Revision Time

My daughter, "my baby" KT needs to get a revision of her shunt. She's continually had issues for a while now and they've finally decided to put in a Programmable Shunt. So I guess she'll be part cyborg or something.

I'm scared to death. She's worried about them shaving her head. She is also upset that she won't be able to jump around & head bang on her 16th birthday which is in 3 weeks. So in her words "I'll be bald and lame for my sweet 16!!!" I think she's just focusing on her hair so she doesn't have to think about the surgery. The docs make it sound like it's no big deal, "just plumbing". Yeah, it's only brain surgery, what could go wrong????

Thought of the day...

Log splitters are not our friends. They should be called "hand removers". *shudders*

Family Reunion

Are we the only family that has their reunion at McDonalds? Doesn't that just scream redneck? haha

Once a year my Uncle from Texas comes to town and stays a few days with his brother & sister. Of course every one in the family wants to see him, but there just isn't enough room at either house to accomodate all of us. Not to mention that no one really wants all the little great neices & nephews tearing up their lovely homes haha. There are 7 of them now, all mobile & full of energy.

We really did try to meet at other places. We met at the mall a few times, but after one of the kids came up missing and the police got involved we were too ashamed to go back there. So we agreed it had to be someplace that the kids can run free like wild animals and have fun. What better place than a McDonalds with an indoor play place? It's a lot less stressful than worrying about them breaking something, like that crystal vase that was grandmas' mothers' favorite that she brought over from Ireland when she came.

We've done this a few times now. The people that work there are a little stressed when they see 30 people with kids coming thru the door, but we spend lots of money & clean up after ourselves so what's the big deal? OK, I admit it is cheesy but it's a lot of fun too. When's the last time you crawled thru one of those playground tubes? You should try it.

Autumn & Chainsaws

Every time the seasons change we get a whole new set of injuries to match. Autumn is the beginning of chainsaw season, when people start cutting firewood for the winter.

We had our first chainsaw injury call of the season this weekend. I've never personally used a chainsaw, but I've seen one used & I don't want to be anywhere near that blade. Rule #1: If the blade gets stuck, do NOT lean over the saw & pull it towards you. Get another saw or get help.

Our patient was 22 years old & was cutting trees for his mom. When the blade got stuck he put his foot on the limb to push it away while he leaned over the saw & pulled it towards himself. He's lucky he didn't take off his head. He just shredded his arm. Why is it whenever there's an injury with heavy bleeding there are only white towels around? He had a pile of white towels all soaked in blood at his feet & wrapped around his arm. And are rednecks the only ones that are proud of getting injured? I think it's got something to do with the drama of telling the neighbors about your injuries. He was walking around showing everyone his soaked towels. I think he'll keep his arm, but he should have some good scars to show off.

I used to review operative reports at work. I had one for a guy that did basically the same thing my patient did, only the chainsaw took off 1/2 his face & part of his chest when it broke loose. They had to clean his flannel shirt & wood out of the wounds. That's rough. It was probably his favorite shirt.