Falling Down the Stairs

Some of you know about the exciting week I had this week. Some of you don't. But thanks to technology and this blog, you all can know what happened.

First thing to know is our house is a 2 story house, which means WE HAVE STAIRS! And they are wood stairs, which makes them really easy to clean but also a bit slippery in socks.

Second thing to know is I wear socks to bed! Shocking!! I've been wearing socks to bed for a long time. I even wear socks when I walk up and down the stairs! (gasp!) I even wear socks when I carry kids up and down the stairs (double gasp!).

With this knowledge, here is the story: Bacon was still getting up in the middle of the night to eat. The kid is a tank (compared to the other two) and eats! He never seems to get enough. I am really not looking forward to food bills when he gets older. So Tuesday night/Wednesday morning about 2:30 am, he woke up crying. I put my glasses on, gathered him and his blanket up and headed downstairs. I stepped on the first step and the next thing I knew Bacon and I were flying down the stairs. I was trying not to let him get hurt, so all my focus and energy was on keeping him safe and not me. We landed on the landing, bum first and I screamed, "TIM! TIM!" and he came running. He had heard us falling but didn't know what it was.

Thankfully Bacon was absolutely fine. Rightly a bit shaken up and screaming. I guess falling down the stairs was not his idea of fun at 2:30 am. Tim took him and was able to calm him down. He drank a bottle and went back to bed. No fuss or anything. I was so grateful!

I, on the other hand, did not come through quite as unscathed. I knew I had hit my back right at the end of my ribs on the left side. Actually, my whole left side took all the fall. I stood up, walked down the stairs and started seeing black spots. I made it to the couch, sat down and put my head between my knees. I don't know how long after that but not long I ran to the bathroom. I felt like puking but gladly I did not. I did, however, see myself in the mirror. YIKES!!! I think I looked better when I had my kidney stone and I looked awful then! I was a weird shade of gray and green and my eyes looked funny. I know, imagine that. I tumble down 6 stairs doing nothing to save, protect or help myself and I look horrible!

I finally went and sat in the family room and iced my left elbow. It took the brunt of everything. I could barely move it. Around 3:30 am I took one regular strength ibuprofen and headed upstairs. I slept in the spare room on the bed surrounded by pillows so I would hurt myself even more. Tim headed to bed too. He was a little wired from it all and very worried about me.

At 7:30 am we dropped Pach and Pickle off at a friend's house and headed to the Urgent Care with Bacon. It had just opened so I got in really fast. The nice PA asked me to raise my arm over my head. I could barely move it. She asked if I'd had any ibuprofen or tylenol. I said, "One regular strength one at 3:30 this morning." She looked at me like I was a mental case or something and said, "You know you can have 4, four times a day, right?" She got me a sling so I didn't have to hold my arm at a 90 degree angle and sent me to a different location for x-rays. Their machine was down.

At the next place the x-rays were brutal! Tim jokes to be an x-ray tech you have to have no feelings and be completely insensitive! The girl had me doing all sorts of stuff to get the x-rays and my elbow didn't like it. The PA there said whoever read the x-ray couldn't say for sure if my elbow was broken or not, so I got a referral to an orthopedist. I also got a temporary cast put on. That was nice.

I was thankfully able to make an appointment with the orthopedist for later that day. We headed home and picked up Pickle from a different friend's house and had lunch. After making arrangement for Pach to be picked up from school by a friend and dropping the other 2 off at yet another friends house, Tim took me to the orthopedist. He was quite impressed with my temporary cast. So much so after all was said and done, he put me back in it. I thought it was a good idea anyway. It helps the boys understand I am actually hurt. And it was nicer than just a sling.

So the verdict? My elbow is not broken. No fracture or anything like that. I am just very bruised and hurt. My whole arm was swollen, so I started taking ibuprofen for that. I was told to wear the cast until today and then start moving my elbow. I am and it is mostly OK. I can lift my arm above my head again. I can almost straighten my elbow all the way. Of course, that hurts quiet a bit. I still have a hard time picking things up. And I can't grip anything. Drying my hands hurts my elbow. So there are some motions that will take longer to do than others but all in all, I'm doing great. I have a nice bruise on my back and elbow but Bacon is fine and basically so am I. My chiropractor will be getting to see me sooner than originally planned and will probably be getting more of my money that I planned but oh well. Small price to pay for Bacon being OK.

Pach's homework

Pach started Kindergarten a little over a month ago. He brings home an amazing amount of stuff everyday in his backpack. I don't keep most of it. There is just too much. I do, however, go through everything and pull out things I think are cute or that would be fun to have later. I've kept some things he's written his name on. I want to see how much his handwriting changes over the year. I also kept the packet the cute pictures down below came from.

I think the pictures are so adorable and I wanted to share! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Tim is the top left one. I am the one next to him.
Pickle is the one in the black pants.
Pach is the big blue one on the side.
Bacon is the little blue one, sideways, on the bottom.

More Allergies

Back in February Pickle had a pretty bad reaction to the Stuffed Peppers I made for dinner. I had decided it was something in the actual Campbell's V8 juice since that was the only thing different I used. Normally I use the cheap store brand stuff and he has no problems with it. In fact, I made stuffed peppers last week with the  cheap store brand stuff and he had no problems.

In late March I finally got in touch with Campbell's about it. I asked if I could have the list of "natural ingredients" used in the making of the V8 juice. The answer was of course NO! However, I was told if his allergist called, Campbell's would release that information to her for testing purposes. So began the obnoxious and long battle of actually getting the ingredients! Campbell's was not willing to even give up that information to Pickle's allergist! Even though I had been told by 3 different people it would be no problem, the lady from Campbell's kept telling the allergist, "Just test him for everything and if something comes back positive, call us and we'll confirm whether or not it's in the V8 juice."

Well, I had finally had enough. I called the number I had and spoke to a very nice woman. I felt bad for speaking so firmly and harshly but I had to do something to get Pickle help. She read from the file that "we are helping with the situation." I cut her off and explained they weren't. Campbell's kept saying they would help but wouldn't. I told her I didn't want to get lawyers involved but I would if I had to. This was for the welfare of my child. Later that day Pickle's allergist had the list.

So yesterday, August 24th, Pickle was tested for a few of the ingredients we knew he hadn't had. While the allergist and I thought he would test allergic to one spice, it was actually watercress he is allergic to! Watercress is one of the 8 main veggies found in V8 juice. That explained why the reaction was so severe. I had seriously thought about shooting him with an epi-pen and heading to the hospital once again. Instead I just gave him Benadryl and monitored him for over an hour.

I have found allergies to be interesting things. For example, watercress is part of the mustard family. So Pickle will most likely be allergic to any type of mustard green. However, he is not allergic to yellow mustard at all. And those are in the same family. It all has to do with where the proteins are found and how things are made. We don't plan on using watercress for anything and it's not something hugely common, so I think it will all be OK.