Chase's Expensive New Bracelet

My insurance changed recently to one with a deductible, and I had been wondering how long it was going to take me to actually meet the deductible. The answer? Less than a month.

Charles was holding on to Chase's arm yesterday and tickling him. Chase yanked his arm to try to get away and then started crying that his arm hurt. He refused to even try to move his fingers or his elbow. He eventually fell asleep after we put some ice on it and gave him some tylenol. I left around 10 to go to a movie.

5 or 6 hours later, he woke up crying that his arm hurt and he couldn't move it. Charles called me at the movies and I came home (guess I'll have to rent that one to find out what happens) and we brought him to the ER (after finding that the after-hours clinic was closed at midnight on a Saturday night).

After a very short wait, they called him into triage. Chase really played up his dad's role in the injury, and every time someone asked him about it, it became more and more malicious. Chase's mood improved considerably, though, when they put the hospital bracelet on him. The triage nurse sent us back to get his arm x-rayed, and Charles sat outside with Cole while I brought Chase in for the x-rays. He couldn't (or wouldn't) even lift his arm to put it on the x-ray table, so the x-ray tech had to do that for him. He shrieked every time she moved his arm to re-position it. When she was done, she brought him a stack of stickers, and he reached out and grabbed them with his "hurt" arm. Apparently, he was healed. Knowing how much this little adventure was costing, I was ready to break his fingers for him if nothing was broken. I thought they were going to have to admit Charles after Chase came out of x-ray waving at Charles & Cole with his "hurt" arm. Luckily for Chase, the doctor said that Chase had "nursemaid's elbow," which the handy little discharge sheet describes as:

"Tiny ligaments normally help hold the elbow together. One of them slipped in between Chase's upper and lower arm bones as they were pulled slightly apart. As the bones come back together, this ligament got stuck. This injury happens if you pull a child's hand with the arm in just the right position. Children with nursemaid's elbow have a lot of pain when they bend it"

The doctor explained that it had probably popped back into place when the x-ray tech turned his arm for the x-ray, so he was all healed.

We finally got back home around 1am with two wide-awake kids. I offered to take Chase's hospital bracelet off for him, but it seems that he's quite satisfied with his newest fashion accessory and is not ever taking it off. Since we DID pay for it, I guess that's ok.

*************EDITED***************Charles called Jason before calling me at the movies, and - even half asleep - he accurately phone-diagnosed Chase's problem. I was also asked to mention that Jason has also accurately phone-diagnosed meningitis and kidney stones for us. Looks like we'll have to come up with some more challenging diseases to test him with. :)