Fractured Tootle Tale

Tootle got through her first day well with no complaints about pain. Two things have surprised me about Tootle's reaction to her injury. When we left the soccer field, Tootle pleaded to go home rather than to the hospital. She begged so much that I decided to call the urgent care facility to alert them that we were on the way there. They let me know that five x-rays were pending ahead of ours and that they wouldn't be able to see us for two hours, so I decided to go to the ER despite Tootle's protests. That move saved us several hours because the urgent care facility wasn't equipped to do sedation or the reduction procedure so we would have ended up at the ER anyway. While she was brave, Tootle whimpered throughout the ER visit that she wanted to go home. Tootle has handled her cleft palate surgery hospitalization and ear tube surgeries well, but clearly they have left a mark on her. She never protests visits to the doctor's office but she now seems to be terrified of hospitals. It will be interesting to see how she reacts the next time she needs ear tube surgery.

The other surprise is that Tootle doesn't like being in the spotlight despite her outgoing, exuberant personality. Tootle became upset at tonight's soccer practice as I answered lots of questions from parents and Doodle's teammates about her condition. Tootle had the same reaction earlier in the day as I talked with neighbors and even to friends on the phone. Even when the well wishes came from Doodle's friends, Tootle clammed up, and I had to answer for her. She doesn't want to go to school tomorrow because she knows that her classmates and friends in other classes will want to know what happened. I tell her that it's a good thing because it shows that people care about her, but I don't think I've convinced her.