A Trip to the ER...

for Shad, that is. He was playing softball and was in the 2nd inning of the 1st game (they were supposed to have a double-header) when he injured the middle finger on his right hand. He thought that he either broke it or dislocated it. Since he's had experience in the past with a dislocated finger, he knew to go straight to the ER (the sooner it gets put back into place, the better). So, he drove himself while Christopher and I followed. We only waited for a few minutes before getting called back to Triage. However, as soon as we walked into the room, Christopher FREAKED out. Apparently, he thought he was going to get a shot or something along those lines. He only calmed down after we walked out into the entry area. So, since he wouldn't let me take him back inside even after trying to reassure him that we were there for Daddy to see a doctor for the owie on his finger, I just went ahead and took him home.

Shad ended up waiting for about 3 hours from the time he walked in until the time he walked out. I guess relatively speaking, that's not *too* bad. It's still frustrating to have to wait, though. They took his blood pressure and vitals first. Then he waited until they put him into a room. Then he waited to have an x-ray taken. Then he waited for the diagnosis. As it turned out, his finger was neither broken nor dislocated. Instead, it's separated tendons from a jammed finger. Then he waited to talk to a doctor about the diagnosis and to discharge him.

He was referred to an Orthopedic Surgeon, but when he called today to make an appointment, for some reason, they referred him to yet another doctor. Instead of playing their dog and pony tricks, he just went ahead and made an appointment with his regular doctor since his back has been bothering him again, too. In fact, he ended up leaving work this morning because of his back, not his finger. He goes Monday afternoon to get checked out.

Did I mention that we're supposed to go to Nashville tomorrow to have family pictures taken??? That ought to be fun.