Oh, and also

While I was speaking to my nurse friend, she told me that we would need to return to the fracture clinic every 2 weeks for a new cast and another x-ray. Apparently that way the cast doesn't get all festy underneath, and we will know when the bone is healed and we can remove it. Of course, he will grow in the next 8 weeks, so probably not the best idea to stop an already broken leg from developing properly!

Apparently they theme the casts - maroon at origin time, for example. I wonder if we'll get red and green (if he lets them - blue is about the only colour that passes muster at the moment!).

Getting on with it

Well, our visitors have almost gone, and of course it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be (it rarely is). In fact it was a blessing.

HB has worked out how to wriggle on his bottom, using his arms to move himself around.

It looks so tragic.

Wendy had suggested an OT scooter board, which I had also thought of. However we'll wait till Wednesday, when the new (hopefully walking) cast goes on. After speaking to our friend the emergency nurse at church this morning, it has become apparent that the cast will be waterproof inside and out. It should even be coloured!

HB's pain has also reduced. I took him out the other morning. It was supposed to be a simple trip to the library, but we arrived half an hour before it opened. So back into the car it was, in the rain, manouevering the leg in and out of the car and the stroller. HB was teary by the time we got back to the library. We were only out for an hour. However I hadn't given him the full on painkillers before we went. I did that before we went to church this morning, and he did cope, which was good. Didn't let him go out to Sunday School though - couldn't work out how the leg would work sitting at the awkward table out there.

I've also worked out how to bath him - tape bag around cast, sit him in bath, put leg on upside down ice cream container, and hand him the shower. There was lots of crying the first few times.

Rethinking

I was going to get HB a scooter for Christmas. Now I'm thinking along the lines of Thomas the Tank engine, and books.

These might be worth the investment

In the worst case scenario, HB's cast doesn't come off until the start of school next year. Thanks to Laetitia and something I read after doing a lot of Googling about broken legs, I have found these, which would allow HB to swim and bathe. There's even something to cool down a cast and stop it itching. Apparently we are going to be able to get a waterproof cast, and might even be able to choose a colour?

Such new territory for me. Even though HB broke his arm as a baby, it had healed in a week and didn't need a cast. No one in my family has ever broken anything.

Feelings

Here is HB's leg.

He didn't actually even complain that it hurt this morning. How can it not? Our friend from the ED here got the xray flims printed and the fracture looks worse than it did when I fleetingly saw it in Radiography. On Tuesday we go back for another x ray and if it's all aligned they will put on a full cast. If not, surgery.

Here's how I feel.

SAD - for my boy. He can't go anywhere without calling out for me to take him. No swimming over a very hot summer. No sandpit or parks or beach. No trike. No chasing his sister or screaming around with his tractor. No water play.

STRESSED - We are hosting a missionary family of 6 for two nights this weekend. How will I get the beds made up/toilets cleaned/dinners/breakfasts/lunches for 10 people sorted out and all the post visiting cleanup donewith a needy boy? As an introvert it's a stretch for me to entertain anyway, am convicted that it's a biblical command so I do as much of it as I can. But I'm all emptied out like a drink offering. Trying to meet the needs of my husband and daughter are stretching me too.

THANKFUL - When I raise my heart above my emotions, I am thankful for a little boy whose care God has given me, for free, good quality hospital care, that he is an easygoing little chap.

Today

HB had a good night. He slept for 14 hours altogether, the antihistamine in the painkillers really doped him out.

However, he doesn't want to talk about his leg/injury/experience at hospital/in the ambulance at all. No attention would be very preferable! Occasionally he will burst into tears but can't tell me why. Just general pain/feeling gross, I suppose. He is lying on the couch being read to or watching TV. I'm finding it difficult to do anything else (like hang out the enormous amount of washing I need to deal with!). That's ok though, it's what you expect with sick kids.

Oh man, what a day

HB has broken his leg - it's a nasty fracture, the sprial kind, in two places. We were an hour and a half west of here having an overnight break because LJ couldn't go to school. It worked, until we were walking on slippery tiles and encountered another type of break. Neither of us saw it happen, we assume he twisted and his femur (shin) snapped. He went into shock pretty much straight away. Thankfully I had seen an ambulance station on the way. We stopped there, couldn't raise the ambulance officer but called them on 000 after we decided to keep going and he met us back there after a U turn. He gave him a shot of morphine and splinted the leg, then loaded us up in the ambulance and drove us the remaining 50 minutes to hospital. It only took 2 hours for diagnosis, splinting and discharge. We have to go back there in a fortnight for a full cast.

I'm not looking forward to a good night. His painkillers only last for 4 hours and I can only give them to him every 6.

Am thankful that the ED wasn't busy (we don't have a choice anymore), that one of the nurses goes to Bible study and she was on, and for morphine!

Psychology

I went to a few sessions of Psychological counselling recently - with an ex-pastor who is also a Psych. I have always wanted to do this because I am very aware that evidence for depression intervention indicates that medication and counselling are better than one on its own. I'd told others who came to see me this, so I needed not to be a hypocrite! What with a combination of living in the country and/or not having the funds to do it, nor someone who I trusted, I hadn't done it before.

I have found some of it helpful - teasing out reasons for my behaviour which I haven't managed to do myself (though I had managed to do a bit of it) and getting strategies for when I get really anxious.

However, we spent a session on 'Boundaries' during which the Psych said that in order to be able to give, we needed to be filled up physically and emotionally. Apparently we can 'only minister from a point of wholeness'. I have some issues with this as well. However, one of the ways he suggested doing this was to put in place Boundaries where we only engage with certain people who are likely to hurt us, at certain levels. The issue with this is that I think that we would end up cocooning ourselves from the world! What about our immediate family? Or workmates?

Thoughts?

Huh?

One set of neighbours just set off some illegal fireworks. They may have picked a bad street though - my other neighbour is a fireman...

So much for getting the kids to sleep!

Harry Potter vs Twilight

"Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."

- Stephen King.

Found it on Pinterest, which I LOVE.

What do you think?

Housework

Jobs one has to do in the tropics that don't have to happen anywhere else in QLD
- Clean mildew off the walls/ceilings/windows about every 2 months. I'm using oil of cloves but it doesn't work as well up here as it has in other places I've lived.
- Wash dirt off curtains or dirt grows mildew
- Have a cyclone kit in readiness in a secure downstairs location containing food, water, medications and pet requirements.

We live in a very large house, which is a blessing. However with this comes increased housework - I have 10 sets of curtains to handwash upstairs and a similar number downstairs. I'm trying not to think about it!