clavicle

it finally happened.

the fact that this has not happened before now is a testament to the fact that kids are resilient, and possibley made of mostly rubber.

i am referring to my little bear getting an injury that required immediate medical attention. here's how it all went down:

tuesday morning i was feeling energized, refreshed, and ready to tackle some errands with all three cherubs along. after retrieving my replacement knife from teermans, i felt so generous of spirit that i decided to celebrate this accomplishment by heading on over to smallenburg park in holland.

as soon as we arrived, the boys shot out of the veen and ran over to the play structure. oh, fun loving boys, sweet as can be! as i began to unbuckle my adorable little cupcake from her seat, i heard bear start to cry. it was an owie cry. i hear this same cry about 5 million times a day as bear is a wild child willing to climb up and jump off anything. so i finished getting baby ayla and then tended to his tears.

only this boo boo did not get better with a kiss. the crying escalated and other mothers looked rather concerned. and maybe i am just imagining it but they also looked a little judgemental. upon further investigation, bear was holding his arm all crooked and screamed if ever i touched his neck area. then i got worried. i called dr lunds office, thinking maybe his shoulder came out of joint or something. they suggested i bring him down. so away we went.

the entire drive bear screamed, hysterically crying over every bump and repeating his mantry "ooowiee. i want my daddy". dr. lund conducted a preliminary exam and sent us to radiology to get an xray of his clavicle. we registered, waited, and prayed a lot. on the walk down the long hallway to the xray room, bear tripped and fell and howled anew with pain. my heart literally broke in half.

we went back to the dr's office to wait for the results. no break. then grandma came. dr lund felt bear should get a neck xray to rule out any vertebrae injury. this caused mass confusion as i missed the fact that a neck xray requires the er. i apologized profusely to all the registration nurses, xray peeps and other patients as i then came to grips that an er visit would cost us at least $1200, with the cost of more xrays in addition to that.

i hate that my mind went to the financial aspect when my son is in pain. do not get me wrong, i would absolutely sell the farm to pay for anything this boy needs, i just knew there had to be a better option. there was. urgent care. zeelands did not open til 5 so we went to hollands urgent care facility in zeeland. baby ayla went with grandma to nap and i dragged the boys both to another dr.

we arrived and registered and demonstrated and bear cried and talked two more doctors and when we were trying to leave my efforts to lift bear down from the table resulted in excruciating pain and much tears. so we reevaluated and discussed and got suckers and ate suckers and maxer got some wrapper stuck in his throat. drs and i determined no other xrays were needed and we would go to a follow up appt the next week. maxer's throat problem progressed to an all out gag fest and necessitated a trip to a drinking fountain were he tried to make himself vomit to get that tiny piece of wrapper out of his throat. he was successful and i charmingly informed the other mother in the waiting room that my son did not have the flu, only a bit of wrapper stuck so she need not worry about all the gagging. said mother and i are NOT bffs.

fast forward to thursday: another call from dr lund asking for another dr visit and another xray. unfortunately, i was at the end of my rope seeing my son all in pain and tears and discomfirt and not getting any results. add to that the gnawing knowledge of how much this is going to cost, hundreds of hundreds of dollars, and i was bratchy to the dr. i know. that is awful. i feel rotten about it and will be making her cookies. i actually said "well, we will go ahead and get a small loan and be back next week. thanks"

people, do not judge me. just say a prayer that next time i will be jesus and not some mommy monster to poor dr warpol. absolutely i am convicted that jesus gave me an opportunity to demonstrate self control, a fruit of the spirit, and i failed. miserabley. "but put on the lord jesus christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" romans 13:14

so here we are: no real answers, a swollen clavicle, a sore neck, a lot of whining, and now

some improvements like carrying his sippy cup with right arm. thank you jesus. stay tuned for further developments. or injuries.