My silver fork

Why is it, when you think things are under control, something flies at you out of left field? I personally attribute it to my silver fork.

You see, some people are born with a silver spoon. Not me. I was born with a silver fork. In many ways it is like a silver spoon. I have a wonderful life, I have a great husband, two fantastic and healthy kids. I have a house, my husband has a good job so I can stay at home with my kids. That has silver spoon written all over it. But it is not a silver spoon. We do struggle for things. We seem to have a few extra challenges that most people don't go through but it seems we always land on our feet. That is the silver fork. The tines of the fork poke me and remind me constantly not to sit back and take things for granted.

Which leads to yesterday.

Matthew had school in the afternoon yesterday because they had a special guest speaker. I arrived at 3:30 with Ryan to pick him up and was met outside the building by his teacher. There had been an accident and Matthew's finger had been crushed by a block. I needed to take him in somewhere to take a look at it, it bled a lot.

I went inside and Matthew's finger was bandaged up and he was sobbing. I thought, I'll take him to a walk in to check it then we'll head home. Picked him up (he can't use crutches with an owie on his finger) and popped him in the van.

We got lucky at the walk in clinic. It was really busy, but because of Matthew crying and my having to carry him because of his cast, I think the nurse felt bad for us. We were back in an exam room within minutes.

The doctor came in and removed the bandages. Honestly, I thought the teacher had over reacted, until I saw his finger. Yuck. It was still bleeding and the nail was pulled half way out of the nail bed. The end of the nail bed that should be covered up and safe was exposed and at a 90 degree angle to his finger.

After an exam, a consult and the doctors unsure of what to do (after trying to pull his nail back into position with no meds) I suggested that maybe the children's hospital would be a wise choice. They agreed so off we went.

Arrived at the children's and my husband met me there 20 min later to pick up Ryan who was still in tow. Matthew's finger was still bleeding and had almost bled through the second dressing but he was in better spirits. Craig and Ryan headed home at 5:45 and Matthew and I waited. We were in an exam room about 30 min later. The doctor took a look and decided to do X-rays. He agreed, the nail needed to be put back but wanted to give Matthew an IV so he would not feel the freezing or have to watch the procedure. That is where our wait began. It was a busy night, the procedure rooms to give IV's were very busy.

X-rays showed he had a small fracture but nothing but time could heal that.

We finally got to a procedure room about 10:00. They gave him some IV drug that knocked him out. They repositioned the nail. It popped back in nicely. Then they stitched through the nail and attached it to his finger. Gave us a really strong antibiotic and when Matthew was awake enough, we left about midnight.

He slept until 9 this morning and now we need to run out to pick up our prescription. He says his finger hurts a bit but refused pain medication. He is tired, but generally doing very well. He should be back on his crutches in a few days, just in time to go to St Louis. We need the stitches removed in a week... we are in the Shriner's hospital on Monday. I have a feeling some one there could help us out with that. We are home, happy, and back on track. Things could be far, far worse.

So all in all, it may have been a difficult day, but thanks to my silver fork, things are all in perspective again. I am one lucky mom.