It's so fun watching the cats play. Today I got them both going so much that they were out of breath. The best part about today was the height, they had never really jumped too high to get a toy, today they were jumping all over the place, especially Chip, and even did a little bit of acrobatics.
It was about time for someone else to lose a tooth besides Owen. This time around it was Gabbi. Apparently, she was making up for lost time and lost 2. She was fine with that, more teeth, more money from the Tooth Fairy.
We spent the week trying to get William an appointment with the Orthopedic specialist. At the Emergency Room they told us that if we hadn't heard from them by Wednesday afternoon that we should contact them and that is exactly what I did. I called multiple times on Wednesday, figured they were closed for Thanksgiving so I didn't call Thursday, called multiple times on Friday, and sadly since their office is closed on Saturday's and Sunday's I was out of luck on those days. In all my attempts to contact the desk I never got through. I even tried calling the Main Hospital number and had them transfer me to the desk and I sat in silence for over 8 minutes before hanging up and trying something else. I probably spent over an hour in all of my attempts to get William an appointment.
After talking to our friend from across the street, she agreed that they are hard to get through to and said that she just went in to the hospital when her son broke his arm. Every time they did because he had to have it recast a few times, they just went in and saw him that day. With her suggestion, Ben and I took William in this morning.
When we got to the hospital it took a minute to figure out where we were going, but once we did we were happy to see that the desk actually existed. We had to wait in line for a few minutes, but once we did we told them of the difficulty trying to call for an appointment. She explained that a few times the last few days their systems were down, but I still didn't understand why they didn't have some sort of answering service to leave a message. When she was done taking our information I was surprised and relieved that she handed us a handout to fill out and asked us to have a seat until they call our name.
With the form in hand we went and sat down at a kid table while we waited. We didn't wait long. I didn't even get to finish filling out the form before they were calling his name. They took us to get his vital read and then back to the casting room. First things first, they wanted to get another x-ray of his arm. They told us that they would be taking off the splint to do so. I was scared and worried for them to take it off. This wasn't how they did it last time, but Ben gave me the look of not to worry and to let them do their job. So William sat down on the bed and a gentleman nurse came over and took off his splint. I could tell them William was just as scared and worried as I was. He did not want it to come off. He even told the nurse not to. He nicely explained to William that they had to get a new x-ray and that they'd be able to see it better with the splint off. So William took a deep breath as he continued to take the splint off. When it was all the way off, he walked us back to the x-ray waiting area.
We waited here for a few minutes. The tech was in their with another solider. When he was ready he came up to William and asked him if he was ready. William looked at Ben and I and got up from his seat. We followed them into the x-ray room and awaited instructions. After entering William information into the system, he came out and got William ready to go. He put a shield around his waist and then pulled up a stool for William to sit on. This was a lot better situation for William. Even putting his hand in some of the positions as he did last time weren't as bad and all because of a little stool to sit on. He was definitely a lot more comfortable. After a few x-rays, the tech then took us back into the casting room.
It wasn't long before the Specialist came in with a student in toe. She came in and introduced herself and the student that was with her. She then began to talk to William. She asked him how it happened and how he was feeling. She also examined his arm. William was apprehensive about that one. He didn't want her to touch it, but she assured him that if she found a spot that hurt, she would stop. Along with examining his arm she checked all the bones in the hand and fingers since the discharge papers said he had one bone broken in his hand. She thought it was odd that nothing hurt in his hand and asked us about his finger. She noticed the shape of his second finger and asked us if that happened with his fall. We told her that it had nothing to do with his writs break and that he's had it for as long as we can remember. She laughed and said that he might have dislocated it at some point and it just healed on it own. We honestly can't remember when we officially noticed the crookedness of that finger. With that in mind, she said that there wasn't a broken bone in the hand after all. She was really great with William, which made the whole situation more relaxed.
When she was done with her questions and examination she showed us the x-rays from three different angles. I was glad that William got to see the x-rays. Now he knew for sure that it was broken and that he needed to take it easy. After seeing the x-ray's she laid out a plan of action on how to best help his arm to heal. She suggested both a long cast and a short cast. I cringed at the thought of a long cast because she said that it would be an elevated one. Can you imagine an 8 year old in an elevated arm cast. That is asking for trouble. Thank Heavens she also suggested a shorter cast just below the elbow. We opted for that one and happily put that in his chart. She then talked to William about what he needed to do to make sure that his arm would heal in the shorter cast. He promised that he would do his part and follow all of her rules. Cross your fingers that that is actually accurate. With the plan of action set, she stepped aside to finish the paperwork that he would need (school note, care for cast, and a return appointment slip) while a casting specialist prepped for the cast.
He pulled out so much stuff. He even had items that I had never seen before and considering that this isn't our first time, that surprised me. I was sad to find out that none of this material was waterproof like his last one. I didn't even ask, they made it seem like it was an option at all. With the majority of their patients being soldiers, I guess that really doesn't surprise me. After pulling out everything he needed he came over to the bed William was sitting on and had him scoot to the edge. He then explained to William what he was going to do and what he needed William to do. William had a hard time keeping his hand in the position that he wanted it in, but overall William did great. He was really good with William as well. He tried to make him feel as comfortable as possible even though there were some parts that were really hard for William. I could tell that William was relieved when he was finally done.
Once at home, we did as the specialist suggested...to elevate. He said that the cast would take 24 to 48 hours to fully harden and to make sure that William didn't have any discomfort (bleed pooling at his hand in the downwards position) he suggested that William elevate it as much as possible today. So we did just that. We found him something to watch on Netflix and placed his arm on a pillow to have it elevated above his heart. William didn't like it at first, but seemed to relax as time went on.
The cutest part of the whole situation was Dale. He willingly came up on the couch and sat right next to William. It was too cute. William happily pet him with his free hand and did so for as long as Dale would let him. I wonder if Dale could tell that William was uncomfortable in his current situation and came to comfort him. If not, it was still cute and William was loving it. They both sat there for a good 2 almost 3 full hours just loving each other. That was a huge step in the forward direction with the cats (Dale) getting used to us.
Now that Thanksgiving is done and over with, it was time to decorate for Christmas. We have more space to decorate this year than we've had for the last few Christmases. I wasn't sure how it would all turn out once we were done. The kids were happy to help grab the boxes from the garage so we could get started. When everything was inside, we turned on White Christmas and started decorating.
I fluffed the tree and when I was done, I turned it over to the kids. While they decorated the tree, I pulled out the garland and placed it around the mirror in the kitchen. When that was up, I got to put up my ornaments. Everything went up pretty quick. We didn't really have as much as I thought I did. When we were done, we went outside to help Ben put up the lights outside. With all the teamwork, we were able to get everything we wanted to be done, with plenty of time to relax afterward.
I realized that I never took pictures of the house after we had unpacked everything. Now seemed like a good time, before too much changed as we continue to settle in.
