Of late, this blog hasn't been much about the mania of being a mum of four, but today. Oh today. Oh yes it is...
The day was supposed to go like this.
10.20 No 1 picked up by new friend from secondary school's dad (whom I don't know) to go to ice skating party for the day.
I was meant to be revising The Book prior to sending to my agent (I've finished, I've finished!)
2pm I was meant to be helping at no 4's Christmas Fair
4pm No 2 had a party to go to.
But what actually happened was this.
All was going swimmingly, till an hour after no 1's departure, when I got a phone call from the dad I didn't know to say she'd fallen over on the ice and had possibly broken her arm.
My children have form in this department. No 1 has already suffered one greenstick (playing piggybacks at school, her friend landed on her. Embarrasingly, friend's family are Spouse's patients...)
No 2 fell off a telephone table aged three and broke her arm in two places resulting in an operation (this was also the day I found out to my consternation at the time, that I was pregnant with no 4. It's all go in our house).
Readers of this blog may also remember she broke her arm in Switzerland on holiday last year.
So omens for it merely being a strain, I have to say weren't looking too good.
I rang a friend to say, Soreeee can't help at the Fair, got in the car and drove the half an hour it take to get to the Ice skating rink, picked no 1 up and was at our local A&E (which miraculously, despite the PCT's best efforts hasn't shut yet) at 1pm.
A&E was absolutely packed - full mainly of small boys who'd injured themselves playing football. It took us an hour to see a triage nurse who rather unhelpfully said he didn't know where to suggest she had an xray as it seemed to hurt everywhere. He was convinced it was a sprain, which made me feel a bit better, but no 1 is a stoical little soul and I suspected she was in a lot more pain then she was letting on.
At 2.30pm a paediatric nurse had turned up so we were able to repair to the more child friendly surroundings where the paediatricians hang out and eventually no 1 was x-rayed. However the very friendly doc was worried that she may have broken a very small bone that doesn't show up easily on x rays, so she splinted it, and we're back to Outpatients on Tuesday morning - inconveniently at 8.30am. On the upside the hospital is very close to no 1's school, so at least I can get her there easily...
I rang my mother to seek expert advice (she's an ex nurse, which is rather handy) and her immediate response after instructions to elevate the arm, and press frozen peas on it to reduce swelling was to say, you should put it in a book.
Which of course (this having happened before) I already have.... Pastures New indeed has a scene in which my hero's son breaks an arm. That will learn me....
I had also coincidentally just written a scene in The New Book in which my hero's daughter has a rather dramatic accident. As the subject matter of a lot of it is about our over litigious society. my hero makes a point of declaring he won't sue anyone as a result of the accident. In a life imitating art kind of moment, I could feel the frisson of anxiety when I went to pick no 1 up as to what my reaction would be... I think the dad was heartily relieved when I said, Oh, they normally break their arms with us. I felt very sorry for him, it must have been a hell of a thing to do....
So now we're back home, no 1 has had calpol and has her arm propped up. Even if it's not broken, that'll be no swimming, tennis, dancing or writing for a while. But she can play the piano right handed and is luckily a little bit ambidextrous, so may manage the writing.
It's certainly never dull in my house...
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7 comments:
Dear me, not dull but rather unfortunate all the same. Hope all is well soon. And if nothing else you will find time for the Auswitzch post. Or perhaps you'll have even less time.
Why not write a book about someone who wins the lottery, and can therefore keep up her blogging without distraction?
There's something in the air at present...
No 3 and I spent this pm in the JR casualty dept with possible broken foot. 2 weeks ago he was there with possible broken hand. Today's was just a sprain, the other one swollen ligaments. Neither occasion was he with us (once at a party the other at school)
Still glad to hear your story as they say these things come in 3's
MT
PU I haven't forgotten about the Auschwitz post. I should have cleared the book by tomorrow, then I have some other stuff to catch up on, and after that I can get back to blogging!
Thanks for good wishes re the daughter. Am an old hand at this now, so apart from hating to see her wince in pain when they manipulate her hand, it is fine. The school even sorted her out a laptop so she doesn't miss anything....
MT oh dear. Sounds like we need a real life conversation!! Hope the boy is ok...
I can strongly recommend breaking a bone in Aviemore. There's no queue for A&E (except, perhaps, in the skiing season).
i think i may have broken that little bone - scaphoid, is it? they sometimes re-xray cos the fracture doesn't show up well until it starts to heal. hattie had a ghastly fracture aged 8 coming off a pony - displaced rotated fracture of tibia - i nearly threw up when i saw the angle of her arm. she had to have it manipulated and pinned back into position under anaesthetic and so had to use her right had for writing - now she's virtually ambidextrous. everything except writing, infact. hope she's ok! xxx
And on the note of writing something that actually or nearly happens, it has occurred twice for me.
First very spooky was a short story I wrote in 1991,where the heroine was dumped unceremoniously outside a Leicester Square cinema on a particularly warm summer evening after seeing a particularly romantic film. 2 years later guess who was dumped unceremoniously on a warm summer's night after seeing Strictly Ballroom (OK so the scene of dumping was a pub, but still)
The other was more recent. I just handed in my first assignment which was the story of a woman whose life was associated with River Thames. A key part of the story was the great storm of 1953 & the Canvey Island floods. Just before I submitted it, the whole East Coast was on floodwatch as they predicted a surge of water just like the storms of that night. Luckily flood warning is more sophisticated so all was well but it is making me a bit nervous about putting some of my more gruesome ideas to paper.........
MT
PS We can catch up in real time today if you like. At home with no 3 & no 2 (who is a bit tired & taking the opportunity of an extra rest)
Leigh, thanks for that tip. With my family's luck we need it.
RG - yup it was the scafoid they were worried about. I have been told today that it is ok and the Expert aka my mother tells me it is unlikely for a child to break it because they are so small (except no 1 is nearly as big as me, so hers probably isn't!!). She is in a lot of pain though and I was nearly yelping as the very nice doc manipulated her wrist.
No 2's first fracture sounds similar to your daughter's. Hers had to be manipulated back too and whole thing was total nightmare as Spouse was at hospital saying I think it's broken in two places, one doc thought it was broken at the elbow, another thought it broken on the radius, so they plastered her up and sent us home. I merrily went to Outpatients the next day with nos2 and 3 (who was a baby) to discover that she needed an operation. I got stuck there the whole day as they missed her slot, because she's asthmatic and she didn't have her inhalers etc etc. Thankfully Mad Twin saved the day by coming to pick no 1 up from school, and no 3 up from hospital... I'm glad my life has calmed down a tad since then!
MT. Stop writing. Immediately.
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