TWO LEFT FEET

The other day we were enjoying a nice visit at a friends house and the kids were outside climbing trees. I went out to check on the kids and found Syd in tears, hardly able to breath because of the pain. She had jumped down out of the tree because she couldn't get down and felt stuck. The other kids had moved to the back yard and she was alone. The jump down was approximately 10-12 feet straight down onto uneven grass. Not good. She could not weight bear on her left foot what so ever. Being the great nurse that I am, I elevated and iced and said she would be fine the next day. Not the case.

By noon the next day, Syd was still in quite a bit of pain, and couldn't bear weight. Not much swelling present and only a little bruising. Paul and I decide to go get an x ray. This is Holy Week. Here everything but grocery stores and gas stations are closed. You can not buy or drink alcohol during the 4 days of Holy Week. Stations of the cross are present at different locations in town. Many people travel hours to be with family. I think we have a revival type meeting happening at the local high school near our house and can hear worship music throughout the day. So, seeing how important this weekend is, I wasn't sure whether to go to a clinic or hospital.

Here is a station of the cross set up outside a small buisness on the main street.

Paul called the hospital administrator to ask him what would be the best way to get Syd's foot checked out. He says to go to the hospital and get the x ray done there. I, of coarse have been programed in Calgary. A trip to the hospital means bring books, food and water and get ready for a minimum 6 hour wait. I pack our bag, hop in the car and drop Josh off at Jenni's on the way down the hill to the hospital where we have our health insurance. On the way I am trying to put phrases together in Spanish to explain what happened. Words like "weight bear" don't translate very well by the way.

Paul, Syd and I enter the emergency room and are asked if we are Paul Day."Si" I respond. Apparently Manuel, the hospital administrator, called ahead and let them know we were coming in. I signed Syd in, which took all of 5 minutes. During that time, Syd was seen by the ER doctor and had an ice pack in place. The radiologist is called in and we wait. 20 minutes later, the x ray is done. The ER doctor shows us a spot on the x ray with a small fracture and calls in an orthopedic consult. We wait. Meanwhile I get a call from Jenni who I can hardly hear because Josh iscrying so loudly in the background. Josh stepped on a rusty screw, yes tetanus shot is up to date, and is bleeding quite badly and is in quite a bit of pain. It got jabbed at the junction between his bg toe and second toe on his left foot. Jenni's is not sure if stitches are needed. I talk Josh down over the phone and tell Jenni to call if she thinks he needs a stitch or two. Could you imagine having both kids in ER with left foot issues? After a bit, still no Doctor and I ask why. David is a pretty small town and most of the Doctors live 5-10 minutes away, so a 30 minute wait for a consult is kind of long. I am being serious by the way. The ER nurse tells me the doctor was in a car accident on his way here, not serious, but he called in the "back up" orthopedic doctor. I should have asked if the first doctor hurt his left foot in the accident, seeing that seems to be the theme for that day. In walks the other doctor who looks at the x ray and tells us in spanish that the fracture is chiquita, very small, no cast, no crutches, no surgery. Just wrap, support with a good running shoe, ice, elevate and use anti inflammatory meds for a few days. We leave 2 hours after arriving with the ER staff apologizing for how long everything took. I pay our bill, $36, and we leave to pick up Josh, who does not need any stitches, thankfully.

The Day Hospital

I have circled the fracture with sharpie. We got to keep Syd's x rays, a great addition to our home school room.

Now get this, Manuel, the hospital administrator, calls us on our way home to ask how Sydney is and if everything went well. This is a huge holiday weekend here and he calls us on our cell. Now that is what I call great customer care!

In the mean time I will be taking care of my little wobbly children.

Until I blog again,

Linda