TNT: Today's News, Today!

Welcome to TNT (Today's News, Today!), a new Tennessee publication. Headlines and blurbs from the associated press make TNT the hottest issue around!

Headlines from local news correspondents: 

1. Boy Begins and Survives School 

Dr. James has been in school for three weeks now. He had his first test, he's still alive, and he's liking the material (Hearts! EKGs! Blood pressure! Heart disease and how to not get it!). The good doctor thinks it's easier than this time last year, but his interview left us unclear whether that's because he now knows what to expect, because he's not taking the huge old anatomy class this year, or maybe he's just smarter. Continued in a future edition.

2. Sariah's Semester Starts as Expected

Sariah began teaching this week. She's still teaching Anatomy/Physiology and Intro to Biology, but has added a biology lab in lieu of her ecology course. She reports that the first week "went well." More details as it develops.

3. Classroom Mama Drama!! 

After a summer of negotiating for classroom space, Teacher S. has finally found room in the chemistry lab for her biology lab. S.'s lecture room is in upheaval, and its location is still uncertain. Exciting times lie ahead for the unsuspecting students, whose meeting room will change yet again without their knowledge!

4. "Cooking, a Culinary Creation": Cross-Country Visitor Creates Meaty Meals 

In our cooking news, Grandma Jen is in town to help supervise Henry (aka The Mini-Doctor, Mini-Man, or Small Person) while school begins for Teacher S.  A participant in the paleo diet, the grandmother has had largely single-person meals consisting of meat and raw vegetables. Other household members prefer grains and sugar in addition to their meats, but declined to comment further.

5. Phone Scam from Miscellaneous Visitor

Two weeks ago a visitor came into the lives of Dr. James, Mini Doctor, and Teacher S. She was a much lauded-guest, a great friend of Teacher S, and a great time was had by all, but her sterling qualities were doubted after filling local phones with unsolicited fish-face selfies with Mini Doctor. Readers, take appropriate precautions to lock your phones in the event of visitors.

6. STORY UPDATE: If the Boot Fits, Take it Off!

In a much anticipated turn of events, Dr. James has the green light to not only remove his walking boot, but also to resume walking in normal socks and shoes! James commented, in a tearful confession, "It's great. I just wish the swelling would go down." He says it's nice to be able to walk: "It's nice to be able to walk."

James vs. James's Ankle

Once upon a Tuesday night James went off to play a little basketball with some friends at church.  About 10 pm he arrived home. I heard the door open and then James said, "Hey, Sariah, want to see something cool?" The "something cool" was an extremely swollen right ankle, which James seemed remarkably calm about. He acted like he was ready to just go shower and then to bed. But quickly the adrenaline of the injury wore off and the pain set it, and off to the ER we went.

I know you're all wondering how, specifically, James hurt his ankle. There are two answers to this.

James: "It was roughly the last play of the game. The other team got a steal and passed it up to a guy who was alone on the fast break. I ran up to try and block his shot, but I knew that he was going to pump fake. I waited for the fake and, sure enough, he faked the shot. I was trying to get in front of him to have a better chance of disrupting his shot and I jumped off his foot. I'm not sure if I landed on it too, but it's very likely that that happened too."

Sariah: "He was playing basketball. There was a foot involved."

The ER was actually surprisingly fast, for an ER. We got there around 10:45 and were out by 1. The parking was in a sketchy alley by the hospital, which is in a seedy part of town, but we hobbled in, with James hopping and leaning on me while I carried the car seat and diaper bag. Once we were in a room inside, a nurse came in to bring us an ice pack for James. "You probably saw the cops out there by the nurse's station," he said. "Don't worry. But if you hear yelling, close your door, okay?" So there's that.

The doctor told us that James had both sprained his foot and fractured his talus, and that he should use crutches "as long as he needed." This seemed too vague to be helpful, but when we asked for clarification, he repeated himself. The doctor was a mumbler, and I missed a lot of what he said anyway. He was very impressed with the amount of swelling, and he let James look at his x-rays where he pointed out some invisible line we couldn't see and said that was the fracture. 

Fast-forward a week full of learning how to use crutches to James's appointment with his primary care doctor, since the swelling hadn't gone down at all from the day of the injury. (Did you know James had never used crutches before? He didn't know how! Whaaaat!) The doctor looked at the ER doc's report which said nothing about fractures and instead reported a "dislocated ankle." They took new x-rays and the primary doctor said it was not even close to a dislocation, and the type of fracture we were told about wasn't there, but she couldn't rule out an avulsion fracture, so she referred us to a specialist for 5 days later. She gave us a nice boot instead of the little splint from the ER, much to James's pain relief.

Specialists are awesome. One glance at the x-rays and he says, "Yep. Avulsion fracture. And also this spacing here we're gonna watch." After less than one minute poking James's foot and asking questions, he says, "Okay. You've also got a grade 2 sprain, and it looks pretty bad. Impressive pain tolerance, though." He was fantastic. 

It's still very swollen and bruised, and James is having an interesting time trying to elevate it at school, since the chairs are attached to desks there, so he can't just move a loose chair over near where he is. For now he's just taking up two spots in class. Fortunately, he's surrounded by med students who are only too happy to facilitate healing as long as it comes with the story of how the injury happened!