The Kirk's - Boys-R-Us!

It Figures It Would Happen This Way!

But It Could Have Been A Lot Worse. . . .

So as you may or may not know, Dave is a Forensic Accountant, he does NOT count dead bodies at crime scenes ~ yes we've been asked that before. But rather they calculate loss for either the insured or the insurance companies after a catastrophe ~ enter BP's oil spill in the Gulf. So Thursday night he is put on 'stand-by' for going to New Orleans to help out with some of the calculations for those who are suffering loss from this catastrophe. Then Friday mid-morning they had settled it and he booked a flight for that afternoon to be gone for at least a week ~ enter Bonnie, the tropical storm headed that way, maybe Dave will be able to bring in some additional business calculating loss for that catastrophe - poor N.O.L.A. They can't seem to catch a break right now! So I tell you all of this to say Dave is out of town for a while.

So What Happened?!

Saturday morning my Mom had me and the boys over for breakfast and for a little change of scenery, you know to help split up the monotony of 'the everyday syndrome' that happens as a stay at home mom ~ you know where EVERYDAY is EXACTLY like the day before ~ so we had some breakfast, it was extra delicious cause I didn't have to make it or clean up after it!!! I used to LOVE to cook but after making 3 meals a day + 2 snacks a day everyday for almost 3 years, I am ALL too happy to sit at the table and wait patiently for any food brought my way ~ ah the simple things in life like a plate of hot eggs! So, needless to say, the few times someone cooks for me is a real treat!! After breakfast Kaiden wanted to watch Peter Pan so we turned it on and drug out a few boxes of toys Grammy has stashed away at her house and played till the movie got sappy then we wandered outside to 'help' Grammy wash her car (mine got a quick scrub down too) and before you know it, it was time for lunch. So Grammy fixed some hot dogs (still NOT a fan of those!) but the boys munched theirs down had some cookies then we headed back to our house for naps.

See, part of the idea behind the morning at my Mom's was to tire the boys out so that they would both go down for nap at the same time allowing me a little down time. . . . Remember Dave is out of town until next weekend ~ and to that end, Kaiden wanted to see a picture of his Dad at the 'new office'. SO he had taken a picture of the make-shift office he's in, but Kaiden wanted to see his Dad's face too not just the room, so as we were walking in the door my phone buzzed with a new message from him and I sat my phone on the kitchen table and he climbed up on the stool to take a look, unfortunately it was the wrong picture so having already seen that photo, Kaiden was climbing down. . . .

AND THAT'S WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG!

Even though I was standing no more than 18 inches away from him I couldn't get a hand on him and it happened so fast I don't know exactly what happened ~ I'm not sure if he missed the rung climbing down OR if he was trying to sit down but forgot he was on the edge ~ I honestly don't know. BUT I can tell you it was not the worst tumble I've seen him take and he did not cry for long after, plus keep in mind the boys were in desperate need for a nap at this point. He said his foot hurt and he limped on it a little and just requested I carry him, which isn't like him unless he's really tired. . . SO I made the decision to let everyone nap first then reevaluate the injury post nap. Keep in mind I'm flying solo and the thought of having two sleep deprived munchkins caught up in a waiting room or worse the small exam room made me cringe.

So after getting Pierce down and Kaiden tucked in I headed down stairs to Google search for 'toddler + broken ankle' basically every link I clicked on said that they can fracture their bones easily if they fall just right and that the 'litmus test' is if they will put any pressure on it. I read on to find post from the mother's on chat boards saying "Should I go to ER? He fell and won't put pressure on it, but he's laughing or slept through the night or doesn't seem to be in pain. . . " EVERY one of those post threads read on to have the mother (the original poster) come back to say 'yup it's broken' UGH! So I decided if he still can't walk on it after a nap, which he fell straight to sleep, and was in good spirits while reading his prenap book even giggling at the story, then I would bite the bullet and in the spirit of 'better safe than sorry' we would head to CHOA.

Leave It To The Experts! Well At Least That's What I Thought I Was Doing. . . .
As you may remember, we have had a recent experience with taking Kaiden to the wrong ER in the crap-tastic local hospital after his run-in with Trooper back in March. So knowing that Children's is the only option when it comes to the boys, I dialed their number and waited for them to tell me where to go. After explaining to the cheerful advice nurse that I suspected a broken bone in my son's foot/ankle, and told her our city of origin she checked her computer and suggested that I head to the urgent care center located at North Point Mall, she even went on to put our name in their call-ahead service as an effort to lessen our wait time. GREAT, I was confident I was making the right choice, so I filled sippies, grabbed one of everything out of the snack cupboard and a bottle of water for me, then we were off!

Despite the storm that was brewing we made good time getting down to the outpatient location and were walking thru the sliding doors in no time, again with me feeling a little cocky about my decision to do call ahead care, and maybe even a little pre-triumphant! LESSON LEARNED! The nurse who greeted us as we walked in asked "And how can we help you today?" I went on to explain that I was afraid Kaiden may have a fracture in his foot since he was refusing to put pressure on it, AND THEN, I went on to say how I had called ahead and confirmed that they could do x-rays at this location. The nurse shook her head and said "yes we can do x-rays, should the doctor order them, please sign in and wait to be called up to registration" Okie-dokie, can do!
We flew through the waiting room, registration and even the initial evaluation by the doc, he said he wanted to take a few different views to make sure and cover all bases on the x-ray and that someone from the department would be with us shortly to take us to get the rads done. ** YUP you guessed it, I was still a little proud & smug about my decision to come in & come HERE ** Lights flicker a few times with cracks of loud thunder from outside and we had seen bolts of lightning when we were in the room with a window ~ 25 - 30 minutes goes by ~ door opens, doc says "I apologize for the delay, we are getting our machine back online (I ASSumed it was knocked 'off-line' because of the fierce storm raging outside) it shouldn't be more than 15 - 20 minutes before they are ready to take the x-rays, do you mind waiting?" Hmm well it's already been at least 25 minutes in this tiny exam room, the boys have already eaten 1 bag of cheez-its, Phineas & Ferb gummies, and are working on a nummy bar so. . . I hear myself say "sure, we'll wait if it's only going to be a few minutes more" but in my head I'm like it better be less than 10 minutes or things will spiral out of control QUICKLY! Just at that time my Mom was calling to say she was off work and wanted to know if I wanted her to pick up a Chipotle salad and come to the house to do a chick-flick movie night - well under different circumstances that would be great but. . . . So since she was already at the mall it wasn't but 5 minutes to where we were. Once she arrived we chatted about what happened, scribbled on a couple of the kid mags, the boys finished their snack bar and started on the second and then we realized it had been 40 minutes since the doc assured us no more than "15-20" SO FRIGGIN TYPICAL!!

So having spent A LOT of time in doctors offices since Pierce's birth, I've learned to advocate for my family and to ask for straight answers NOT Dr. BS, so I opened the other door - not to the hallway but to the staff hallway popped my head out to find 5 or 6 people in scrubs, lab coats and medical dress standing around the nurses station and I just addressed the whole group "What's the word on the machine?" - my patience were gone & the boys were getting really bored with the two books & the title screen to 'Emperor's New Groove' since they were obviously too busy to have pushed play on the DVD. The same doc we'd seen twice before stood up from behind the desk and walked into our room, again saying that they were working on getting the machine back online and that they were on hold with the repair company and that he didn't believe it should be much longer - been there HEARD that!

At this point I lost hope in this doc, I asked to be discharged so that we could go down to Scottish Rite and have the x-rays taken there. After seeing what I can only imagine was the serenity of a caged animal in my face, he happily signed the yellow paper and sent us on our way. BUT the adventure does NOT end there! Kaiden having not so thoroughly enjoyed the 90+ minutes we spent at this facility upon hearing "hope you feel better" yanked that big, metal kick-plate covered door right open - in to the big toe of his right foot, ripping a chunk of that skin up and out and thus bleeding profusely & screaming at the top of his lungs! WOO-HOO, do we know how to make and exit or what?! I again popped my head out the 'doc door' asking for the doc to return to examine this new injury - his professional opinon was to "get a band-aid on it and have them take a look at it down there" Deep breath! Oh really NO SHIT SHERLOCK! So having spent my allotement of patience on an empty exam room and a 'downed machine' I start ripping open drawers to find band-aids then in my fury rip at the wrapper much like a cat ~ I admit probably NOT my best Mommy moment. But after applying 2 band-aids, and helping myself to a few for the road we made like chicken nuggets and dipped!

The Real McCoys!
Oh Boy, how to describe the difference - it's like the difference between delicious, perfectly crispy & evenly sprinkled 'Cool Ranch Doritios' and the knock-off store brand, cardboard imitation way over flavored 'fiesta ranch' chips, hmm maybe you're not a fan of Doritos. Ok it's like the difference between a real Coca-Cola and a genuine Check soda, or Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich and a school cafeteria's mystery chicken sandwich, fresh from the oven ooey gooey brownies and a package of little debbies. . . . alright I'm sure you get it, plus I am starting to drool on the keyboard so enough examples. Scottish Rite is the real McCoy! No reason to waste any time on the conveniently located urgent care facilities just go straight to the source!

For starters they have complementary valet parking! Are you kidding me, BRING IT! And after 90 minutes of practicing patience endurance training, the least the first place could have done was call ahead to let them know of our situation, so it was nice to hear 'Oh, we were expecting you Mrs. Kirk' - celebrity status, what ~ what!!! Then one of the reception nurses took down our information and asked if we minded her using our situation as a basis for a report reprimanding the other location of not practicing full disclosure, nope please be my guest! Then she went on to say how the machine had been down since lunch and that we were the third family to have waited in vain only to be sent on to S.R. to have the job done. Shake my fist at that first place - talk about hungry for some insurance money, yikes people!

We were immediately entered in the system through triage then put on the fast-track ~ is there any other option I ask you? ~ then within minutes of being in the room a nurse arrived to evaluate Kaiden and bring him some Motrin, yeah I didn't give him any pain meds cause I wasn't sure if I should do it before he was looked at by the doc, that can be my nomination for this years Mom Of The Year awards. The nurse quickly returns with a syringe of Motrin and a juice box, to which Kaiden says "Oh, thank you Mom for this medicine" the poor dear was so excited to have a little pain relief. And then we were taken straight back to x-ray. When we returned to our room the Thomas the Train movie we had been watching was done and the Tinker Bell movie was just starting, so Kaiden and I laid back on the stretcher and Mom & Pierce snuggled in the chair and before we even got to the good part, they were back with results and an ace bandage and our discharge papers! Just as I was signing my name on the last paper a customer service representative entered with a gift card to CVS for all the troubles we had been through between waiting and Kaiden ripping his toe open, we must have been a sight ~ that was really too sweet!! We were in and out (like kids buckled in care seats pulling down the ramp OUT) in an hour and twenty minutes!!

They Say Laughter Is The Best Medicine!
Although I guess that means for the patient but I sure as hell got a good laugh out of their diagnosis & treatment suggestions for Kaiden! Obviously I am relieved that there was nothing broken, and I deeply believe there is no place else like Children's at Scottish Rite and Egleston, but after all we had been through to look down at the paper and see:Final Diagnosis: left foot injury (well DUH) Special Instructions: Rest, ice, ace bandage, hard-soled shoes, elevate as much as possible, Motrin for pain, all I could do was laugh. Awesome! I guess I can rest well knowing that it wasn't fractured and well since we met our deductible for the year a while back this was like an all expenses paid mini-vaca! All right, more like peace of mind. . . .

Here's Kaiden with his ankle wrapped waiting patiently to head out to the car

And A Cherry On Top. . .
As we were leaving in an effort to stave off a temper tantrum at having to leave the hospital, yes Kaiden liked it that much ~ I have to admit the place is pretty cool~ I agreed to let him get ice cream, the MOTY that I am probably would have agreed to just about anything at that point cause I was done! So when we pulled in the driveway and the water works started I was promptly reminded that we hadn't gotten any ice cream yet. . . . So at 9:15 we, a deliriously tired Grammy, Me, Pierce & Kaiden, pulled into Bruster's and ordered up a few giant waffle cones, and Kaiden got a special kids cone that was inverted in a cup and sprinkled with mini M&Ms, the kid is a lady killer and he's not even 3 yet! We dug in to the sweet, cold yumminess, in between slap-happy giggles about the size of the cones and the craziness that had been our Saturday. Then with bellies full and now aching from the treat, we headed back home for a quick bath ~ ice cream + 2 medical facilities definitely warrants a bath no matter HOW late it was ~ and just before 10:30 we (My Mom stayed to help get them down) had both boys tucked in and sleeping peacefully!!

How's The Little Patient Now?
Well Sunday morning he was still limping/tippy toeing around the house. But after obliging me and wearing the cold pack on his foot for 15 minutes he started to walk on it with a slight limp, then no limp then eventually it was business as usual! Although I have to say that today I can certainly see red marks and bruising where there were none yesterday, but if he's fine with it, then I am fine with it, ya know?!!