Carnival Calamity

I had a feeling that we wouldn't survive the carnival without some type of calamity. Our luck just isn't that good this year. I worked 2 hours at the corn hut...the hut that sells corn on the cob that's been cooked on the grill and slathered in butter...while my sissy, T, and our friends rode the rides. After I got relieved of duty, I had a bit to eat and then we walked around a bit more. T wanted to do the bunge jumping ride...where they strap the kids in the harness and they jump up and down with the aid of elastic bunge cords. She had to do it "one last time". Its always that "one last time" that does one in, isn't it?

This year, t got brave. She started doing backflips as she was in the air. Also doing all kinds of poses. She really was a joy to watch. and no, she never had a mishap that we could detect, never landed on her head, or any other dire circumstance. She got off the ride, and as we were walking to the car, started complaining that ther "back shoulder hurt". By the time we were home, she was complaining alot.

Gave her some tylenol, and we went to sleep. We woke up the next morning, and the child couldn't hold her head up straight. She had it bent toward the opposite shoulder about which she was complaining. Seemed a bit stiff when moving. I started worrying.

We had a brunch to attend, so I decided to go and watch her to see if it got better during the day as she started moving about. It didn't. I started talking about taking her to the urgent care center. All those first aid classes I've taken, that were always talking about how tricky neck injuries could be started playing in my head. Plus, all the tort cases from law school involving carnival rides. My stress and worry levels started going through the roof as I'm imagining a partially paralyzed child. Aye, aye, aye.

Of course, the (less insane) parents with more than one kid were saying to give it a few days, to which I questioned, that if this had happened to their FIRST kid, what would they do? They immediately conceded that the'd go off to the doc as well.

So, at 1:00 I decided to brave the zoo of Miami children's hospital ER. Decided to go there since they have her on record with MRIs and other xrays. We were released at about 6:00 p.m., with the diagnosis of....brace yourselves....

A STIFF NECK.

Sigh. They believe that it was just a muscular strain or pull that has to work itself out. They gave her a dose of muscle relaxer...VALIUM... (albeit a very small dose) and sent us on our merry way. I tried to con them out of the left over dose of valium for me that they were throwing in the garbage, but they refused darn it. I briefly considered the efficacy of dumpster diving, but refrained.

So, T puts me through hell with worry and SHE gets the valium. That's just wrong.

As predicted, she seems better this morning and her head appears to me markedly more upright.

So, there you have it. Our carnival calamity. I seriously believe that I suffered more from it all than T!