I love being near family, but I really miss our calm, relaxed, and unhurried life in Germany. To be honest, if it weren't for family, we would live in Europe for the rest of our lives. We absolutely love it there. After visiting us for a month, my dad told me that we were in for a big culture shock once we returned. I honestly didn't think it would affect me. After all, we lived in Italy for three years (twice the amount of time as in Germany) and I didn't experience any kind of culture shock when we returned. Well, as is usually the case, he was right. This is the land where anything you want is at your fingertips and your options are overwhelming. It is so easy to get too busy without even realizing it. I am not used to this fast-paced lifestyle (anymore), and I do not like it. I don't mean to sound whiny, and I'm not blaming America. I just have to learn how to live here again. I'm realizing that I am going to have to make some adjustments to get life back to the way our family enjoys it most.
Well, that was just a little side note about how I've been feeling lately. Now, on to the real reason for this post. Wednesday night, we were dining out at Santa Fe Cattle Co. I ordered steak, a baked sweet potato, and steamed veggies. Jace got a burger with a side of barbecue sauce. Santa Fe puts temperature picks in their meats that are ordered to temperature. They are flat, about 1/4" wide, and they narrow to a point at the bottom. Jackson took the pick out of Jason's burger and was dipping it in the barbecue sauce and then licking it. Harmless, right? Well, after about twenty licks, he bit the tip off of the pick. We heard him say, "Uh-oh." and then pull out the remaining part. Jason quickly exclaimed, "Don't swallow it!" but of course, he did.
I wasn't worried. Kids swallow all sorts of things. My friend's little girl swallowed a hair clip once and it just had to pass right through. Jason thougth we might need to take him somewhere to have him looked at. I didn't see what they would be able to do for him; but, not to be negligent, I decided to call the nurse advice line - a service that our insurance provides - and they advised me to take him in. (That was a huge hour-long ordeal because we are still on their Europe plan since Jason is technically stationed overseas until 30 Dec. When I called the local base just to ask the question, should I or should I not take him in, no one would help me and kept telling me to call my primary care manager. I can't tell you the number of times I reminded them that my PCM is in GERMANY!!! I finally found the number to the nurse advice line for the Europe region and that is when they told me to take him in. I then called back to the local base to ask for the nearest after-hours clinic or ER, and would you believe that they didn't "have" that information??!! This was a serious case of not being able to think outside of the box. The poor girl could only think about how she's not authorized to help people who aren't assigned to her base. I explained how we just moved here, our internet access wasn't working, and we had no phone book. I only wanted her to point me in the general direction of an after-hours clinic. Well, she didn't 'have' that information. She didn't even 'know' where the nearest ER was. (She did, but she wouldn't give me that information.) It was so sad. I wanted to say, "Pretend we are strangers on the street and I have an emergency and don't know where to go. Where would you send me?" Thankfully, I did know where an ER was because I've lived here before. I shouldn't have bothered calling, but I was trying to avoid the ER and just go to a small, after-hours clinic.)
We ended up in the same building where Jackson was born. It was actually kind of fun to reminisce. We signed him in and began the waiting process. (I haven't posted yet that I had to take Jason to the ER in Houston during the night after Thanksgiving. It's been fun!) While we were waiting, Jace and Jackson were playing. Jackson was jumping in the chair and Jason was hold his hands, which were above his head. Next thing I hear, "Ouch! Arm." Jackson starts whimpering and holding his arm. He won't straighten it and is asking for kisses. We kiss his arm and Jason tries to get him to straighten it. He emphatically says, "No. No." I put him in my lap and figured that he dislocated something...perhaps his elbow. Jackson heard us talking about it and then kept asking me to hold his elbow. I just put his little arm in my hand as if it were a sling.
Jason felt TERRIBLE. I kept telling him that it was no big deal. After about thirty minutes, I was laughing because I just couldn't believe what all was happening. I felt like I was in a movie. Once we saw the doctor, who was awesome!, she knew exactly what it was. She called it a nursemaid elbow. Basically, one of the forearm bones slips out of its normal position at the elbow. She fixed it in about twenty seconds and Jackson was fine. She gave him an orange popsicle (big score on the color) to eat while we waited to take his x-ray to locate the plastic pick. She said as long as the object is less than 2 inches, then it almost always passes without a problem. We just needed to watch for any kind of abdominal pain and look for the pick in his stool - Yay!
The x-ray was taken and we were on our way. The ER experience was not bad at all. The nurses and doctors were wonderful. I was thanking God for giving us such wonderful people to work with and feeling terrible about my earlier attitude regarding the insurance. I have seen it time and time again, when things get difficult for tough, the Lord always brings blessing in some way. I hope I remember that the next time challenge comes my way.
9 years ago
