Wanna Race?

So we were so incredibly blessed with the construction of the ramp.  How do we celebrate that?  A race, of course!

While the TV guy was at the house, Erica twisted her ankle.  It swelled almost immediately.  This is the place on the ankle that she has broken twice within the last year.  Not wanting to go the ER, I asked our doctor to postpone a visit until Monday so she could see her regular ortho.  Any time we take the girls to the ER down at Children's it is more like a side show because all of the med students, residents and even a few regular doctors will find a reason to come in the room and see the girls because EDS is rare.  I understand that it is a learning experience, but it can be very exhausting and stressful for all of us.  The doctor agreed to the delay only if she stayed off her ankle completely.

Anyway, after the ramp was completed on Saturday, Chuck took CJ to his baseball game and I stayed at home with the girls to rest.  I had Erica inside with me for the majority of the time, but she wanted to go outside to play.  I asked her to stay in the wheelchair, to which she agreed.  Are you already guessing the end of the story?

After only 10 minutes, Elizabeth came running in to say that Erica fell.  When I got outside, some of the neighbors had already come out to help.  Erica had challenged the little boy next door to a race down the driveway, not the ramp.  He was on a bike, she was in her manual chair.

The little boy won.  Erica had a fantastic finish with a face plant at the end of the driveway.  She flipped the chair and landed on her head.  Thank God she had her headrest on the chair!

Now bloody, and potentially dangerously hurt, I called the doctor again.  He sent us to the ER.  Upon arriving, the ER doctor recognized Erica.  She commented that even though she has a syndrome, she is still 7 years old. 

The x-rays showed no broken bones, including her ankle.  We could not put band aides on the wounds because of the reaction she has to the adhesive.  She blackened one eye and almost knocked out 3 teeth, but she survived.

At first, I think she was more worried that she would be in trouble than about her injuries.  I considered this a natural consequence and asked her if she would do this again.  "No way!"  So I told her that she already paid the price for her little stunt.

The next day we went to church.  We think that many people thought that Erica went down the ramp and was injured.  We told them that it was the driveway, not the ramp.  I know that the changes to our house will make a big difference in our lives, but Erica needs to be convinced that she is not a stunt driver first.