What's another name for Busy?

I swear, how many of my posts have the word "busy" in the title?

I had an appointment at 10:00 this morning at the hospital. Not a big thing, just a routine checkup. The kids got all packed up and we prepared to walk, since it's just a 15 minute walk and we may as well save the gas. Halfway down the street, Nathan is screaming and crying about his eye and couldn't open his eyes. (he hasn't figured out how to open just one yet)

Last night he got a little sawdust or dirt in his eye while playing outside. I was planting daylillies, and Mark was sawing wood, so we don't know exactly what got in there. I tried to flush out his eye with water, but that made him cry harder. I tried saline drops, and he calmed down a little bit. But he was still rubbing his eye and wouldn't leave it alone. He seemed okay by bedtime so I wasn't worried. This morning he was still complaining that is hurt and was tearing up periodically. I figured we'd give walking a shot anyway.

That didn't happen. How could he walk without opening his eyes? Oren was holding his hand, but that only works on the sidewalk. We have to walk on the street for part of it and I can't risk him not being able to see. So we turned around and got in the car. While at my appointment I called the appointment line to see if they had any same-day appointments left. (It's like an urgent appointment if you aren't bad enough for the ER) Luckily they had one at 1:15 this afternoon.

So we finished my appointment and headed to the library for some new books. I found a couple of cookbooks to browse through, and the kids piled on the children's books. Next came lunch, then off to the commissary for some stocking up. (We are working on our food storage, so half of what I bought was for that. It's hard on a limited budget.) We made it through in a record 30 minutes! Hurray!

We went home to unload perishables and ran over to Nathan's appointment. That was fun.... (read the sarcasm.) Our doctor had a baby and moved away. So we have had a series of temps for the summer. I am sure they are fine doctors, the last one was really nice and knowledgable. (sp?). But the one we had today? Picture a monkey with one eye open really wide and the other almost closed with his tongue hanging out, mouth open, saying "duhhhhhh". (I know that's probably mean, but good grief.)

"What seems to be the problem?" (note-he had the file and PA's report right in front of him)

"My son has something in his eye, got it last night, and I can't get it flushed out."

"Okay, let's check his eye. Hey bud! I'm going to listen to your heart first, okay! Now I am going to look in your ear. Looks good. Can I see inside your mouth? Alright, I am going to look in your eye now." (not in the singsong little voice, teasing to make the patient comfortable. Totally serious.)

He pulls the eyelid this way and that way. Stands back. Then goes in for another look. "hmmm, I can't really see anything". One more look. (I TOLD him it was either a little sawdust or some dirt. What did he think he was going to see? A clod of something?)

He hems and haws for a bit about options, like using dyes and special equipment he doesn't know if the clinic has. I had to straight out ask him if he could flush the eye, since they have the stuff to do that and are more skilled than I, and then I would wait and see if it still bothered him tomorrow. (We have to pay for emergency eye appointments unless the ER sends us there.) If it still bothered him it would mean he has an abbrasion. He finally agreed that would be a good thing to do. Finally!

The nurses came in to do that for us. Aparently a doctor can't be bothered with kids eyeballs. The nurses did great, Nathan did great. They put in a prescription for an antibiotic eye ointment just as a preventative measure, to prevent infection. So we picked that up and had to run right in to town for his therapy.

So then we had therapy, then Walmart for things that are cheaper than on base. William had missed his nap and fell asleep sitting up in the cart in the parking lot while I was unloading the couple things I picked up. One more stop at the hardware store for some screws for Mark.

So, we left at 10:00 this morning, and we didn't get home until 5:30 in the evening. Busy? Just a tad. But the boys behaved suprisingly well, all the appointments went good (in the end), and I was able to get most of what I needed. I'll be back down there tomorrow for another therapy session, and will hit the other 3 stores then.

I hate having to pull days like this, but I can't afford extra trips to town, and have to squeeze in errands when I can. And I couldn't help the appointments. Nathan's eye isn't as red, so hopefully they got the stuff out and I won't have to make an urgent visit to the eyedoctor. Tricare will pay for one regular visit per year unless the base deems it an eye emergency (like the eye has been skewered or something). Then they do an emergency referrell to the eye doctor and pay for it. We'll see what happens.

Always something going on at our house!