My drive through campus on the first Saturday morning in
October was a beautiful one. Although
temperatures would soar into the 80’s later that afternoon, a brisk fall chill was
in the air and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Sleepy parking attendants were posted up at parking lots in preparation
for afternoon football game against Virginia Tech, although at 8 am, only the
most hard-core of tailgaters were making their entrance.
I was not one of those.
And I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed the drive. I drove past my normal football parking lot
and proceeded to the Emergency Room just a few blocks away. I’ll begin by reassuring you that the
patient, my 16-month-old, is doing just fine.
The Friday night prior we had been enjoying a nice evening
outside on the lawn at the Carolina Inn.
A relative, who shall remained unnamed, inadvertently pulled on my son’s
arm to break a fall. There were some
tears, but he had suspected he wasn't feeling well and we chalked it up to a fever which we
confirmed at home (and which was totally unrelated and coincidental). We gave Brady some medicine and put him to
bed, and all was good until 2 am when we heard cries from his bedroom. After an hour or two of unrest (for all of
us), we realized that he wasn’t upset by his fever, which had passed, but
because he could not move his right arm.
Although we’re pretty sure he’s a lefty, he is a right-handed thumb
sucker, so it was truly a pitiful night’s sleep (for all of us).
A 3 am Google diagnosis suggested this might be a fairly
common injury for toddlers called nursemaid’s elbow. Once in the emergency room, our diagnosis was
confirmed. Unfortunately, he had to go
through the rigmarole of hospital procedure and it wasn’t until he was poked
and prodded for a good hour that a swift technique that looked like a quick
handshake with a twist popped Brady’s arm back into place. An expensive handshake, I might add. If I knew what the ER visit would cost us, I
would have videotaped the quick fix for future reference in case of future
mishaps.
Of course, money is no object when it comes to the health of
your child, and we were thrilled to have our boy back to his old self. Like a true junkie, that thumb popped back in
his mouth before we could blink. He was
off and running and trying to make friends with the other (less eager) ER
patients.
Brady was not the only one in Chapel Hill with arm pain on
Saturday. Giovani Bernard’s arm might have
been sore after carrying the ball for a career-high 262 rushing yards. The cheerleader responsible for doing pushups
after every Carolina touchdown must have sore arms after the Heels put up 48
points. Although after enduring the
prior week’s game when the Tar Heels scored 66 points, this may have felt like
a break for him. I imagine the referees also
needed ice for their sore arms after throwing the flag 15 times against
Carolina alone. And maybe some fans out
there were feeling fatigued after shaking the white pom-poms that lined each
seat during the successful Carolina “White-out.”
One thing that certainly wasn’t sore was the mood in Kenan after
an impressive Carolina victory.
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| Hospitals are fun! |
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