In Like a Lion

It's been on my mind this week that I haven't updated this sucker in a while, since February, as a matter of fact.   March has proven to be quite an eventful month for us, to say the least.

One good thing is that we got to visit my in-laws last weekend, which means I got to visit my 12 week old niece for the first time.  Here she is:


We had a great visit with family for the entire weekend; however, on the ride home, I started to feel a little 'iffy'.  Within 6 hours I was covered in spots, burning up with fever, and my lymph nodes were ridiculously swollen.  Two days later, we figured out it was an allergic reaction to some antibiotics I had been taking (even though I had been taking them for 12 days by the time I got sick), so that was a huge relief, and very easily remedied.  I was so very thankful that I didn't have to call my sister-in-law and explain to her that I'd exposed her new baby to some sort of rougue mumps-related virus.

The moment I recovered from my itchiness, Tommy decided he would crash his scooter into a parked car, resulting in a badly broken arm.  We got to have our first experience with a small-town emergency room, which, well, was less than impressive.  The doctor told us his arm was fine and to just give him ice, then at midnight, another doctor called to say never mind, it's actually broken in one spot, so he'll need to see an orthopedist.  However, when I went to pick up his x-rays the next morning and inquired about a referral to an orthopedist, I was told that I was on my own, that they don't refer patients to specialists because it is a conflict of interest. I thought that was very odd, especially since the doctor had told me the location of the specialist in the city on the phone the night before.

A quick internet search revealed the name of the closest orthopedist, an hour's drive away, so off we went.  The orthopedist did more x-rays, explaining that the ER doc hadn't even x-rayed the correct part of the arm (!) and it turns out the boy has 2 broken bones in his forearm.

So now he has a splint and a sling, which he will wear for a few weeks, and he is being a real trooper, even though he is quite uncomfortable.  He is a little bit proud, in a tough boy way, to have caught up with his older sister in the Total Number of Broken Bones tally.  They are now tied at two, and they have repeatedly been pointing out to Katie that she is wayyyy behind.