A Look Back From The Waiting Room

I couldn’t help but take a stroll down memory lane as I sat with Boy #4 in the waiting room of our local Urgent Care Center this past weekend. Being the mother of four sons, I’ve seen my fair share of Urgent Care waiting rooms and the flood of memories washed over me as I sat sandwiched between the flu-ridden and injured, waiting for his name to be called.

The memories start with Boy #1. This was our first experience with one of our kids sustaining an injury of this sort and it was a doozy! Boy #1 never does anything half way. He suffered a double fracture of his right arm while at soccer practice. Thankfully, his dad was coaching that day and was able to immediately whisk him off to Urgent Care. He may have been out for the season but he got a pretty cool picture that year.

Next, in order of occurrence comes Boy #3. This was the result of a scooter injury from one of those ridiculously popular scooters from that time. My boys were all over those things and this one fell off. I’d say there is a good chance he was attempting something he saw on the X Games. His ever present little brother is behind him, showing him support in a time of need. This was the first but not the last broken bone for Boy #3.

Boy #2? Say it ain’t so! He made it all the way to his first year in college without sustaining an injury of this sort and then one day while skateboarding across campus to his next class…well, you know the rest.

Time to revisit Boy #3. This injury was one of the most difficult as it happened just as water polo season was beginning his junior year. The doctor allowed him to wear a more flexibile, removable splint so that he could still get his workouts in but he was stuck on the side of the pool during the games early that season. This was not a happy boy.

In spite of his injury, he was present every day and at all of the games. He had always excelled at the sport of water polo but now we proudly watched him demonstrate a strong commitment to his teammates from the side of the pool. Little did we know that this injury would end up providing him with an opportunity we had never really considered. He helped his coach with the younger players and we saw the beginnings of his natural coaching skills that I hope he will have the opportunity to use in the future. I’m still stunned by the grace he showed through that time.

I cannot tell you how good it felt to see him back in the pool. He was given clearance to play again by mid-season. That was a very good day.

And so we go back to the beginning, or the end, depending on how you look at it.

As Boy #4 and I waited for his name to be called, we held out hope that his wrist injury would be nothing more than a sprain.

But, alas, the x-ray proved otherwise and he was given a temporary cast.

We promptly met with an Orthopedic doctor the following day and he confirmed that a permanent cast would be necessary. Just before we were taken over to the cast room, I caught him wistfully looking at his arm knowing it would be six weeks before he would see it again.

He was presented with an array of colorful choices for his cast and he settled in on the blue. Nice choice.

His timing was pretty good. While he’ll be out for the remainder of the winter club water polo season, he finished his high school season in grand fashion. His team won the league championship and he was selected as our league’s most valuable player. Hopefully, he’ll be back in pool not too long after swim season begins next month. Fingers crossed.

With this injury, I’m feeling that this story is complete. It seemed an appropriate and almost necessary bookend and let’s hope that it was my last visit to Urgent Care with these guys.