Urgent care, x-rays, and a splint

While playing at our favorite indoor inflatables playplace, Jackson messed up his knee. No one really knows what happened really, but basically he was jumping with Daddy and his knees sort of buckled. Only, it wasn’t just a buckle because he couldn’t walk or stand afterwards!

Break my heart.

It was obvious that playtime was over, but Derek and I just couldn’t decide what to do! We were torn between taking him to Children’s Mercy Urgent Care or just taking it easy at home. There wasn’t swelling or any thing visibly wrong. But he was in so much pain and I was worried about the small chance that it COULD be something. So, we went.

The office wasn’t totally crowded, which was super nice!! By the time they took all of our information we were called back to a room. The doctor showed up to take a look at him before the nurse even came by.

This is Jackson talking the ear off of whichever staff happened to be in the room. “Daddy was bouncing and I fell and I hurt my leg. And it just hurts and I don’t like that.” over and over and over…

He was given some ibuprofen and we took him down the hall to get
some x-rays. He was a good sport. He kept asking, “Why are they taking pictures of my leg?!”

Then, we waited and waited and waited. Jackson was tired. He hated the ID bracelet on his arm and was asking every two seconds to get it off! He was playing on our tablets and was irritated that the free wi-fi was too slow to load neflix{oh how terrible it was!} It nearly killed him that he couldn’t make his way to play with the toy located on the wall.

So, here’s the scoop. Nothing broken, torn, or dislocated. But, Jackson is in obvious pain. He has consistently pointed to the same spot to indicate where the pain is located. And with him being three, it’s really hard to get specific information- how does it hurt? etc. Also being three, he isn’t really capable of making this whole thing up! Last night he tried to take a few steps, but was limping pretty badly and the doctor said if he can’t walk correctly, don’t let him walk at all. We have a follow up appointment on Monday with an orthopedic doctor.

They wanted to get him in a knee immobilizer, but they didn’t have one
small enough so a makeshift splint was made.

The best thing about the evening, Jackson got THREE Thomas Stickers! {notice how they are all applied so that they are right side up when he’s looking down?}

And *finally* the bracelet came off. I was about to lose it if he asked one more time!

Thankfully he fell asleep in the car so bedtime wasn’t really an issue! Derek and I both expected him to up and playing by morning.

However, morning came and he was much more sensitive! Poor kid. He woke up crying that his leg hurt. I carried him to the table for breakfast and he asked if I could feed him his oatmeal. And when he was through eating, he simply asked to go back to bed. {Say what!??!!? My child… back to bed?! That’s when I knew we were dealing with some major pain.}

He’s laid around all day. We went out to take a walk with Daddy and out to eat for Grandpa Forrest’s birthday. But other than that, he’s been on the couch or bed all day!

He hates the splint on his leg and I finally got him to stop complaining by
putting bandaids on it for him! Yay for Toy Story and Angry Birds!

He’s super reserved about looking/touching/moving his knee. He seems to be able to move it okay, but he refuses to put weight on it at all. Part of me wonders if he’s just scared because it hurt last night, but then another part is just convinced that he would be up and playing if he could manage it at all! It has got to be hurting for him to not play for an entire day. He won’t stand to use the bathroom and needs us to carry him everywhere {and when you carry him, he’ll say, “Not too fast! It hurts!}. When we leave the room and he’s on the couch, he’ll say, “Don’t forget me!” I am so sad for him!

We’ve got an appointment on Monday. I am thinking this is just a thing that might take a day or two {or three} to heal. But, I can’t help but be kind of worried that something major might be wrong! Only time will tell, I guess. Hopefully he’ll be back to running around by the end of the week.

You should see the other guy...

I have to interrupt the posts about last weeks' trip to visit Derek to share about yesterday's afternoon spent at Children's Mercy (once again).

It all started at 10ish this morning when Jackson fell on hit his face on the fireplace mantle. I didn't see the accident, but I looked as soon as I heard the thud. His poor little body was just shaking as he cried- it just hurt so bad! His eye had already turned purple in the time it took me to rush over to him.

This is right after it happened, after I was able to calm him down (Elmo DVD)

I didn't know quite what to do next. I called left a message for the nurse at Jackson's doctor office and I sent picture texts to friends and family for advice. I mean, I don't want to be the mom who takes her child to urgent care several times a year just for dramatic stories to tell. There was a general consensus that we should get it checked out, so we headed over to Children's Mercy.

A friend from church came to look after Chacey and James so I didn't have to take three kids (Debbie, you are awesome!). It took about an hour to get checked in through triage, to get a room, and to see the doctor. Jackson didn't like the doctor much at all cried, "I'm done!! I'm done!!" the entire time she just tried to look at his boo-boo. She decided stitches were necessary (though she called them something else) and she started to explain about the numbing gel that needs to set for 30 minutes and I was like, "Yeah, yeah... we've done this before. I know what's going on."

The numbing gel under the patch

Jackson was actually pretty good for being hungry, tired, and having what I can only imagine as being an awful headache. Children's Mercy is stocked with all sorts of goodies to pass the time. Jackson colored with markers and played with trains. He was having fun.

It was over an hour before the parade of staff crowded into our room- the doctor, a nurse practitioner, two RN's, and a child entertainer (I'm sure she has a more official name). And from this point on, Jackson did not have any more fun. They wrapped him up in a contraption that looks as if it were taken from a toddler psychiatry ward-- a long board that velcro-ed him in at the shoulder, mid-section, and legs. It took the two RNs to hold his head still and I held his legs. The child entertainer came with all sorts of gimmicks in her bag to distract him-- bubbles, Elmo books, flashy toys-- but nothing helped at all. He was just mad. The doctor reassured me that he wasn't in pain, that the numbing gel did it's job. It was only because of the restraint. That makes sense, but it was still awful to help hold him down and to hear his screams, even if you know it's for the better!

He ended up with three stitches. It didn't take long to settle down after they were finished, especially after one of the nurses brought in some juice, teddy grahams, and a lunchable. He's back to his normal self, though he looks like he got in one heck of a fight! Here are some pictures from this morning:

Stitches up top, black eye on bottom

He's a happy boy, back to his silly, rambunctious self!

I'm still wondering if there is a patient-rewards or frequent-flyer program for the hospital. So anyway, this was our day yesterday. I will be back tomorrow to talk about Derek's actual graduation. It was probably the coolest part of the whole weekend.

He's glued and good to go

What were you doing exactly five weeks ago tonight? We were at Children's Mercy Urgent Care getting Jackson taken care of-- which is precisely what we did this evening as well. For my sanity and checking account's sake- I hope this doesn't become routine.

It started out as a nice evening watching the alumni game at the school. Jackson is chillin' with Daddy and enjoying a chicken nugget.

This was about the only five seconds that Jackson sat still. We lapped the gym several times in the 45 minutes we were there. Jackson was his normal, super busy self. Next thing I know, HanNah says, "Jackson just hit his head," and I see Derek walk off with Jackson. Too myself, I think, "Eh, it's no big deal, he hits his head all of the time." But then I see Derek and Jackson across the gym and even from that far away I could see all the blood. 

 I remember a story that Mom used to tell about how I got a cut on my head when I was just a little older than Jackson. She would tell me how worried she was because the would bled so much, but then it turned out to be a little scrape. So, I kept that in mind as we began to clean him up in the boys bathroom. The cut was small in size, but pretty deep. Fortunately, we got the bleeding to slow way down. Brooke found us some juice and a cookie and Jackson was back to his normal self. But still, we thought it'd be better to get it checked out for sure.

The temporary band-aid to hold us over.

My mom had called earlier to say she decided to come visit for the evening. She wanted to check out our finished master bedroom and to come play with Jackson. She got in town right as we were getting ready to leave, so Jackson and I left with her to head to Children's Mercy. Derek stayed behind just because we didn't think it'd be necessary to have three adults and he could at least enjoy the rest of the game. While Mom did get to spend the evening playing with Jackson, she has still not seen our bedroom.

Thank goodness she was there! He was super busy and I was super pooped. Mom reads Jackson a book.

She also teaches him Ring Around the Rosie- he loved it.

Seriously, who needs a fish tank when you can just have a huge tv and a fish DVD (think of the perks-no fish food or cleaning the tank!). Jackson LOVES fish, so he was very entertained by the ever changing fish tank.

After a reasonable amount of waiting, we go back into a room and wait another 20 minutes to see the nurse. I wish we could have just stayed in the waiting room because there was lots to keep him occupied. Instead, he has fun crinkling up the paper on the exam table, opening and slamming the cabinet doors, and even took time to play Patty-cake. 

And he broke a clipboard. That's okay, just put it on the tab.

The nurse comes in around 9:00 to put some numbing cream on the wound so that it can sit for thirty minutes before the doctor would come repair it. While the picture looks like the cut is pretty lame, it really was deep and wide cut.

Forty more minutes later in the tiny, nothing-to-do room, way past Jackson's bedtime, the doctor comes in to take a look. Jackson cried as soon as she put on the gloves. She decided that glue would be sufficient. If we had gotten stitches, it only would have been one and then we'd have to come back to get it removed. Since it was a straight cut, the glue prevent the cut from opening back up and wouldn't contribute to more scarring.

What happened next was miserable to watch- horrible. They swaddle Jackson tight and it takes two nurses to hold him down and still while the other nurse flushes out the wound. This takes about 10 minutes. Then, the doctor glued the cut together and put a different glue on to hold down the bandages that would cover the opening. It probably took around 10 minutes as well. But seriously, it might as well have been an hour. It is pure torture to hear your baby scream SO loudly and so desperately. 

He calmed down after several minutes of consoling- and after we turned on the television. The swelling has gone way down, but a definite bruise is already forming (to match the one he got yesterday).

As expected, Jackson fell asleep on the way home around 10:30ish. The plan was to get Jackson's Easter pictures taken in the morning- but that's not going to happen. I suppose it can wait- assuming that he can stay away from any major bumps and bruises in the meantime. Doubtful.

A night with croup

Friday night- I was lying in bed, finishing up the episode of Survivor, thinking how nice it was going to be to get to bed before 10:30. Then, Jackson wakes up coughing and then screaming from his crib. His cough was horrible, like nothing I've heard before! He kept gagging, gasping for air, wheezing, and it was frightening. Even if we could have gotten Jackson back to sleep, I was afraid he'd eventually be unable to breathe! Derek so calmly packed a bag and got everything ready so we could head out to Children's Mercy.

Funny kid. He never really acts sick. The other kids in the waiting room were sitting on their mommies laps, clearly not feeling well. Jackson, however, is running around, climbing on furniture, sniffing the reception desk, and having a grand old time because he is never up at this hour.

Midnight: get called into triage, they poke and prod the kid (makes him very mad!) then lead us back to a room. Doctor comes in, more poking and prodding (still making Jackson very mad!). Diagnosis: Croup. Treatment: oral steroid and a breathing treatmet of racemic epinephrine.

Jackson was so annoyed by the thing wrapped 

around his toe to monitor his oxygen

12:30am: Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Jackson passes the time, trying to escape

...and by playing peek-a-boo

Bet you can't find him!

1:00am: The three minute breathing treatment felt like an eternity with an screaming child on my lap. Even when you know it is going to help in the long run, it is always horrible to have to hold him down when it makes the so upset. His coughing clears up almost immediately. Now we were to wait two hours so they could monitor Jackson (most of the time if the croup was to come back, it would be within that time frame).

 

trying to cheer him up with the array of toys that

they have on hand! (yes, they ALL make noise)

1:15am: The oral steroid is next. Jackson signed "more, more" when it was all gone. We got him juice. I went to go find a vending machine. While I was excited to find $1.25 already waiting in the machine for me, Jackson was literally screaming the whole time I was gone. Apparently, he didn't care about the free Coke.

Clearly the steroids were yummy. He wanted more!

1:30am: The nurse comes in to check to see why Jackson was so upset. Then she decides she wants to hook Jackson up to a monitor so she can check on him from the nurse's station. Why does hooking up a overtired, cranky, sick 15 month old (who never holds still!) up to a machine sound a good idea?!? I totally understand the need to do it, but it was very inconvenient. We got him all hooked up and put a little gown on him to cover up the wires. The nurse brought in a Baby Einstein movie to keep him occupied. While Jackson did watch the show (three times) I couldn't help but wonder why on earth anyone would pay money for their kids to watch that crap. No wonder they offered a refund to people who bought their dvds. It did finally put Jackson to sleep.

2:00am: Jackson finally falls asleep. But only in my arms. I sit in the recliner and fall asleep on and off as well. I didn't realize how tired I was!

3:00am: The doctor comes in to check on Jackson and says that he is good to go. We sign a few papers and get Jackson out of the hospital gown and into his PJs. He didn't even wake up.

3:30am: We are home and all in bed!

7:00am: Jackson wakes up! Seriously! Does he not even realize that he was up half the night!?!? Someone needs to teach this kid about sleeping in. Poor daddy heads out to work.

He has a cough for the next day or two, but it is much better than the croup. Glad we caught it quickly and that the treatments worked. I hated seeing him so miserable!!

Asthma, Ear Infections, Excema... Oh My!!!

As soon as we were finally recuperating from our vacation, Jackson started getting a nasty cold that turned into a horrible cough, wheezing, and a fever-- so we ended up in Urgent Care at the doctor's office. He had blocked airways and after asking about the family history of asthma, allergies, and excema the doctor concluded that this was probably Jackson's first encounter with asthma. Lots of babies deal with asthma when they are little and grow out of it, and we hope this will be the case. Since babies can't quite use an inhaler, we give him breathing treatments when needed. He wears a little oxygen mask and we use a nebulizer, drop in the perscription, and the medicine is like a vapor that he inhales. Doing this feels like it takes hours, but in all reality it's probably only 10-15 minutes-- but it's still a long 15 minutes!!

The whole Urgent Care, asthma diagnosis all happened on the day of my midterm.... It really threw me for a loop and it was really hard to concentrate. Fortunately, I still pulled a B on the test, and I am okay with that.

Four days after the urgent care visit, Jackson's cough was better, but he was still having horrible problems sleeping at night-- ever since our California trip. It was only at night that he was upset and during the day he was SO happy. I thought he might have an ear infection, so back to the doctor we went. Jackson did indeed have an ear infection. After only a couple of days on the antibiotic, Jackson started sleeping though most of the night again-- thank goodness!!

And while we were there, the doctor also prescribed a medicine for Jackson's excema, as it has gotten worse. So when you see blotchy, red checks in pictures-- blame his father! :) It is normally not so bad, but it flares up and down at times.

Jackson is better and he really is a healthy little guy. He is doing great and we are SO thankful that these are just minor little things that are treatable and easy to deal with. It was just that one week that we felt bombarded with all of this!! But, I suppose that is just how life goes!