We are pretty used to the physical aspect of being parents of three boys. Bumps, scrapes, and bruises are daily occurrences at our house.
Yesterday stepped it up a notch.
Around 9 am we released the hounds, so to speak. We live in the Woodlands, an area of Singapore near the Singapore American School. As such, our neighborhood is large and filled with kids of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. It's fabulous. John has thrived with the busy play every day with friends.
So we let him outside Saturday morning to play. He went bike riding on our street with Joe and another friend, just around our house. I was upstairs getting dressed and talking to my sister on the phone when I heard the bloody scream. I immediately knew something bad had happened, and my heart dropped. Ever since we moved here my biggest fear are the cars and taxis and trucks that race around amidst all the crazy chaos of kids. I had a moment where I thought someone's child was finally hit. Thank God I was wrong.
But it was bloody screaming, and when my heart began beating again I realized the screaming was one of my own. I hung up on my highly entertaining brother-in-law and ran out into the street where John was on the ground clutching his leg. It was pretty easy to tell that he had most likely fractured something, but like a good mom I immediately (but calmly!) asked, "Where is your helmet? Were you riding your bike without a helmet?". This shocked him into a few seconds of silence.
We rushed him to the hospital. In the car, he was screaming bloody murder again in pain. At one point he got so upset he cried, "and this was my favorite leg!".
Long story short: John broke his tibia in two places. Here he is before the "procedure".
They had to call it a procedure because when they said surgery, I got a bit excited and not in a happy way. They had to put him under anesthesia to set his poor leg. We stayed for a few hours after the "procedure" and took him home. Here is the patient today. He wanted to pose for a picture to send to his cousin:
Although he has a smile on, he's been in a bit of pain today and refuses to sit up much or stand on the good leg at all. Bathroom breaks have been interesting. We go to see his doctor again on Friday. It looks like six weeks in the cast.
Never a dull moment with boys!
