All The Kings Horses......

Friday was a very busy day for us here at the Casa de Dust. I took Pink Ninja to her pediatrician in the morning, because she had "cold signs and symptoms" that seemed to exasperate. She was sounding very consolidated in her chest. So I took her in to hear "ahhh its a cold, push fluids." Good news.

Ok 7:30pm Friday night, we are getting ready for story time, and Pink Ninja and Dash are "wound"...They want to play with Dad, they love that he is back from England. . Dear Husband and I are sitting on the couch, catching up on the week, when Pink Ninja tackles his right leg, starts climbing up his leg and then looses her grip. Down she goes, she falls onto the carpet, which is also covered with a Persian rug. However the fall was weird looking, and she tried to break her fall with her left arm. I just sit and hold my breath. It happened FAST.

My husband and I are just sick, she is whimpering and crying, and her left wrist, looks a bit floppy to me. She can move her fingers, hand, and arm, but still I KNOW something is not right.

I go get a magazine, make a splint, and off we go.

I have husband stay at the house with Dash, because I know this will take forever, it is Friday night at the children's Hospital ER. There is simply no reason for the entire family to go and loose sleep.

CONVERSATION IN THE ER WITH THE RESIDENT

RES DR. It doesn't look broken.

Me: The last time we were here they didn't think it was broken either"

RES DR. She is not crying like it is broken.

Me: She did cry when it happened, and the last time she didn't cry at all.

RES DR. Let me get another Dr. to look at it.

Me: OK, but can we get an x-ray?

Other DR: hmm, she doesn't act like it is broken.

Me: I know.

Other DR. How did this happen?

Me: I explain to them the speed of the incident, and the short distance to the heavily carpeted floor.

Other Dr. Well we will go ahead and x-ray it, but I doubt that it is broken. These breaks are really close together. Didn't she just get her cast off?
Me: Yes.

Other Dr. Can you undress Pink Ninja, so we can take a look at her.

Me: (concluding they want to make sure she is not an abused child. This is ok with me, I am glad they are vigilant about this.)

Other Dr: There isn't a mark on her, except for that small scrape on her knee, that arm isn't even bruised?

Me: Can we get that x-ray.

(It must be about 9:30-10pm by now. Pink Ninja is exhausted. The adrenaline from the injury has worn off, and she is up past her normal bedtime, I am sure her arm hurts, and she is fussy. Fussy is not normal for her)

Other Dr. Let me call radiology, and get this arm x-rayed.

(sit alone in the patient waiting room, they also left her arm unspilinted....ouch.)

(It is now 10:30)

RES DR and Other DR: "Ok we have an x-ray set up, and since these injuries are so close together, we are going to have to call Social Services. We have to persue all angles of this. It could be a mild case of Osteogeneis Imperfecta. We are going to draw blood, and do a head to toe series of x-rays on her. You will have to follow up with a geneticist this week for a consultation and skin biopsy."



Me: that's fine, I understand that.

The thoughts are crashing in, and none of them are good. My head is spinning, and I have a dark hurt in my gut. No not my little girl-sick? My little girl with a disease?

Pink and I are both getting tired, and it must be 11:00 when we go back for x-rays. The radiologist are inept, and unprepared for a series of head to toe shots. Pink Ninja is screaming throughout, she is scared, her arm hurts, and she wants to go home. I am trying to help the radiologists, but the screams are making me tear up. The process is inhumane, she is screaming, and writhing. She is a fighter and wants these people to leave her alone. I beg them to let me do it. She would fair so much better if I were alone, and positioned her and talked softly. Who wants 3 strange women wrestling them on a cold table? The techs continually forget the films, the letters to indicate views, they miss the shots when she is still.

Those fucking x-rays must have taken 2 hours.


The social service person comes to interview me. I offer my philosophy on parenting. That I believe in attachment parenting, breastfed for 15 months, co-slept with my children, we have routine, we read every night....Etc. I had my camera in my purse, and offered to show her pictures of my home, the children rooms, our activities. I offered her my address book so she could call family and friends if she needed to. She declined my camera, and address book.

She asked me 3 things. "what do you and your husband do for a living?" "what is your education level?"..."Where is your husband?" I did answer the questions, but found them odd. There must be other questions that might determine abuse?

We are sent back to the "patient waiting room in ER", so they can draw blood. The Drs. come in at that time to tell me, "yes her arm is broken."

The Drs. put the temporary plaster cast on the arm, and tell me, that there will be no "report" filed re: the possibility of abuse.

We are also informed, we have to go get a regular cast put on Tuesday, and we are to follow up with the geneticist.

It is 2:00am, Pink is tired and whimpering, I am tired, insulted, sad, upset, and concerned that Pink Ninja could be sick with "brittle bones" disease.......


The exhaustion from Friday, has carried over, I am tired. I will be swamped this week with Drs. appointments as well. Pink could use some prayers.

I am hoping she just fell just right.