Hospital Waiting Room Coffee and Stale Cookies

Our son learned a very hard lesson on Thursday Night; Never climb a slide in a way it was not originally intended to be climbed.

He came home accompanied by a crooked arm and many tears and much whimpering. We whisked him to the Emergency Room, where they performed X-Rays and told us they could not set the bone. They gave him a purple splint, which made him feel a little better, and some Vicodin, which made him feel a lot better, and told us we needed to drive an hour and twenty minutes to an Orthopedic specialist.

And so, we did.

Friday afternoon, we arrived for our appointment and the doctor told us, upon looking at the X-Rays, that he would need to be given anaesthesia and the bone would be set. At the hospital three blocks away from his office. The next morning.

And so we drove an hour and twenty minutes home. We kept our child as medicated as was legal and healthy and awaited the morning.

Saturday morning we drove an hour and twenty minutes to the hospital near the orthopedic specialist’s office, being absolutely certain to get our son there by his ten o’clock appointment.

At twelve thirty five, they finally performed the operation.

Things went well, the bone is set, but due to swelling the cast cannot be applied until a week from now. When we will have to drive an hour and twenty minutes to the hospital across from the orthopedic specialist’s office.

On the plus side, the nurse gave us a ten dollar gas card for making us wait so long, which was awfully nice of her.

I’ve decided that hospital waiting room coffee is much like the stale cookies that accompany it; it’s there to keep your hands and mind temporarily occupied so you don’t worry about whatever reason you find yourself in a hospital waiting room in the first place.

The boy’s friends have given him free ice cream, they’ve brought over homework for the weekend and they’ve checked in on a regular schedule to ensure he’s alright.

His teachers gave him popcorn and a gift certificate for free movie rentals.

We’ve given him the gift of anaesthesia. The specialist could have set the bone at his office on Friday afternoon, however, it would be a very painful procedure that may have ended with his arm needing to be rebroken in a week or two.

Given that the hospital bill alone is said to be at least seven to eight thousand dollars, I’d say our gift trumps the popcorn.

—

SFSignal asks why so many adult SF readers are so judgemental of Young Adult SF.

I’ll give my two cents later.

—

Here is a very interesting (albeit a bit one-sided and brutal) take on the J.K. Rowling lawsuit.

—

I’ve been playing around with LibraryThing lately. I’ve only added three books (I own more than that), but here is my profile there

—

It’s very nearly six in the morning and I’ve slept very little, so I think I’ll go and sleep for a few hours before assisting a one-armed child with his paper route duties. More updates later (maybe even some photos).

Advertisement