Summer of 3 Ft 2
Today started well enough. The kids slept until a decent hour. I didn’t have to put anyone in timeout before lunch. The skies dried up long enough for me to hang laundry outside.*
As I worked on laundry, I heard Tory scream and knew things were about to go way downhill. Tory’s scream wasn’t one of those “she pushed me” or “she took my toy” kind of screams. I hear those screams dozens of times a day and have learned to ignore them. This was one of those screams of pure agony, like Ian just bit him but ten times as frantic.
I found him hobbling away from our backyard play set. He walked with a limp on his left leg, with his screams jumping about an octave each time he put weight on it. I knew exactly what he did, and had a good idea of what was wrong.
Our play set has monkey bars, a feature the kids just discovered. No one can come close to swinging across the monkey bars, but Abbie can at least swing out to the first bar and swing herself back when she realizes I’m not going to help her across. The boys can reach the first bar, but they stick there, suspended four feet off the ground and unable to swing forward or back.
I’ve warned Tory too many times about playing on the monkey bars, but he ignores me like every other directive I give him. I’m sure he grabbed the first bar, slipped, and fell to the ground. Ordinarily he’d have a chance at hanging on the bar until I found him, but all the rain we’ve had probably slicked the bar making him fall right off. Ordinarily the sand beneath the play set would cushion him, but, again, all the rain packed the sand tight and hard.
Mommy was home today and immediately checked on him, hoping for an ankle sprain. I poked his lower leg and felt swelling. Mommy whisked him off to the hospital while I feared the worst.
An hour later, mommy called to confirm that it’s bad but could be worse. He broke his tibia, the bone in his lower leg, and will need a full-leg cast for four to six weeks. The relative good news is at least it won’t require surgery.
So Tory will have to stay off his feet for at least four weeks. This presents a problem because he still wants to walk. He doesn’t understand that it hurts to move, but to be fair, he also hurts when he doesn’t move. His siblings aren’t helping by going easy on him, either. The little guy is in a lot of pain, but at least we have a strong painkiller prescription. I’m currently searching for any activity he can enjoy while sitting; so far all I’ve got is television.
* In case you’re curious about the flooding in Iowa, our family is safe. Our house is on a hill, so if we suffer flood damage we’ll need an arc to evacuate. A lot of the roads we use to travel around town are closed, including the two best routes for mommy to drive to work, so getting out can be a challenge. Otherwise, we’re fine. If we lose water and/or electricity we’ll have problems, but the Des Moines utilities claim they’re in good shape.
As I worked on laundry, I heard Tory scream and knew things were about to go way downhill. Tory’s scream wasn’t one of those “she pushed me” or “she took my toy” kind of screams. I hear those screams dozens of times a day and have learned to ignore them. This was one of those screams of pure agony, like Ian just bit him but ten times as frantic.
I found him hobbling away from our backyard play set. He walked with a limp on his left leg, with his screams jumping about an octave each time he put weight on it. I knew exactly what he did, and had a good idea of what was wrong.
Our play set has monkey bars, a feature the kids just discovered. No one can come close to swinging across the monkey bars, but Abbie can at least swing out to the first bar and swing herself back when she realizes I’m not going to help her across. The boys can reach the first bar, but they stick there, suspended four feet off the ground and unable to swing forward or back.
I’ve warned Tory too many times about playing on the monkey bars, but he ignores me like every other directive I give him. I’m sure he grabbed the first bar, slipped, and fell to the ground. Ordinarily he’d have a chance at hanging on the bar until I found him, but all the rain we’ve had probably slicked the bar making him fall right off. Ordinarily the sand beneath the play set would cushion him, but, again, all the rain packed the sand tight and hard.
Mommy was home today and immediately checked on him, hoping for an ankle sprain. I poked his lower leg and felt swelling. Mommy whisked him off to the hospital while I feared the worst.
An hour later, mommy called to confirm that it’s bad but could be worse. He broke his tibia, the bone in his lower leg, and will need a full-leg cast for four to six weeks. The relative good news is at least it won’t require surgery.
So Tory will have to stay off his feet for at least four weeks. This presents a problem because he still wants to walk. He doesn’t understand that it hurts to move, but to be fair, he also hurts when he doesn’t move. His siblings aren’t helping by going easy on him, either. The little guy is in a lot of pain, but at least we have a strong painkiller prescription. I’m currently searching for any activity he can enjoy while sitting; so far all I’ve got is television.
* In case you’re curious about the flooding in Iowa, our family is safe. Our house is on a hill, so if we suffer flood damage we’ll need an arc to evacuate. A lot of the roads we use to travel around town are closed, including the two best routes for mommy to drive to work, so getting out can be a challenge. Otherwise, we’re fine. If we lose water and/or electricity we’ll have problems, but the Des Moines utilities claim they’re in good shape.
posted by Matt at
11:58 PM
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