Be careful what you wish for....

Well, for the most active member of our family, motion has come to an almost standstill. Austin never seems to stop and we're constantly asking him to be still or quite or sit quietly while we finish something or another. Be careful what you wish for.....

On Saturday evening as we were going to bed, the girls were watching a short video on TV and Austin was once again creating chaos. Eventually he was sent to his bed to settle down. All of a sudden, we heard a very loud thud fr0m his bedroom followed by screaming.

I ran to his room to find him on the floor, flat on his back, in front of the bookshelf. Evidently he had climbed up to get to the lightswitch and fallen off.

It was pretty evident that he was hurt but we were't sure imemdiately how badly. When about 10 minutes later he would still scream if anyone even lightly touched his leg, Tom decided we needed to go to the Emergency Room immediately. We loaded everyone in the car and headed for the hospital.

When we got there they took him back very quickly and ordered x-rays. We waited for the x-ray pictures to come back and Tom went to get a drink. I was close to the admin station and saw everyone gathering around something that had just come in on the computer. One of the techs said to another, "you can't read this, you're not a doctor." The other one looked and said, "I may not be a doctor but I can read this, it's pretty difinitive." As the doctor came over, they let me come look at the screen and even I could "read" this x-ray. There was a huge break diagonally down his femur.

So. now our boy in perpetual motion is pretty still. He is in a cast that goes from his armpits down to his foot on the broken side and to his knee o nthe other side. For the femur to heal properly the hips have to be imobilized as well.

Just to head off the inevitable question there is a small opening so he can go to the bathroom. :)

Anyway, it looks like Austin in in for a lot of down time...6 weeks minumum. Lots of TV time and things that don't involve any movement of or weight on his legs. Any creative suggestions are welcomed!!!