Tuesday, February 13, 2007

On waiting rooms, hauling kids

Most of my day was spent in the car, hauling kids here, there, and, well, you know. It was the day Maddie was to see the orthopaedist, so I started the day by calling to see how I was to pick up the X-rays at the hospital. Allow 30 minutes, they said. So I picked those up, then went to get Maddie from school. **Please note this is Houston, a city that covers over 600 square miles - nothing is close to us. Even things that are close mean 20 or 30 minutes in the car. It doesn't help that we live at what feels like the northernmost edge of the city, of civilization as we know it. The suburbs - or, more appropriately, where the city leaves off and hell begins.

But I digress. I picked up Maddie and treated her to lunch (I pulled her out of school early, so she missed PE class - where she can't participate anyway - sue me), then we were off to the orthopaedist. He was backed way up; he was to leave early today but they squeezed us in. Long story short, the injury is not a fracture, but it is an injury to the growth plate. In an adult, the bone would have snapped; for Maddie, it occurred in an area where there is cartlidge, where the bones have not yet fused together. However, they consider it a break and treat it the same way.

Upon hearing that she needed a cast, Maddie had only one question: Did she get to choose the color?

Her arm is ensconced in a lime green cast for the next four weeks (well, longer, as four weeks falls during spring break, and we'll be out of town). She seems animated, almost giddy about her cast; she went back to school and DI practice wielding Sharpies. All her DI friends have already signed - she even let me and her sisters have a go.

I've never had a broken bone; I have three brothers, and growing up, no broken bones. This is our first one. I'd never seen a cast put on, and it was certainly interesting. That said, it's an experience I don't need to repeat.

So. I took Sylvia to soccer. It was fre-e-e-e-e-zing out there - 45 and windy - and I"ll get no sympathy from friends in Indiana, Illinois, or Missouri. Sorry, but your reality is what it is. And for me, 45 and windy is cold. Tomorrow will be even colder. Brrr.

But I also had to pick up Maddie from DI at 7, take Alison to Tae Kwon Do at 7.20, and pick up at 8.20. Gary is out of town this week; however, even if he were here, he wouldn't be of much help. However, even with all the running around, sitting and waiting, I finished a book I started yesterday and read the new Newsweek. So all in all, not a total waste.

But I'm done. Good night, all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad Maddie is ok. I fractured my wrist in 1st grade, but only got a white plaster cast. I remember how weirdly light my arm felt when the cast was removed 4 weeks later. I did enjoy the attention and all the signatures I received.

As for 45 being freezing, well I have no sympathy for you. It's 20 here right now with blustery winds dropping us into the single digits for wind chill. It's been blowing snow all day. I'll take your 45.

Anonymous said...

Ok, Cindy, 45 is not cold. I would love to have that temp. today. I awoke this morning to a nice sheet of ice covering everything. The sleeting is continuing throughout the day and will turn to rain sometime this afternoon. Then the good news: the tempurature will be dropping to 15 tonight and all that rain and water will turn back to ice. The power is out in the city and driving was a little treacherous (not for me of course; too much experience from MO and Iowa winters). Anyway, enjoy 45 and throw a sweater on. It could be much worse. Happy Valentine's Day!!