Prize Fighter

This past Sunday was to be our Lynch family Christmas at our house.  We can't ever seem to get it squeezed in before Christmas so this year we tried January.  A noon meal was prepared, bingo was ready to go, bring on the party...

We brought our nieces home with us from church and Madolyn and cousin Liz were going to go ice skating before lunch...you know, it has been winter for a week and the three inches of water in the creek out back is frozen...whatever, why not.  Madolyn already had her skates out because she had went the day before, but she wanted to get her cousin the other pair from the attic.  They pull the ladder down in the garage and Madolyn comes nose to nose with a five gallon bucket holding a stainless steel stew pot.  Bam!

Liz comes in the back door and says "Hey, Aunt Sarah..." and then I see the blood trickling down Mad's nose.  If I am alone, I can handle almost anything; if Jay is here, blood and injuries are his jurisdiction.  So I sent them to the bathroom with dad.  No big deal, she has a bloody nose.  I have noodles to cook.  Family is arriving.

My aunt is a nurse so Jay had her take a peek at Madolyn's nose, she said it probably needed attention.   We knew there wasn't much they could do with stitches because there's no meat on the bridge of your nose, but we were hoping for some of that super fabulous glue she had back in 2004.  (If this had been Lane, we may not have went...but this is a girl's face, you know!)  So within ten minutes of being at home from church, we were back in the car headed to the ER which was about 35 miles away. 

We stopped at McDonalds for our Christmas dinner (ha) just in case we had to wait in the ER forever.  Our niece Liz had come along for moral support and it was very helpful.  Madolyn didn't cry or whine at all, it was so great.  They were taking pictures in the car and experimenting with blowing the nose, the blood gushes, etc.  Thankfully I was driving and Madolyn was right behind me so I didn't have to watch!

We only waited ten minutes in the waiting room at the ER, yee-haw, and were glued up within probably 20 minutes by a very nice nurse practitioner, who stated that scars heal in 18 months and she should be fine.  Jay and I are not too sure about that.  Madolyn's scar from 2004 above her eye is pretty vivid.  When they were cleaning her cut up, they asked her what her pain level was out of 10; she said, oh, maybe a one.  That's my girl.  I'm glad our niece came, I think she calmed Mad and made her feel a little 'cool.'  Out of precaution the NP wanted an x-ray to check from broken bones.  And she's a winner...she had a 'clean' break on the bridge of her nose.

The most shocking and distressing news of the day was when the NP said no blowing of the nose for three weeks.  If you know Madolyn at all, you will understand the enormity of this statement.  This girl is full of Snot, lots and lots of snot.  Loads and loads of it.  The NP suggests we just give her a Claritin each night before bed, and that should take care of it.  Uhh, we already do that.  Oh, okay, well try Zyrtek.  Will do.  So off we went with our x-rays and a prescription.

The whole way over, we were telling Mad and Liz they really needed to come up with a better story so they were posting on FB that they had gotten into a fight and stuff.  It is always a treat to watch the faces of the ER staff when we come in with a story.  I know they hear just about everything, but I have to assume we give them something a little different to talk about after we leave.

As usual when Madolyn has something for real going on, you would never know.  Now, if she's faking or really putting it on thick, she acts like she's dying.  When she busted her head open in '04 or when she had her tonsils out, she was literally jumping from the furniture and bouncing around.  Same with this, we weren't back at the house an hour and the girls were playing Just Dance on the Wii.  I told her she might feel a bit different in the morning, and yes, she swelled up and was quite sore the next day.  Madolyn now has a scar across the bridge of her nose to go with the large scar above her eye.

As my good friend the DCFS investigator says, "I can't believe no one has ever paid a visit to your house."  Yeah, me either.  And here's a tip for you...a stew pot in a five gallon bucket falling from about ten feet above your head will break your nose.