Our
Journey:
Avalon's Army of Angels
August 26, 2008 Ambrosia's turn
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Today was Ambrosia's turn for a follow-up appointment, it was judgement day at the
orthopaedist.
I didn't have high hopes for the day, when we arrived at the Orthopaedic Center, and there
wasn't a parking space in sight. I drove around, then drove around a nearby lot, only to find
a whole lot of nothing. I was in the process of getting the insurance card so I could send
Aurora in with Ambrosia, when someone finally left. I took forever and ten days to jockey our
giganto van into the awkward spot, but where there's a will and an appointment, there's a
way.
The front desk made us wait nearly half an hour before they even called us to register, but
after that, it was only 10 minutes or so before we were called back. I should have figured
something was up when they put us in a cast room, but it honestly never occurred to me.
That may have been due to the fact that Anam was in a particularly Anam-zilla mood, and
was attempting to dismember the place board by manicured board. He gives me gray hair.
Before long, this young, I'm talking can-barely-be-old-enough-to-grow-a-whisker YOUNG
resident came in. He actually looked more like a doctor on a television series than a real
one. Its a crying shame Anam was being so rotten. Aurora and I would have enjoyed this
resident much more, if she hadn't needed to grab the rugrat and head for the hills. (when
Anam began climbing into the cabinets, we decided she should probably watch him for me...
out in the car)
Mr. Adorable but looks-like-jailbait, sent Ambrosia off for a quick x-ray. Afterwards, he came
in to tell me things were healing well, and he'd return shortly with Dr. Klingele. As ortho
residents go, this one was as nice as he was stalkable. That's pretty rare. The vast majority
of them tend to be turdish.
When Dr. Klingele came in, he grinned and greeted us like old friends. The resident was a
little shocked, until further in the conversation, when it became apparent we'd visited together
a time or two. Even Dr. Klingele had to laugh about this whole thing. He's a man who can
appreciate us finding humor in a little bit of "normalcy".
I asked for clarification of what the ED docs had said. After the ED visit, I'd done my
homework online. "Buckle" fractures and "greenstick" fractures are very similar, but
"greensticks" take longer to heal, and are prone to more movement complications. As it turns
out, both ED docs had been partially correct. Ambrosia did break both bones, but they were
the lesser of the evils, buckle fractures. And according to Dr. Klingele, healing absolutely
perfectly!
In fact, the healing was going so well, they removed the giant finger-to-armpit cast, and
replaced it with a hand to below-elbow one. Best of all, its waterproof!! Ambrosia had been
crushed that she was going to miss out on swimming at Family Camp this weekend. When
they told her the new cast was waterproof, she nearly hit the roof! She squealed, thanked
them, and bounced as she squealed some more.
Next it came time to pick the color. Ambrosia had seen the color swatches while we waited for
the doctors. She'd commented that if she ever got another cast, she thought she'd go for
that bright lime green. Oh happy day - she got to replace her cast. Sure enough, she
requested the lime green. However, the lovely man re-casting her, wasn't sure which color
she was talking about. When it came time for the outer wrap, he brought the swatches over
to show her - and she picked out the neon green. He then told her, he thought she'd meant
this other color, the glo-in-the-dark one! It took a hot second for her to change her mind!!
Bright green was out and night green was in. The tech was even nice enough to turn off the
lights as soon as he finished the cast. You wouldn't believe this thing! It glows like its
plugged in!!! Totally, undeniably, COOOOOOL.
Before he left, I had asked Dr. Klingele if we could book double appointments next time to
have him check on Anam after he saw Ambrosia. Its been over a year since he's seen him. I
fully admitted that we'd given up on the stupid brace, and just opted for the surgery. (Anam
has a club foot) I'd been pretty honest with Dr. Klingele early on, I thought the baby brace
was demonic. As I told him this time, face it, the little snip and clip operation he needs to do
to Anam is pretty small potatoes. Two years of a normal babyhood was well worth the trade
off of a simple operation. Its all a matter of perspective. Dr. Klingele just laughed and said
he spends his life trying to tell parents that. He added that maybe you have to have been
where we have, to really understand it.
I suppose that's why I started this website in the first place, to share perspective. If I can
even one person to look at their life from a new angle, it makes it all worthwhile. And if I can
teach a few people to look for those tiny little miracle moments in their lives...well that would
be icing on the cake.
My icing for the day was watching my children squeeze into the tiny downstairs bathroom the
second we got home. The squealing and giggling was all the confirmation I needed...it was a
good day today. ;-)