A day at the ER

 This is one of those posts that begins with "Let me just say first, EVERYONE IS OKAY". 

 With that being said, yesterday was really not much fun, since Canaan and I spent five hours in the E.R. 

 FIVE HOURS 

 That is enough to make anyone exhausted. And someone who's husband who is about to deploy, and who is already emotionally "on edge".... let's just say that I wasn't a pretty "sight" when it hit about 11 pm last night. Poor Andy! When it was all over and done with, and the kids were safely in bed, and nothing was actually "wrong" anymore, I had a melt down. Sobs that shook my whole body, tears running down my face, and strangely enough, not any pin-pointable reason as to why. I had just reached the end of my ability to function, and I needed a good cry. 

 I think I feel better now! 

 But back to the original story... poor Canaan. It is slightly embarrassing, poor kid! He had a swollen testicle over the weekend, but he said it didn't really hurt, and the clinic was closed for President's Day... I pretty much just forgot about it. But after his bath on Tuesday night, I noticed that it was even more swollen, and getting hard, and he said it was tender. None of those seemed like good things, so I called the doctor first thing Wednesday morning. 

 Through a series of phone errors and after me driving all the way to base and just marching myself and my boys into the clinic (after waiting two hours for a call back that was supposed to take 10 minutes) the nurse on call finally talked to me. They had no appointments available on base, but after I talked to the nurse, she insisted that I take him to the Emergency Room. 

 Back in the car we loaded, and here is where I will admit something terrible. I did not take that nurse very seriously. We were already on base to run errands - I had 4 that I wanted to do - and since my library movies were already overdue, I decided to knock one of those errands off my list and return my books and movies. I did not run my other three errands. I only went to the library. But looking back on it now, I suppose that could have been a bad idea! 

 That was a quick stop, we loaded up once again, and as I drove into town I realized that I was about to drag my fairly healthy children into a pit of germs. On purpose. Alarms started flashing in my head, and I went into emergency mommy mode. 

 Thank goodness for really good friends. I called my friend Mary, and I said, "Are you busy?" She could have said, "Yes". She could have said, "Why do you ask?" She simply said, "No, I'm not busy." And that is what makes her a really good friend. Maybe she could hear the panic in my voice. Maybe she is just an angel in disguise. I do know that she saved my sanity, because she was at the library (a different one then I had just left) exactly 1 block from the ER. What are the chances? Hmmmmm... lets think about that. I had been delayed two hours by errors in the phone service. Then, at the exact moment I needed her, my friend was 1 block from where I was going. 

 I think I serve a really generous God! 

 The story could go on and on, but I won't torture you. The worry was that Canaan could have twisted something inside, I think it was called "torsion", which would have required immediate surgery. Luckily, it was just an infection of his testicle. Uncomfortable, but not the end of the world.  

 He was a brave little monster when he had to give blood. He sat through an ultrasound, happily entertained by my gameboy DS. He even peed in a cup. 

 It was a big day for him, but he got to watch cartoons for hours on end, so overall, I don't think he would say it was a bad day! 

 My wonderful Aunt Beth happened to be heading back to FL, at the exact same time, so she came and sat with me for several hours, then Andy came when he got off work. So, I didn't even have to be brave and alone much at all. 

 Mary kept Zion all day long. Canaan and I finally got to eat around 6 that night, since we had never really had lunch! We went to get Zion and just crashed at poor Mary's house! Luckily, Andy was willing to run to Zaxby's and get food. After it is all over, it is easier to say...

 Life is good. Oh yes, life is good. Exhausting.... but absolutely wonderful.