How to make the best of an ER visit

“Sometimes, despite your best efforts otherwise, life will give you lemons.” (Quote from the newly released movie, Love Happens)

I can’t think of one time that I visited an emergency room and it was a pleasant or expeditious experience.

There was the time I was in college and had an earache so acute that I thought having only one ear would of been a better option. Or the time I drove to the hospital as my son grabbed at his heart in agonizing pain. He had just played a basketball game at the YMCA in Wichita and was having severe chest pain. And, most recently, the middle of the night visit for my son’s infected elbow.

I had just taken him to see the pediatrician that same afternoon and she put him on an antibiotic and gave specific instructions to call if he started spiking a fever. Sure enough, the fever struck his tween body and the pain crept into the elbow region, next to his wenis. The skin on your elbow is called your wenis. Mothers with boys may know this little known fact already. This is the most memorable anatomical fact my son learned while attending Derby Hills Elementary. I’d like to think that he has genetically inherited my love for arcane words.

In we walked at the midnight hour bracing ourselves for a long wait, ready to people watch. We did our best to stay germ free as the lady sitting adjacent to us sounded as if she might hack up a lung. The nurse asked us if we’d been out of the country or state within the last two weeks and if we’d ever been exposed to tuberculosis. I tried to remain calm and not think about all of the questions that were spinning through my mind.

I sat with my latest read, while Avery played Tetris on my cell phone. After being seen by the doctor and x-rays were taken, Avery left none the better. The doctor said he did not what to “cut into that mess,” and suggested we go back to Avery’s pediatrician in the morning. It was morning! 2 a.m. in fact. I was not a happy mom. I didn’t show my frustration but took my son home to sleep and waited till the next day.

That afternoon we went back to the pediatrician who told us to go to the children’s hospital. He finally had his elbow drained of the infection the next night at a children’s hospital and has since recovered from the two-day ordeal. My point in sharing this story is that when life throws acidy lemons at your open wounds, make the best of a bad situation. When emergency room and pediatrician co-pays are stacking up one on top of the other we have to find a way to make sugary sweet, lemonade.

Word of the Week: Each week I add a word that I have come across in my reading for which I did not know the definition. After looking it up I try to use it in my future columns. Last column’s word was commences, to begin, start.