Friday, March 30, 2007

Gimme a Break!

Well, Charlie has only been home 2-1/2 months and is on the injured list already. I got an e-mail from his teacher one afternoon that he had hurt his wrist slamming into a wall during a game of 4-square. The health center nurse said he could move the wrist, so she ice-bagged it and let him go.

When I got home and took a look, it seemed he had a lot more pain than simple bruising would cause--it was extremely painful to touch in two specific areas--so we went to one of those evening emergency clinics. They advertised x-ray capability, but it turned out they only had a mini-C-arm machine, so the pictures weren't good enough quality to pick up fine fractures. Since there was some doubt, they splinted him and told us to follow up with the orthopedist the next day.

I think the building where the orthopedist's office is must have looked like the hospital in China where they took him for an appendectomy, because as we pulled into the parking lot, he looked at the building, got very big eyes and a worried look on his face, and signed, "Surgery? Cut wrist?" I explained that it was just a doctor's office, not a hospital, and that they would only be taking pictures and might put a cast on it. Somewhat mollified, he agreed to go inside.

The orthopedist got better pictures and STILL isn't completely sure if it's broken. He suspects from the location of the pain Charlie is having that there is a little crack in one of the wrist bones called the scaphoid, and he decided to cast it just in case, because if it is cracked, it will never heal if he keeps twisting his wrist with normal use.

Charlie now has a bright green cast for the next 3 weeks. Doc warned him to keep it clean and dry. I explained that he would have to cover it with a plastic bag and a rubber band to shower.

At least it's on his non-dominant hand, so it doesn't much affect his ability to sign/communicate. Doesn't affect his ability to eat ice cream, either--we detoured out to Baskin Robbins on the way home.

We got home and showed off the new cast to big brother, Rick, who immediately tries to explain about the custom of signing casts and pulls out a black Sharpie magic marker. Charlie pulls back, screaming, "No, no, doctor said clean, dry!" (Guess I interpreted that part right, huh?)

We explained the difference between clean and "clean" and told him that the kids at school will all be wanting to sign his cast once they see it.

They made a liar outta me. He got home from school yesterday, and there wasn't a single signature on that cast except Rick's and mine. Don't kids sign casts any more???

He's dealing with it like a champ, not complaining, and only admitting that it aches a little if I happen to ask about it, but he's no longer asking for the ibuprofen we were using to help with the pain. Guess he's going to live through this one.

He got a nice pick-me-up yesterday evening, though. We stopped at the mailbox, and the first four fabric squares and wishes were waiting there. I let him open the envelopes and explained the custom of the 100 good wishes quilt and showed him pictures on the web of what I'd like his to look like. Now he's interested in checking the mailbox to see if any more show up. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about yet, look here.) He really enjoys getting mail. I think I'm going to subscribe him to a couple of magazines so he gets some mail of his own occasionally. Getting those envelopes was just what he needed to put a smile on his face. I even got some pictures of the big grin. Once I get them transferred to the computer, I'll add one to this post.