wan-na find something?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

cast away

on monday morning, the teen's actual birthday, i got up early to make her breakfast. her special request? that delicious disneyland-style french toast we've come to love so much. totally unhealthy, but so damn good.

and then we took off to make her 9:00 appointment at kaiser to have her ankle looked at and the cast removed. yay! she was so grumpy about that thing, and while i've never had the misfortune to have one, i can only imagine what a pain in the ass it must've been. and she was lucky - only two weeks, vs. 6, 8, or longer. so it was a great birthday present - first, to miss the first half of the school day, and then to be able to walk around much less encumbered.

at the nurses' station, she was super thrilled to see that her hard work at the gym of late was definitely paying off. she weighed less than before, and she still had the cast on.



the good doctor was all smiles when he caught sight of me with the camera in hand. ham!



he sent us here and instructed us to return after the cast had been cut off:



i pointed out the "closed" sign to the teen, but she waved it off, saying "it always says that, mom."



and she was right. a few minutes later, the door opened, another patient hobbled out with a new walking cast of her own, and the nurse smiled and let us in. the first thing i saw was this:



and then the nurse got to work on taking that thing off.



i told the teen she looked mummified.



eeewwwwwwww:



we'd forgotten to bring her other shoe in with us, so she ended up sporting this thing instead:



she was absolutely mortified at the sight of her bare leg, stuck in a cast for two weeks, untouched by a razor. i took a picture of that hairy ass limb, but even i won't post that here. besides, she'd probably chop me into a thousand pieces and spread me across the desert if i did.



we went back to have the doctor inspect the previously-injured ankle. the bean decided it'd be fun to make like a monkey and climb up to see her sister.



and then she caught sight of a little chair that was just her size.



the doc came in, typed a bunch of stuff in the computer, and examined the teen's ankle. as he did this, the bean let me know in no uncertain terms that she was hungry. so i pulled out the nursing cover, got down to business, and he looked over at us.

"how old is your baby?" he asked.
"a year and a half," i answered.

with a tilt of his head, he said "so when you gonna stop that?"

annoyed and caught off guard, i popped off. "i don't know. whenever i'm good and ready to."

he didn't catch the irritation in my response. "you know, it's going to be impossible to stop now. she's gonna think you're punishing her when you don't let her have it."

"hmmmmmm," i said, and i kissed the top of the bean's head and ignored him. look, buddy, i'm paying you to take care of the teen. keep your dumb ass opinions on other shit to yo'self.

he handed the teen a note to take to school that excused her from p.e. for a week, and then told us to return to the cast room to have a removable brace put on until the teen was ready to take it off. i thought it looked sort of like an OG roller skate.



we headed towards home so that the teen could put a pair of jeans on - the nurse told her that her skin would be super sensitive and that waiting to shave until the next day was ideal. on the way, we stopped off for a birthday treat from starbucks.



caramel frappuccino, no whip, extra caramel sauce.



and that was it! she was so stoked to have that cast off at last, and now we're looking forward to relaxing mani/pedis on saturday with her friends, followed by a fun birthday dinner.

birthday princess month continues!

28 comments:

  1. Hi, I have been reading your blog for a while and I hate to tell you this but the doctor is so right. Yes it's your business, but that is kind of disturbing to others. Your daughter is very cute, but she is also already 1 1/2 year. I think it's time to stop the breast feeding. that is great that you breast fed, but 6 months to 1 year is enough. This is coming from a DOCTOR because obviously he found it disturbing. That is a bit embarrassing for the bean as well. I don't think she wants her friends to find out that she was breast fed at such a late age. I hope that didn't sound mean and doesn't bother you , but I think it is definitely time to stop.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The "roller-skate" brace is what I used on both of my ankles!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had a cast on for 6 weeks.
    Found out I was pregnant shortly after.
    Probably fell over rollerskating because I was dizzy.
    I was a gorilla when the cast was taken off.
    Don't go rollerskating when you are pregnant.

    ReplyDelete
  4. And I'm gonna chime in about the breastfeeding. Breastfeeding should be done as long as you're able/comfortable. How would the bean even know to be embarrassed? Met a nutritionist that was still breastfeeding her 4-yr old.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ew, I can't believe a doctor said that! He shouldn't let his own personal feelings come out in a professional setting when there is no MEDICAL validity to what he was saying.

    Funny about her hairy-ness, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw she was wearing shorts. Glad the cast is off!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm no baby expert, but it sounds like the doctor's comments are based on cultural bias rather than medical expertise. Therefore, he needs to STFU.

    I am a broken bone expert, so let me just say that after a broken arm and 6 weeks in a cast DURING A SUMMER OF HEAT WAVES, the Teen's cast is friggin' pristine compared to the trauma that came off of my arm. Oh, the memories....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear anonymous,
    Breastfeeding is a PERSONAL choice. It does the bean no harm and I highly doubt she will be damaged for life. How often do you discuss with your friends how long you breastfed for?
    Have the balls to state your opinion without hiding behind "anonymous". You are a p*ssy.

    So glad the teen got her cast off!! I remember when I had a cast taken off my arm, it was seriously half the size and way hairier then the other. Glad she had an awesome birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ditto to those who said the doc was way out of line for his comments.

    Anonymous, I hardly think the bean will be embarrassed about how long she was breastfed when she's older. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal and beyond that, it really is none of your business.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous - The doctor is NOT a pediatrician. He's just basing his opinion on the stigma that breastfeeding should end at 12 mths. It's still encouragable that you should still continue breastfeeding as long as the mother is comfortable and it's great for the bean.

    The after cast is GROSS! Now I'm no longer hungry. blech.

    Yay for getting the cast off.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I personally tell everyone I meet how long I was breastfed. It's right in there with "Where do you live?" and "What do you do for a living?"

    ReplyDelete
  11. anonymous,

    There are plenty of women who breastfeed well past the age of 6m-1 year (which is considered by most health agencies to be the MINIMUM a child is breastfed) who have well adjusted, normal children. The doctor was out of line.

    http://www.parentingweb.com/lounge/ext_nursepage.htm "The world wide average age of weaning is around four years old."

    FWIW, my BF's family are all very pro-breast feeding (as evident by our Easter dinner where it was openly discussed). He was breastfed until he was 3. No shame, no embarassment.

    Get a grip. If you want to say something ballsy, say it with a real name.

    ReplyDelete
  12. i must also say that i don't give a flying fuck about others' comfort. well, i do to a point - hence the nursing cover.

    if folks have an issue with me feeding my child discreetly, they can suck it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I hardly think a doctor who puts casts on people or "Anonymous" are qualified to tell you what's right / wrong about breastfeeding. Lame-o. And the cast picture totally grossed me out. Ewww. A caramel frap is the perfect ending to the day though!

    ReplyDelete
  14. my comment just erased. :( The doc was way out of line, and should pretty much stfu.

    Glad the teen had a fun birthday! The cast = gross, but she looks super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  15. anonymous aka "Michelle",
    I deleted your comment on my blog. Not because I think you are right but because I think it is fvcked up to put a rude comment on a blog entry that is about a sad subject. You are a bitch.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have nothing to add except ditto to all the comments regarding anonymous.

    Yay for the teen getting her cast off!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. whoa, who knew BF-ing was such a hot topic? as long as you don't BF her until she's 12 and put the video on youtube, I don't giveashit.

    yay for the cast coming off!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Another vote for Anonymous and the doc are douches.
    I was breastfed for 2 years. No embarrassment over here.
    I bet the Bean is crazy healthy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. yay for getting the cast off early, go teen!

    i soo wish i would've bf longer than i did, i think its awesome that you give your bean such an awesome gift. go wan! (i dont know your actual name)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Stupid, stupid comment. Sigh.

    Happy for mobile teen!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, people should mind their own business. You have to do what's good for you and your family, and to hell with what other people think.

    I really want Starbucks now.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous needs to get a life and that doctor needs to get some training in bedside manner. Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  23. oh my... save the drama for yo mama right?? =)

    i commend you for going as long as you are, that connection and bond is only something that you and your baby can understand.

    oh gosh i hope i am not hated for this, peeps shldn't care what anon says, anon was simply stating her/his opinion, idk, that's funny to me, you can't expect everyone to agree, as long as you are comfortable and happy who cares
    we breastfeeding moms know what is right for our babies and breasts!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ditto to what all your blogger friends have said. Breastfeeding benefits you and the bean, and it's free :) Enjoy it! Glad you don't care what anyone thinks! Surely the bean isn't going to care when she's older. Like it will be a topic of discussion among her and her friends...

    That foot imprint is nasty ;) Yea for getting the cast off on her birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I threw up a little in my mouth looking at what was "inside" the cast. BUT I am sure the teen must be ecstatic about getting the cast off. I can only imagine how itchy that thing must get with the warm weather.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The hairy leg thing totally cracked me up!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I sprained my ankle at the gym today (and I'm so pissed about it!). I think I might go in to see the doctor on Monday and I'm really hoping for no cast. :/

    Excellent birthday gift for the teen to get it removed!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Well we really like to visit this site, many useful information we can get here. ortopedico in liguria

    ReplyDelete

i heart comments. i wan-na hear what you have to say.
um, i think.

heading out to the big apple

like most of our best vacations, our christmastime trip to NYC was kind of a last-minute decision.  i don't even think there were six we...