Another trip to the ER

I was abot to call Alan after getting off the subway at the 57th Street station of the W train when I noticed I had a missed call from home.  I dialed the house thinking the Lolas  just needed me to get something for them at the grocery or drug store.  Mom’s voice was obviously worried and she had every reason to be because Angel had tripped and hit his head on our low coffee table.  (The Coffee table has been banished to the attic until we have guests..)

This time, the booboo was in the middle of his forehead.  Although it wasn’t as bad a bleeder as the first cut two weeks ago, this was “smiling” wide and obviously needed stitches.  (Again..)  So I changed him, grabbed his diaper bag, and we drove to the same ER we went to the first time.  (It’s the nearest, and why go elsewhere when we’re happy with them and they already have all our information.)

At the back of my mind I was kind of worried knowing how vigilant the hospital authorities are here about child welfare.  While the first and this incident were totally unrelated and were but natural for growing boys like Angel, I was keeping my fingers crossed that this did not raise any red flags.  Thinking about it, though, made me expect it which was good in a sense, because when additional personnel started examining Angel, I didn’t get nervous or panicked.

We immediately requested for the plastic surgeon as per our pediatrician’s advice.  Any wounds to the face, hand and leg should be handled by a plastic surgeon.  It was the same plastic surgeon who treated him the first time, but as he was just “on call” and not actually “on premises” like before, we had to wait until he arrived which wasn’t really very long.

While waiting, the child psychologist came down with two toys and started playing with Angel.  I knew she didn’t just stroll into the ER looking for children to entertain with her toys.  I talked with her in as normal a way as possible and tried make Angel at ease with her.

The plastic surgeon came and together (Alan held him by the head, I put my weight on his torso, and eventually the child psychologiest held his legs), we struggled through getting the wound stitched up.  Angel was so strong that he could push me just by pushing his body up through his legs pushing against the hospital bed.

Even with the local anesthetic, he was very distraught because he started crying the moment he saw the plastic surgeon.  After he had been cleaned and a waterproof bandage applied to the wound, another doctor came in to examine in “to make sure he was okay and nothing was wrong with his head.” 

The plastic surgeon assured me that accident like this were normal, and that he had boys come in with their incisions re-opening two to three times — I told him I was worried something might need to be checked considering he seemed to be falling all over the place.  He said no and assured me even his sons had gone through the same thing.  The other doctor was not accusatory and acted nonchallantly.  She went through the motions of checking Angel’s breathing, his ears and his eyes, then went on to look behind his back and his tush (in search of telltale signs of abuse, I suppose..).  I was telling myself they can look all they want because I had nothing to hide.

Finally they gave us a clean bill of health — and the other doctor was surprised to see that the plastic surgeon had actually signed the release already.  And off we went, with Angel walking by himself, only too happy to be walking to the car and heading home.  It was almost 10PM already and neither Alan nor I had had dinner yet.  Angel had just finished eating when we arrived so he was good.  Although we had planned to have dinner at a nearby restaurant we frequent, Alan suggested we just go home because we knew the grandmas were worried and waiting.  And there they were.

This weekend we are doing another round of childproofing.  You can never be too careful more so when the child is as precocious as Angel.  Meanwhile, he’s good as new.. and I whispered to him he can’t afford another trip to the ER soon, because then we might get in real trouble, even if nothing really happened beyond an accident taking place.

 

A Scrapper's Gift

If you’re into digital scrapbooking like I am, please visit Digital Design Essentials and check out their ART FOR ASHER.  It’s digital scrapbook art that has been donated and is being sold to benefit the family of Asher Krush who is suffering from cancer.  Asher is barely four years old and yet he has had to go through so much.

Up until today, I had been good resisting purchasing any digital kits because there are a ton of freebies out there.  More than the great artwork in the kit and the free gift add-on, (and the set is indeed great!) I purchased one to help Asher.  Read more about Asher here.

Bloghopping as against Blogging

I’ve been busy scrapbooking , reading and writing letters of late that I haven’t had the inspiration to really write a blogpost the last 36 hours.  Save for the outrage caused by this article as reflected in my blogpost below, it’s been rather quiet on the blogfront.

I have a couple of Bryant Park pictures I will be working on posting soon but right now, I feel no sense of urgency to start working on that.   I have been feverishly working on scrapbook submissions for the craft challenges in the most active scrapbook group I’m involved with, and I finished one layout today.  (Please visit Motherhood, etc. , my other blog, where I posted the layout.)  It really isn’t for lack of topics I want to post about.  Just that I do have a life outside of the blogsphere.  

The nice thing about slowing down with the posting is that it has afforded me a chance to visit other blogs and get to know some very interesting bloggers.  Not that my own little circle of blogfriends on the sidebar don’t get me busy enough trying to keep up with them  – it’s just nice to know their blogfriends and bloghaunts, too.  Friends of friends of friends.. you know how that goes.

When I go bloghopping, I do it as I would browse the magazine rack on a newstand.  You see something you like and decide to skim the article.  If you really like it, you stay and  browse, otherwise, you close the window and hit the next blog.  From time to time, I leave a comment if something sparks a thought in my head.  Other times I get so “moved”, I actually write a post about the blog and then add it to my blogroll.  

Reading about what the others say allows me to see the world in their perspective.  Be it in cooking, day-to-day living, relationships, pop culture — if you go into a blog with an open mind, there is much that you can learn.  I tread on other people’s blogs with care because I expect them to do the same when they walk into my blog.  Remember the golden rule?  Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.   (I remember asking the stepson about this sometime ago and I got a blank stare.. anyway..)  I don’t always agree with or like what I read — but I’m not there to edit other people’s grammar or spelling.. I read to interact with another human being, so even when I criticize, I practice a good amount of common sense in trying not to step on other people’s toes.    

I usually visit one of my favorite blogs and try to see who’s on their blogroll.  From there I go and hop onto one of the other blogs on their list and on to that blog’s roll and so on.   There was a time I was thinking of putting up a Pinoy Blog Review like some bloghoppers blog do, but it is much too time-consuming and would eat up the time I would otherwise reserve for writing on anything and everything under the sun.  So I pulled back and decided to concentrate on Pinay New Yorker, Motherhood, Etc., and Pinay Francophile.  Except for Pinay New Yorker, the other two are literally journals where I deposit things I want to immortalize on the web.  They don’t serve a purpose except to remind me of what I had done, what I am thinking and what I plan to do.  Pinay New Yorker, however, has evolved into more of a bulletin board than a journal.  Here I have found a channel for not only writing and expressing myself, but for hearing others who stumble into my place here on the web.

But like normal conversations, my blog conversations are never one way.  I go and take a peek into what’s happening with Lani, or what’s up with Tintin who, I just found out, has gotten a new job.  I keep meeting new friends like Lou, Owen and Ces.  It’s always nice to “talk” to people who can understand where you’re coming from without having to go through every little detail.  I cherish what I learn from interacting with our kababayans online.

So if I’m not being prolific with the posts here, it may perhaps be because I’m reading your blog.  =)  And I don’t always say hello — sometimes lurking is a good way to enjoy the blogs better.  Or I might just be too preoccupied with life as a Mom, wife, daughter and career woman. 

To all the bloggers who read this — thanks for having a presence on the web and sharing your life and writings with us.