After a full day of parades two weekends before Mardi Gras Day, Liam woke up unable to walk. He couldn’t come down the stairs – he couldn’t bend his left hip or leg at all. I thought maybe it was a parade injury – too rough up and down off my shoulders or something. A quick trip to the urgent care revealed that it was not the simple dislocated/pulled hip or groin muscle that I thought it was. They did some Xrays and did some wiggling of the various joints and ultimately concluded that I needed to take him to the ER immediately . . . which was disconcerting and mildly alarming, to say the least.
We swung by Wendy’s for lunch, thank heavens, as little did we know after a 3 hour stay at the urgent care we’d be staying 21 additional hours at the hospital. They did more Xrays, blood work, mucus tests (gross), and an ultrasound of his hips. Long story short, he had fluid on the hip due to a common kid virus that causes inflammation, and he was on bed rest and observation for the night with possible early a.m. surgery to drain the fluid. I stayed the night with him, prepping him for surgery (IV fluids, a full body antimicrobial wipe down, no food after a certain time period, all the pre-op stuff). It was surreal and a bit stressful, especially as a newborn next door was going through drug withdrawal or something because that baby did not cease screaming for the entire time we were there. Also, during our seven hours in the triage area, before being sent to a private room, we were across from a tiny 1 year old having grand mal seizures. The Children’s Hospital is a tough place to hang out, let me tell you.
Luckily, that adventure occurred during a 4 day parade hiatus. So there wasn’t even any temptation – or whining – about skipping parades while he recouped. I, of course, am still recouping the lost billable time . . .
A few days later, a parade rolled a couple of blocks from our house, so we went. Liam stayed a bit and went home early, which was sensible. The other two stuck it out til the end. He started feeling better as the week went on, and he went to most of the parades, though he sat for a lot of them. It was a fun season! And now I’m all about salads, vegetables, water, and no more fried chicken for at least a month!
The weekend before Mardi Gras day, my in-laws always come to town. My husband’s sister’s husband is from a NOLA family, though he was a military kid and I don’t think has ever actually lived here himself. In any case, they come to Mardi Gras every year, and though the Prof was working on this day, I pushed those kids in a stroller almost a mile and a half to meet this crew at the Iris and Tucks parades. It was fun – we had a little area in the back where the littles could hang and play, while the big kids stood right up close and caught stuff. It was fun to catch up with them!
Iris and Tucks were on a Saturday. The next day is our favorite day of Mardi Gras – three parades roll right by our house, and we always have a house party. (Although we have moved from our former apartment, the two places are only a couple of blocks from each other). Tons of people came and used up my hand soap and TP and ate all my food, it was fabulous. The Prof got to come to this one as well.
