An ER Visit...

We have been very lucky... we have three kids and before tonight have only visited the ER once...back when K3 was 17 months old and had croup (scary!). Tonight's visit was a toss-up on whether we should go to ER or Urgent Care but the unknown led us to the ER.

Earlier today around 1:00 p.m. K1 complained that his middle finger hurt (NO! Not from overuse!!). I disregarded it as nothing. About an hour later, he came to me and said now it hurt across all of his fingers. I took a closer look and it seemed as if his hand was swelling. I watched it over the next hour and it was extremely warm to the touch and the swelling had definitely increased. I called J at work and his diagnosis was tendonitis either from shoveling yesterday or increased video game playing... nothing to worry about.

A short time later I was on the phone with a college friend and told her about K1's hand... she said to go in to the doctor. That's why we have insurance to help alleviate those fears of the unknown. By 5:00 I was going to take him into Urgent Care but by then his hand though still swollen was no longer warm... it had cooled down considerably. However, he could not bend or move his hand in any way. K1 said it didn't hurt as long as no one touched it (which K3 made the mistake of bumping into it and he almost broke down and cried). We had just finished eating dinner around 7:15 and I brought it up to J again. He started touching it (K1 said it hurt!) and J said that K's hand was ice cold. Something was definitely wrong... swelling, poor circulation, touch sensitive. J called his parents who both work in medical professions but they couldn't offer any advice other than to take him in.

Because of the severity of his condition at the time, J and I both decided to go which meant the girls had to come along as well. We debated whether Urgent Care or ER... but I was worried about worse case scenario of a blood clot and thought I would feel better being at the hospital. We have a wonderful Children's Hospital accessible to us and decided to trust them with our son. We didn't have to wait long... maybe 20 minutes at most before we were seen in Triage and then led to an exam room.

Our doctor was extremely stumped... she ordered x-rays, motrin and a warm soak. All which showed or did nothing. His x-ray showed no breaks. The motrin so far has not brought down the swelling and the warm soak evened out his skin tone a bit (it was really mottled when we went in). Our doc conferred with a veteran doctor and they also consulted with a rheumatologist. They could not come to any conclusion on what was happening. They did rule out a clot based on a strong blood pressure reading and reactive crit (pressure to the cuticle). Our orders are to continue ibuprofen every 6-8 hours for 48 hours and see his pediatrician tomorrow. For now I am resting a bit easier and hope that tomorrow brings some sort of answers or at least a return to normal of his hand.

So based on our excitement and anxiety today and tonight... my 3 good things for today all relate to K1's medical emergency...

1. The ability to have a choice on where to get good medical care for ourselves and our children.
2. Girls being concerned over the pain their brother was feeling.
3. Being reassured that our son did not have a blood clot.

Trip to the Eye Doctor

On our trip home from J's family a few days after Christmas, we stopped to eat lunch at Subway. It was while we were sitting at a table that K3 asked about the price of her sandwich. Her dad told her to read it on the menu board. She shocked us all when she said she couldn't see the prices. With knowing looks, J and I knew she needed an appointment with an Optometrist.

Finally after two weeks, I remembered to make an appointment for an eye exam for K3. I made the call this morning and got her in for the afternoon. Her vision is not horrible however she does need some assistance for distance, so glasses it is. The doctor recommended her keeping them on in the classroom but otherwise, she does not need to wear them all the time.

After her vision test, we went out into the store to find frames. K3 was resistant at first and a few discreet tears were shed. She did NOT want glasses. I told her as she really needed them, either she picked some out or I would. K1 was there trying to help (HA! as much as a big brother can anyway.) Eventually she narrowed it down to one or two frames and since theywere having a sale of 2 for $99... I bought them both. This way she can leave one pair at school and have one for at home.

Her glasses will be ready tomorrow afternoon. I hope that K3 will let me take her picture in them... but I am not going to hold my breath on that one! She really does look good in them. I hope she can come to see that (HA! HA! pun intended!! *snort*) some day.