Things Ain't How They Used To Be

I took Cameron to the orthopedic hand specialist today. I had gotten into a comfort zone of believing his injury really wasn't a big deal and we would leave with the doctor wondering if we had just wasted his time.
This is always the way I think when I visit a doctor. Perhaps it's because I used to fake being sick so often when I was a kid; I expect the doctor's to see through the ploy. It always shocks me when they actually confirm something is wrong -- like when I was waiting to deliver Cameron and they suspected he was breech. The xrays clearly showed his bum down position and yet I couldn't believe they would need to deliver him by C-section. Excuse me Doctor...I'm just faking there's a problem to get attention-he's not really breech! Wait a minute - maybe I was just faking being pregnant too...
I've noticed this same tendency in my oldest son. Actually he's very rarely sick with anything, but the times he has come to me with various bumps and ailments have generally been more imagined or embellished when investigated further.
You can't fake swelling though. And the doctor was very thorough in his exam -- with additional follow up xrays.
Here's the problem...my 5'8" son is still growing; therefore his growth plates have still not closed; therefore they can't see if there is a fracture in his wrist with x-rays; therefore they need to put a cast on it for three weeks in order to protect the wrist from any further damage. But wait - there's more! Even though he has a cast - he is okay to play football!


Here's the "when I was young" speech...if you had a cast when I was young you basically did nothing for months.
The only criteria now is that you put pads around the cast so you don't hurt the other players with your club...I mean, cast!