospital called to say that the surgery went well and that he is finally out of recovery and is back on the ward.  Man-child then called to say that the pain is insane but he was able to reassure the kids that he is fine.  It was perfectly bad timing that he came out of the surgery so late and the kids were already yawning, ready for bed and visiting hours were almost over.  They will have to wait until tomorrow to visit.  Perhaps I will even pick them up from school at lunch time so they can visit.  Now to get ready for netball and ponder how I will possibly work a split shift tomorrow?

Early Nights

I am tired, really tired, ‘new parent with a baby who never sleeps’ tired except I am not a new parent I don’t have a new baby I am just tired, perhaps even exhausted.   So tired that I decided to forgo watching TV and decided to have a nanna nap and then go to bed early.  It was a great plan but as usual the universe is conspiring against me and sleep is not going to happen any time soon it seems.

First it was a friend dropping in to say Hi just as I was almost asleep on the couch making me say goodbye to the chance of a nanna nap.  This was followed by a phone call from my parents and I spent the next half hour playing ‘help desk’ bringing me to normal bed time.  During this call with my parents, I ignored a few phone calls.  Of course those phone calls were actually important, they were to tell me that man-child had fallen at basketball and had dislocated his elbow and an ambulance was on its way.

Well that was a few hours ago now, three hours in fact.  My neighbour dropped back and ended up sticking around to keep me company as I waited on news from the hospital.  There was an offer to look after the kids so I could go in to the hospital but I have spent enough time already this year sitting around hospitals unable to do anything so I politely declined.

Apparently as I type his elbow is being popped back into place and I am sitting here, barely awake wondering if he will be sent home or kept in overnight.  So now I wait and don’t sleep…

Updated to add – The ‘popping’ of the elbow wasn’t as smooth as planned – it didn’t work so that had to knock him out and do it under anesthetic.  He is back in x-ray seeing if there are any fractures or chipped bones that may need surgery!

Updated again – The xrays and CT scans have shown that there are bone chips that need removing so boy-child is fasting in preparation for surgery some time later in the morning.  He is currently trying to get comfortable on a narrow gurney in the hospital corridor as there are no beds available!

Change of Plans

Well this is what we had planned for the day.

A slow morning bumming around the house, cleaning up the remnants of the puking gastro infestation that has finally left our happy home.  that would include finishing off the rest of the laundry and getting all the sheets and towels dried and put away.  I need to rebuild the beds and put girl-child’s mattress back on top bunk.   We should also trying to eat something at some stage too.

Today is girl-child’s best-not-school-friends birthday and party.  Despite her being sick yesterday, her friend still wants her to come over today, however I am waiting for final confirmation from her parents.  I feel apprehensive sending her to a party after being so unwell but she has been puke free for 24 hours, for longer than she was actually unwell, and besides this bug seems to be everywhere at the moment and not just here.  So assuming she goes to the party, we will drop her at the party and I have to drop in to work for a while.  I love that despite being on holidays, I still need to get work ’stuff’ done, at work!  If the work thing gets done quickly enough I hope to make a quick stop at a craft/fabric store to collect a few more supplies to finish the costume I am making for a friend before heading back to the party.

The plan was to head from the party to mum and dad’s house for a few days of R&R.  I wasn’t looking forward to a 3 hour drive but figured it would be worth it for the recovery time and sunshine when I am there.  3 days in the country with yummy home cooked meals and someone else to entertain the kids was going to be perfect to recharge the batteries.  That isn’t going to happen now and to say that I am bitterly disappointed would be an understatement.

Latest Tally

Skip this post if you don’t want to hear more ranting from a sleep deprived janitor.

Well it is almost 2am, 4 hours after I had decided that I really should go to bed and I still haven’t had any sleep.  Here are the latest stats…

• boy-child is only just ahead of girl-child 8 vomits to 6
• washing load #3 is in and I think there is enough to make a 4th
• girl-child is in her 3rd pair of pyjamas for the night
• boy-child has now moved on from just throwing up to feeling dizzy and making frequent bathroom trips

In relation to said frequent bathroom trips, how do you teach a boy-child that it is better (for me at least) to sit down and pee, especially in the wee hours of the morning.  I was wiping vomit from girl-child’s face when he made his latest bathroom wanderings and from the sound of it, he missed.  It isn’t as if I have anything to do other than clean up bodily fluids, that is one fluid that I shouldn’t have to clean up!

Oh and my up-chuck reflex is still going strong, bile has its own vile nausea inducing aroma.  It really doesn’t matter how often I wash/spray/hide behind a mask the smell is lingering.