A Boy Who Can't Hear Wisdom Shouting...

because he is too busy spending time in the emergency room.

In the beginning of July Abel did a back flip off of a diving board while we were spending Sunday afternoon with some friends. He ended up with an ambulance ride and five staples in his head. I didn't think the ambulance ride was necessary but since it happened at a public pool, they were pretty freaked out about possible back and neck injuries. When we left the hospital, he was barefoot, in nothing but his bathing suit and covered in dried blood. We had to take the board that they brought him in on back to the pool and since we were driving Candace's beetle, we had to open the sunroof and drive with the bloody board sticking out. We joked with the doctor about taking him to Target on the way home just to gross everyone out.

Yesterday I spent all morning in the emergency room again. This time over a "bee sting" that turned out to be a snake bite. He came in Tuesday evening saying he thought he had been stung by a bee while reaching into some brush to retrieve an arrow that he had shot. I thought it a little strange that a bee sting would have a couple of marks and one of them was a little bloody but didn't think much more about it. After treating it, he went to bed that evening and by 2am his whole hand and wrist were swollen. I still didn't think too much of it since we have other children who swell up with bee stings. Then in the morning his whole forearm was swollen and the bit area looked bruised and I started thinking more about the bloody mark. So, I decided to be at the doctor's office when they opened so they could take a look at him. He wasn't in any pain unless people started touching it. My pediatrician was concerned about compression and sent me over to the hospital so I could see a surgeon right away. After spending the several hours there waiting on a surgeon who was, of course, in surgery, the ER doctor told us that after talking to the surgeon he thought it would be fine and to go ahead and go home. The consensus was that yes, it most likely was a venomous snake bite but that since it was 12 hours old, the worst was over.

This morning the swelling had moved about an inch further up his arm but he was moving his fingers more freely. Now the whole back of his hand is slightly bruised and discolored looking but it seems like it hurts less to touch it and I think his fingers are less swollen. I wish I could post a picture but for some reason this crazy computer won't let me.

His pediatrician just called and wants to see him again since that is what the ER doctor stipulated on the discharge papers. So I'm off again. Hopefully we will be home soon. Please be praying for a quick recovery for him.

**Update: The swelling is almost gone and he is using his arm again. Last night at church he was playing 'wall ball' with a group of boys so I guess he's on the mend. Thanks for the prayers and concern. I think he's taken us to the emergency room more than all the other six children combined! :) I think he thinks it's pretty cool to have been bitten by a snake. The whole time when it was in doubt as to whether it was a bee or a snake bite, he kept saying why it was most likely to be a snake with this air of hopefulness. It reminded me of part of It's a Jungle Out There, where the kids were competing to tell their most grusome injury stories. Life with boys. After four girls, I can sure see a difference.