.canoe americana?

In case you haven't read Jessica's blog lately (http://withsufficientgrace.blogspot.com/), here's the update.

Tuesday afternoon Cassidy went to play with her cousins Abbie and Asher at Leaping Lizards with our friend Marjorie. About an hour into the playing I got a call from Marjorie saying Cass got hurt and wanted me. Apparently a larger kid ran into Cass in the moonwalk. When I got there she was still crying and upset and I wondered how much crying was due to injury and how much was due to a minimal nap. Anywho, I took her home and sat her on the couch. And there she stayed for the next two days.

I tried to get her to walk a little bit, thinking perhaps she was overreacting and milking the pampered lifestyle. She would scream and cry with every step. It became ridiculous and I asked Jess to come and take a look. There was no major swelling or bruising on her leg but her knee definitely hurt. After working through the details we decided to take her to Children's Mercy South where they have 24-hour Urgent Care.

When they say "urgent" they mean they address your issue according to how urgent it is. Cass wasn't in any pain so we waited a long time before getting anywhere. But once it was all said and done the x-rays showed she had swallowed a puzzle piece, just like Curious George! No, that's just what I think of every time I hear the word "x-ray". She has a buckle fracture on the top of her tibia and a possible fracture lower down, although that hasn't been confirmed. Nothing less than a whole leg cast will take care of this fracture so she is decked out in hot pink from her upper thigh to her toes. She was incredible the whole time in urgent care, from 6 to midnight and only cried once while getting her cast put on. Apparently the fiberglass wrap gets hot while it hardens and it made her little leg itch. It was right at the end, when our nurse, Ron, was going to put on the purple stripes, so she ended up in solid pink. Look out!

The cast stays on for almost three weeks and then we believe, if all goes well, she will be back to normal. We are praying for perfect healing and no issues with her growth plate, please! We will go to Children's Mercy Downtown, aka Jessica's hospital, to have the doctor look at it on th 24th. I am not looking forward to revisiting that place, especially on the 24th, but I believe we will leave with more joyful results than last time.

Highlights from the trip:

In the waiting room I gave her a chocoloate and peanut butter protein bar (in lieu of supper). She ate half the bar and then said, "I'm eating too much chocolate!"

Jess asked Cassidy who her favorite team is, KU Jayhawks or Barcelona. Without hesitating she said, "Barcelona."

We were stuck in the hospital for 6 hours with a few books, a sliding toy attached to the wall and minimal snacks. For about thirty minutes we watched a food show. She never complained, whined or cried. She did better than I did.

Whenever a doctor or nurse talked to her she put on her brave face and acted like a grown up. In fact, when the doctor came in and asked me what happened Cassidy went into her own rendition of the jumping accident before I could open my mouth.

As we walked out to the car she said, "Papa, Mama, thanks for taking me to the doctor."

While waiting to get her cast put on she gave Nurse Ron a ballerina bear sticker to put on his ID badge.

She enjoys knocking on her cast since it's so hard. Come on over and give it a knock, or draw on it. I've commissioned Big Cass to draw a banjo on her knee...