“Bracing” For The Worst

What a crazy past few weeks! Mason gets a cast. Mason gets sick. We travel to NYC. I run a race. We meet up with friends. Then its Easter weekend… so this week should be a breeze, but it ended up more like a hurricane. On Monday, it was imperative for me and my two offspring to be ready sitting in the car by 8 AM. I had signed up to help sell tickets for our school’s carnival. The kids knew this, so seeing Mason still sleeping in bed 15 minutes after I turned on his light infuriated me. I quickly changed my tune after touching his burning forehead and turning back the wet sheets. Mason had diarrhea. This was the only day I could help my dear friend, Sara, who had put in countless hours already for the school let alone this event. I did not want to let her down. I took Mason as is (cleaned up, of course), sequestered him in the corner lobby while he played his DS as I sold tickets.

Tuesday Mason’s fever is gone. That child went back to school! So I’m thinking “Yeah, I can now work out, go to the grocery store, catch up with the house…” At 8 AM my friend, Christy, calls. Long story short, she needs me to drive her son to preschool. Kegan does not attend Morgan’s YMCA Pre-K class. His school is 20 minutes away; with rush hour traffic add 10 more. I can’t even count the number of times Christy has helped me out of a bind, and there was NO way I was going to let her down. I didn’t mind at all, just kept assuring myself this was a temporary setback, but it will all work out. Speaking of “work out”, that did not make Tuesday’s agenda. The day was spent running errands. Wednesday was spent running more errands and a Pre-K Graduation Committee meeting.

Thursday, aahhh, Thursday! This would be the day I would work out and clean the house top to bottom. And as an added bonus, some quality quiet time to work on something for myself, something fun – like photography. The main bathroom had just been cleaned when I received a call from Mason’s teacher. Mrs. Mills begins to explain how she witnessed my son push his hand down into the cast, and is now complaining about being in pain. My initial thought was this boy wants to go home, watch TV and play video games. I asked Mrs. Mills if she would inform me if the situation became worse. If so, I would pick him up from school. Just as I finished the second bathroom, the phone rang again. It was Mrs. Mills. Five minutes later, there I stood eye to eye with the boy! “What is going on?” I ask Mason. “Do you realize if you go home there will be NO DS, NO TV, NO FUN!?” While I am giving him this speech, he is unable to stand still. Tears are now flowing from his worried eyes. I am now beginning to think something is very wrong. Mason proceeds to tell me he took OFF the cast to scratch an itch, and then put the cast back ON! I am NOT joking! His fingers were purple! Not knowing when I could get him in to see the orthopedic doctor, I picked Morgan up from school too. Three hours of non-stop crying ensued once we arrived home. The earliest I could get an appointment would be the next day at 1:15.

Today felt a bit better knowing Scott would be with us for this appointment. The first thing they did was PROPERLY removed Mason’s cast. I found the procedure to be quite interesting. They use a device called a Cast Vac – like a vacuum but with a dull circular saw at the end of it. Our boy’s face showed concern of this contraption until the assistant demonstrated it could not cut skin. The noise was probably the scariest part of the process. The doctor was very pleased we came in as soon as we did. If we waited any longer, Mason would have developed pressure point sores on his wrist. Due to Scott’s quick thinking, he was able to willingly change the doctor’s mind when she prescribed another cast. His final appointment was to (and still is) next week. So, she agreed and gave him a brace. That was a close call. Another cast would have charged our insurance $550 for only six days of use. Whew! Now everyone was doing much better.