Boy + Tree = ER

Summer just wouldn't be complete without a trip to the emergency room.

That is exactly where Carson and I spent 4 hours last night after he fell when swinging from a tree limb in our front yard. I was in the driveway vacuuming the van and didn't see it happen. Fortunately, Taylor was outside and walked him over to me. His arm was red in the crook of his elbow so I brought him inside, had him lay down on the couch and applied ice.

In the pit of my stomach I had a feeling that this accident would require a trip to the ER. And this would be the first trip for Carson. The last (and first) time we made a visit to the ER for one of our boys was when Taylor was 2 years old and had croup. So we had a nice quiet span of close to 10 years without any incidents. That is a pretty good record for a family with 3 crazy busy boys.

I sent the other 2 boys to the neighbors house and called Jason at work to tell him what was going on. He left work in the middle of a huge downpour that was going on in Cleveland, but made it home safely.

Carson was very nervous and in pain - not a fun combination. While we were waiting, an older lady who was on a bed was wheeled past us. Carson looked at her and back at me and asked, "Is that lady half dead?"

We finally got in for x-rays 2 1/2 hours later at which this point the pain my poor boy had to endure was really taking a toll on him. The technician asked if anyone had given him any pain meds, but of course not - that would be too practical of a thing to do. After 5 grueling x-rays they put us in a room, gave him a temporary cast/splint, and FINALLY gave him some pain meds. It did end up being a fracture in the area of his elbow joint, which they said was an odd location for a break to happen. After that we were sent on our way home.

The medication seemed to kick in right away and Carson turned into a little chatterbox. He asked me if I was happy that he didn't pass out and he also told me he liked how nice I was being to him. As if I'm not that nice all the time - come on!

I treated him to Burger King since he was starving and had not eaten since lunch. Then we came home to settle him in for the night. I went back out to try and find a pharmacy that was still open at 10:30 pm. I had no such luck and came back home after a half hour of driving around.

Carson slept fairly well as we had him set up on a mattress in our room so that I could keep an eye and ear on him. Every hour or so he would call my name and would want me to adjust his pillows, but for the most part he did very well.

We went to get his 'permanent' cast in place this morning along with filling his prescription and that was pretty much non-eventful, thankfully.

Now we wait 6 weeks - and try to keep an active boy at bay. Any suggestions on how to do that? And the itching in the cast has already begun. It's going to be a long countdown. I may need my own Rx.