Yesterday was quite a day - started early as all Wednesdays do with my Dad coming to help put my kids on the bus since I have a weekly staff meeting that begins 30 minutes before I normally get there. I left the house at 7:30 am and got to work on time. Around lunchtime I went out with several co-workers/friends for one of their birthdays and I then after a bit I ended up leaving early - around 2:30 to come home and take my oldest, Caitlin to a dentist appointment.
It seems like I've been living in doctor's and dentist's offices for about a month now (maybe because I have). Cait needed 8 sealants. I don't think we knew about sealants when I was 12, but I'm quite sure they're imperative now.
Graciously, a neighbor invited Maggie and Ryan for a "play date" - although they call it "hanging out" now - so they didn't have to traipse with me to the dentist's office. While I was there, I confirmed with the dentist that I followed up with the oral surgeon he recommended to pull Ryan's baby canine teeth since there are two permanent teeth growing in behind them that are going to present problems. Ryan is extremely anxious about this so I ask how much to knock him out completely for the procedure and learn it's $1000 for the anesthesiologist. I determine to ask Dan how he feels if we bribe Ryan with a $50 lego toy of his choice for going with the local.
I'm grateful for the time to quietly read one of my books and laugh out loud when reading in Mark Buchanan's book (see bottom of blog page) of how he relates to the apostle Peter, recounting the passage where Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive someone and offers up "7" as a reasonable answer. Mark thinks this is extravagant and I appreciate the honesty from the pastor/author.
Cait finishes, emerges her happy and sweet self and asks for Root Beer to get rid of the funny taste. We head home and I collect the twins and prepare 3 meals for dinner (my own fault for allowing this behavior of "choosing" your dinner) while Cait finishes homework. Right after dinner, it's back to church for Cait's youth group (my third time on Route 53 today as the dentist's office is in Palatine) and after a failed attempt to meet a friend for coffee, I determine to get some work done while I'm waiting. The phone rings just shy of 8:00 pm - it's my husband Dan to tell me Maggie just fell off the bed (well technically she fell off of Ryan who was also on the bed) and hit her head on the corner of the nightstand and it's still bleeding. I head home.
Maggie (who was probably not in all that much pain), sobs upon her mother's entrance into the house (isn't that how it is - you're hurt, you see your mom....tears ensue) and I take one look at the gash and decide we're going to the ER. We all say a prayer and Dan and Ryan head to church to pick Caitlin up from youth group while Maggie and I head to the ER at Alexian Brothers which thankfully is all of 2 miles away (maybe 1 1/2).
It's not too crowded when we arrive which is good news because a) I don't want to park far away in the 7 degree weather and b) I don't want to wait two hours to have someone look at this. The triage nurse is already helping a woman holding an infant (I feel much worse for them) and Maggie and I wait until called. They ask if she's been there before and we say "no - the last head injury ER visit was down the street at Northwest Community Hospital." The woman at registration asks me her birthdate again and if I'm sure she hasn't been in the ER before, but before I can answer she looks up from the screen and asks if she's a twin - I tell her yes and that her brother has had both of his head injuries taken care of in this ER. Before I can even pull out my insurance card a nurse comes to take us in - he cleans up all the blood around the wound and the doctor comes in, introduces herself and says the words Maggie was hoping not to hear..."just a few staples." We pray again and she takes it like a champ and doesn't cry the whole time. The doctor was fantastic.
We were glad the doctor thought to give Maggie a gown so her shirt wouldn't get all wet with the treatment, knowing we'd have to go back out into the 7 degree weather. They are done soon enough, give us some ointment like vaseline - which Maggie is well acquainted with because of her chapped lips - to put on twice a day for the next two days. It doesn't appear that they cut any of her hair (big relief) but Maggie is a little disappointed she couldn't watch what was happening (perhaps a doctor in the making?) Good thing Ryan wasn't there - he doesn't like the word "blood".
We sit around for 45 minutes waiting for the paperwork to catch up with the treatment and then head home shortly after 10:00 pm. It takes her a little while to fall asleep, but not too long after Daddy tucks her in, and we decide to let her stay home from school because even if she's feeling well, we can't wash her hair for 24 hours because going to school with bloody, matted hair is a deal breaker for a 4th grade girl (staples notwithstanding).
Around 11:00 pm I sat on the couch and flicked on ESPN to see what was going on at the Australian Open and they say they're showing the Roddick/Federer match live in a few hours on Thursday and I think to myself - "It's still Wednesday??"
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