Wacky Wednesday

Well this has already been a week where things aren't exactly as they should be.
Let me explain.  

Sunday, Daughter and I took Son and two other young girls over to church camp.  They will be staying there until Friday evening. When we left Son, his eyes were beginning to have dark circles under them and he looked tired.  I am not a huge worry wort, but I had this niggling that something may not be okay with him. He had just gotten home less than three days ago from a long trip to Minnesota and he is not one to need tons of sleep, but had been staying up late.

Anyway on Monday, I came home from work and my phone needed charging.  I almost always keep my phone next to me on silence. I got my charger, plugged it in at a receptacle in the kitchen and went to the dining room to eat.  When I went back to the kitchen to do dishes, I noticed that there was a call from the camp.  I tried to call the number back, but it was the office number and no one was was in the office at 6:30 pm.  

So I asked Foxy if he had a call.  No, he didn't have one.  Then I asked Daughter.  No, she didn't have one.  So I started to pace.  I did dishes, tried the number again and finally sat down in the living room to watch some mindless tv.  My mind had been imagining all the terrible scenarios;  Son wanted to come home because he was tired; Son has bee hurt; Son was in a fight...wait, Son is so laid back and all talk, so he would never throw a punch and it is church camp.  So finally at 9:30, another call came in.

"Mrs. Fox?  This is Connie over at Butler Springs."

"Yes?"  I tentatively asked.

"This isn't an emergency."  I think to myself Then why are you calling me?

"But Son has hurt his knee.  He was playing a game and thinks it went out of place.  He is using crutches we have here, but I think it should be x-rayed and checked out."

"Can I talk to him?" I ask.

"Sure.  I sent him into the cafeteria to get a snack.  Hold on."

I hear lots of noise and finally, "Hi Mom."

My heart melts at his low voice.  "Hey.  What happened?"


Son tells me the whole story.  He jumped up and landed perfectly, so he says.  Then the knee turned or moved.  He couldn't straighten it or put any pressure on it. 


I am just relieved that he is okay. I talk to Foxy and update him.  We decide that maybe it should be looked at.


"Okay.  We'll come and take you to get it x-rayed.  See you soon.  Let me talk to Connie."


"Okay."


Connie comes back on and we discuss it and I tell her we are 90 minutes away and it will be after 11.  She says that is fine.  


So I go bang on the bathroom door because Daughter is in the shower.  When she gets out, I tell her what's going on.  She says she'll go.  Besides, she has nothing going on on Tuesday anyway.


We jump in the Edge, fill up on gas and coffee and trot off in the dark.  It's out in the middle of no where, where only deer cross the roads.  So we have to be on the look out.  We see one deer on the way over, but I get us there safely.


He's waiting for us and he looks so good, but tired.  From the minute he sees us, he starts talking non-stop.  He tells us exactly about the injury, how it feels, how much sympathy from everyone (especially the girls).  He talks about his "family" which is the group he is in (there are 160 pre-teen/teenagers) there.  He tells me how awesome his counselors are, how they made him ride the big swing (he is scared of heights), how they have all these plans for "American Idol" night and how he is the lead singer for the song that is planned (a Justin Bieber song, Baby, I think).  


We get to the hospital 30 minutes later and get signed in and back into an emergency room.  They finally get a doctor to come in and see him.  He's an older man who spends five minutes with us.  Five.Minutes.  Hello?  In that time, the doctor makes Son straighten his leg, which leads to Son yelping, and a decision to have films made.


Someone comes and takes Son to his x-rays.  We wait for a half-hour more and speculate what is really wrong with his knee and the consequences and finally a nurse comes in with this huge immobilizer.  Son looks at that and asks, "What's that for?"


The nurse response, "Your knee."  


Son asks, "What's wrong with it?"  She tells him that the doctor will tell him.  She puts this huge contraption on his knee and it hurts and is uncomfortable.  He is getting madder by the minute.  "I'm not wearing this thing.  It hurts to have it straight.  How am I going to sleep?" She asks him his height and goes gets a pair of crutches.


The doctor finally comes in and says to wear this and elevate the leg.  We have to actually ask him "What is wrong with it?"


He gestures toward Son and says, "Its sprained.  Everything will be explained in the paperwork I give you."  What the ...Some doctor this is.  It's not like the waiting room was jammed full or anything.  There were several patients, but not taking the time to really talk to Son about his injury and how long to wear the brace and ecetera doesn't help.  


So we talk and Son adamantly insist that he is going back to camp.  This is not going to slow him down.  Foxy and I look at each other and say, "Okay.  We'll take you back to camp.  Make sure you try and do everything you need to do to keep that knee healing."  I told him that he needed to ice it and try and put pressure on it in a few days.


So we get him back to camp at 2:20 am.  And Foxy drives us home,seeing several more deer, 180 miles and knowing that Tuesday was not going to be a great day.  We reach home at 4 am.  It's Wednesday mid-morning, and I am still feeling the affects of it.  But I know Son's having the time of his life and going to be a blessing to all around him.  


What an adventure