Christmas was wonderful. Lots of presents and good cheer and an actual 24 hour period without a fight between my two oldest girls. Who could ask for more?
The day after Christmas, we hit the road for Pittsburgh to visit Pat's side of the family for Christmas #2. An annual tradition while we are up there, is a family reunion of sorts, that Pat's cousin Dee started years ago. Usually she hosts any where from 25-30 family members at her home about 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh (these are the same folks we went to the Outer Banks with this past summer). This year, her brother Dennis hosted the party since Dee's home is under some minor renovation.
We were really looking forward to this visit for a few reasons, 1- we have never been to Dennis' house and were anxious to see it. and 2- Dennis lives in the town where Pat went to college, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in Indiana, PA. Sarah was so excited to see where Pat went to school. Unfortunately, the college was all shut for the winter break but we were able to drive around and check everything out. Pat and his brother Brian, reminisced and tried to recall where certain buildings from their past were. We heard lots of stories, it was fun.
The Steeler game was on, and ALL the cousins (there were a total of 14 1st and 2nd cousins ages 20 months to 2o years) were having a ball running around. Sarah, of course, was in the middle of the fray. The 4th quarter of the Steeler/Ravens game was on and it was a close game (I think it was tied up at this point). All of a sudden, Sarah comes bounding down the stairs and jumps off from about the 4th step up (she'd done this a few times already despite my telling her not to). she let out a yelp and hit the floor with a tremendous force, right on her tailbone. She shot back up off the floor, yelped again and flopped down on to her right side and rolls on her back. She immediately called for help saying she couldn't breathe. All of us in the room knew what it felt like to have the wind knocked out of you so there was no sense of urgency, we just needed to get her to calm down and breathe. Pat got to her before I did, and tried to get her to relax and take small breaths. It seemed to be taking a lot longer than it should for her to catch her breath. I got up to take a look and her face was bright red, except for around her mouth. She had a panicked look about her and I began to worry. My sister in law Shannon, a nurse, came over and did a quick once over. Sarah could move her legs but was complaining about her back and not being able to breathe. She could squeeze our hand and bend her left elbow, but could not move it from the shoulder. When Shannon moved aside the collar of Sarah's shirt, it was immediately evident what the problem was. There was definite bruising and swelling near her left clavicle. Without saying a word, Pat and I looked at each other and knew we were headed to the ER. He scooped her up and carried her to the car and we drove the short 3-4 miles to the Indiana Regional Medical Center.
We were seen fairly quickly and Sarah was pleased that her father chose to sit with her and wait, rather than go watch the end of the Steeler's game on the TV in the waiting room. We were brought back to our room and were soon surprised by my brother-in-law, Brian and his middle child, Colin. Sarah and Colin are like brother and sister, in that they can fight like cats and dogs, but get along really well too. Evidently, Colin was so worried about his cousin, that he asked Brian to take him to see her. They helped us pass the time while we waited for the results of the x-rays. They giggled with us as Sarah's pain medication kicked in and she was laughing at every silly thing Colin did.
We received the diagnosis of a broken clavicle and possible fractured scapula, given a sling and brace, 6 doses of happy juice and sent on our way. We arrived back at the party just 2.5 hours after we had left. Not too bad! Unfortunately, while we were gone, all the yummy food had been packed up and put away. Pat helped himself to a few Black and Tans, and I had a couple of cups of coffee & we headed back to Pittsburgh with a miserable little girl.
Sarah after the trip to the ER:
After a difficult night of sleep, Sarah was still feeling miserable. Once the happy juice (Lortab/Vicodin) kicked in, she was much better. I had to run out and fill her prescription as well as find some button down shirts that she could kind-of wear, despite the injury. I headed to CVS first, since their parent company runs my prescription plan. I gave them all the important info and just before I turned to leave, I asked "you do have the medication in stock right?" She hesitated and then decided to ask. Thank goodness I asked, because "NO, They were out of it" and "do you want us to check at another pharmacy for you". YES! The girl had to call to 2 other pharmacies before she found it in the right strength! Did I mention that it was snowing out? AND I'm in an unfamiliar area and have no idea where I'm going?
As I'm fuming about the whole prescription issue, I'm texting the situation to Pat as I'm walking out of the store. Stupid-ass me forgets that it is snowing and 22 degrees outside and I totally fall on my ass the minute I step out of the store. To make matters worse, I drop my phone and some young (college-aged) couple behind me say, "Ma'am are you ok?" I brush myself off and mutter something dumb about looking where I'm going, and try to look as if I didn't just bust my ass in the CVS parking lot. My ass hurts, but my ego hurts worse...Did he just call me "ma'am"? Am I really a "ma'am" now?!?!
Well, both Sarah and I survived our traumatic experiences. Thanks to some wonderful friends with connections at an Orthopaedic office, we got in to see the specialist yesterday and there really is no treatment, other than the sling and time. She should heal fast and be back to new within 6 weeks. We'll get new x-rays in 4 weeks, but for now, we just continue to do what we are doing. She is not pleased to be missing swimming and basketball, but there isn't a whole lot we can do about that.
I guess I was too quick to say we had a wonderful Christmas. But hey, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.
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