Out Sick

Please forgive me for my prolonged absence, we are still alive, but seem to have encountered a string of illnesses that keeps me pretty busy. I have had a cold with a cough that just won't go away. The kids have all had milder versions of my cold. Erik has just been diagnosed with strep throat, and Alyssa is now showing signs of it. Her rapid strep test was negative today, but so was Erik's, his two day culture came back positive on Sunday, so I fully expect a call from the doctor's office about Thursday saying her's is positive too. She has gone downhill all day long, and when the Princess is sick she becomes a real tyrant.

Colton's injury is healing well, I ended up taking his stitches out over three or four days (yes I took them out myself, I do it at work, so why pay someone else to do it) because when I took the first two out it started to open up. So I waited until the next day and took one out on the other end, and it started to separate too. So then I waited two more days and then took the other three out and put butterfly closures on it to reinforce things. It still separated a bit, but is looking great now. He is one tough boy.

going to pieces

Warning...the pictures are not for the faint of heart, if you don't like blood, you may want to skip this one!

I guess we haven't been paying our dues to the evil spirits of the Instacare. They decided Saturday night was a good time to exact their revenge. The victim this time was Colton, of course it usually is. He was minding his own business playing in the backyard like a good little boy, when the evil spirits jumped out and tripped him. He landed on a piece of glass that was hidden in the grass. I heard him scream from inside, and then Alyssa screaming too. I could tell from the screams it wasn't going to be good. By the time I got to the front door I found Erik with his arm wrapped around Colton's lower arm and wrist, and blood dripping between his fingers. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it and held pressure for a few minutes. When I looked this is what I saw:(minus the clear bandage applied by the nurse)

I knew instantly that it needed stitches, so I called my mom to come sit with the other two and loaded Colton and Erik in the van. Erik held pressure on it while we drove so it really didn't bleed too much. When we got there a nurse came out and looked at it and agreed it needed stitches. She wiped it off a little and filled the cut with numbing gel and applied a waterproof bandage to hold the gel in. We watched cartoons in the waiting room while we waited for the medicine to work.

When we went back they cleaned it out really good and then gave him some local anesthesia to get it completely numb. Then they stitched it up. Colton cried, but held completely still, he was really brave for such a little guy.

This is the finished product:

He has done really well with it. Alyssa thinks it is cool, she insists on helping with all the bandage changes. Hopefully the evil spirits of the instacare are satisfied with their revenge and we can stay out of there for a while.