Last week in Cody’s health class she was to make a splint for an injured person.    I got to be the injured person.  Jessica decided that a touch of reality was needed, so she gave me a black eye (with make-up).  As I lay on my bed wailing and writhing in pain, and playing Blackjack on the Kindle, Cody started making my splint.  I learned two things that day.  1.  Never take the hints the Kindle gives you for Blackjack.  I lost every time.  2.  If you are in need of a splint DO NOT let Cody put it on you.  It started off with her asking me if I was okay.  Then it was, “I know first aid.  May I proceed to help you?”  That was the start of me cracking up.  My leg is shattered, I am thrashing about in pain, and she is asking me if she may proceed.  Then she grabs a hold of my leg and just about lifts it over my head trying to put the splint on it.  I lost it.  All I could think about was that the poor person who Cody helps is going to wish she hadn’t.  Thank goodness Jessica stepped in and showed her how to carefully place a splint on my leg.  Cody made two different splints, and the second one was quite good.  She passed.  Still, when it comes to an emergency Cody panics, a lot.  I know, she gets it from me.  Do you remember the movie Airplane?  There is a scene where this woman is losing it.  One by one the people line up to slap some sense into her and to get her to calm down.  That woman is me.  I don’t do well in emergencies… until Saturday.

Saturday Chad was off with Jessica running, so I was home with Ryan and Noah (Cody was at work).  Noah decided to make Ramen Noodles for his lunch.  I didn’t know this.  All of a sudden I heard this cry coming from the kitchen and I knew it was serious.  I ran to the kitchen and saw Noah clutching his hand.  It was his left hand.  The same one he had in a cast after he broke his elbow and ended up having surgery on it.   The same one he uses for writing.  His broken collar bone was on his left side as well.  Ahhh, the joy of having a boy.  I think he has given me most of my gray hairs.  Anyway, I asked him what happened and he said he spilled his Ramen noodles on his hand.  I asked to look at it.  When I did the panic started to set in.  It was red, really red.  At one point almost a purplish-blue color, but that was a little later.  I took him to the sink and ran cool water over it, all the while trying to remain calm on the outside while I was in panic mode on the inside.  Chad walked in while I had his hand under the water.  While I was telling him what happened Noah said, “I’m getting dizzy.  I think I need to lay down.”  I looked at him and he was white.  I helped him to the bed and told him to relax and breathe.  Since Chad was there I allowed myself to panic a bit.  It didn’t help that Chad was a bit more serious about it than the usual, “Ah, He’s okay.  Boys are supposed to have scars” speech.  Chad called a work buddy to see if there was a clinic that we could take Noah to.  While we were still deciding on what we were going to do Chad went and bought some burn cream.  In the end we decided we would keep an eye on it and keep putting medicine on it.  That night it looked really good.  The next day, not so much.  He blistered in between his pinky finger and ring finger.  Later I noticed he blistered in between his index finger and his middle finger.  He has small ones at the base of his fingers on his palm side as well.  A part of me kept thinking we should take him to a doctor, but what could they do really.  There isn’t a magical cure for a burn.  We have been giving him pain medication, even though he says it doesn’t hurt, and alternating burn cream and antibacterial ointment.