Something I Thought I'd Never Do...

Have you ever done something you would never dream of doing for your child's sake? Today Ethan woke me up saying, "Mom. My arm makes this noise, ckshshshsh (imagine trying to make the ck sound slushy and as if you are coughing up a hairball)" I asked, "Does it hurt?" "No". "OK. go watch TV. I am sleeping." I got up because I couldn't fall back to sleep and am convinced Ethan will soon hear voices in his head. Ethan came to me crying about an hour later, "My arm went ckshshshsh again and it hurt and I think there's something really wrong." I gave him Motrin and juice. He said, "I feel it in my arm when it makes the noise, but it just feels weird." I told him, "I know. When the voices talk to me it's weird too!" Noah and I thought I was hilarious. Ethan did not. Later on we went to school to work. As we were leaving, he was crying again, "Mom! It's still going ckshshsh. I am really scared I am wrecking it." I asked, "Are you moving it?" "no", "we'll ask the doctor tomorrow when you have your appointment." He cries harder, "I think he'll say there's something really wrong." I ended up calling ask-a-nurse. I had to explain the situation to the receptionist. "My six-year old fell and broke the top part of his arm that connects to his elbow, and dislocated his elbow on Saturday. He had surgery to fix it and they put in three pins. He is in a splint which I got wet Tuesday night giving him a bath, but I blow dried it'd it. Now he is saying his arm is making a ckshshsh sound." I had to repeat the story to the phone nurse, the orthopedic receptionist, the orthopedic nurse and the Physician Assistant, who asked me if I hear it as well. I really wonder if they were all making me repeat it five times because I was making the noise, and did it without hesitation or even batting an eye. I wonder how many "My limbs are talking to me..." stories they get a month. My mom used to swear she could pick up radio stations in her teeth. Never in my wildest dreams would I consider I'd ever make weird noises on the phone to strangers, who I will potentially meet. I am probably the laughing stock of Meritcare right now. I swear, when we go in tomorrow if they so much as giggle, I'm going to tell them my arthritic thumb is talking to me and telling me we must leave.