The Hazard Chronicles

We went and saw Cabaret. Fun night out and a good show...and probably the last we will be going to for a while. 

What a surreal week it has been! It seems like the whole world is shutting down. The kids don't have school and all of our usual hangouts (gyms, pools, ski resorts, libraries, museums, etc.) are closed. If this bug doesn't take us out, we might take each other out due to cabin fever.

Honestly I thought at first that this was a lot of knee-jerk panicking and I sort of rolled my eyes at it all. The more I learn about this virus, however, the more I think all the shutdowns and quarantines and social distancing are exactly the response that is needed. It's not panic- it's action. Pretending that things are less serious than reality is akin to putting one's head in the sand and is not helpful to anyone.

Needless to say, things have affected us quite profoundly. As of today, I have closed the office to all but emergency patients. It's a big move to make and will end up being a very expensive decision, but more and more dentists are doing the same thing and I feel strongly that it is the right thing to do given this environment. Right now we are planning on running things this way for three weeks. I also think it is very possible that it will last longer than that.

Things are nuts. Crazy.

*****

On a lighter note...

This is Lindsey. She doesn't need to be in a wheelchair, but she is. This was all before the schools shut down and the story deserves to be told.

About a week ago she decided to "jump off our deck." Now, I don't know exactly what that means because I wasn't there, but our deck is pretty high and I'm sure if she actually took that kind of a plunge that the damage would be much worse. She did, however, hurt her foot enough for us to take her into a doctor. Turns out she has a minor sprain. It will heal itself, but she will favor that side for a while. No biggie, right?

Well, the next day the school called both Rachel and me while we were at work. "We need you to come and get Lindsey. She can't put much weight on her left foot."
"Yeah, we know. It's been checked out and she is fine."
"No, we need you to come and get her."
"Right...Why don't you just keep her in school until I can come get her."

...I picked her up 30 minutes before the final bell. She was smiling and happy. A little gimpy perhaps, when she walked, but otherwise she was perfectly fine. Definitely not something to get a parent out of work for.

The next day, apparently, Rachel got in an argument with the school. They didn't want her. Even though she was getting along just fine on her own, the school wasn't comfortable watching her limp. "A teacher would have to hold her hand," they said, and "they simply didn't have enough people available to watch out for her."

"Wait, what? Since when did you turn children away from school because they couldn't walk very well? Do you turn kids away in wheelchairs too? They need ten times more assistance than Lindsey! She is fine, and we have other responsibilities we need to take care of. It's not like she's contagious or anything."

They wouldn't budge. So...We borrowed a wheelchair. I am assuming that this is a much larger burden on the school than having her limp along by herself, but they legally can't turn her away now. So there!

But it doesn't matter anymore because school is closed anyway. Joke's on us, I suppose.

For what it's worth, Lindsey is doing better every day. She is now walking almost normally, and even went rock climbing with us a few days ago. She isn't about to jump rope anytime soon, but she doesn't seem discouraged at all and is handling recovery quite well. What a trooper.

*****

Well, that's it for this week. If anyone is wanting to go climbing or anything, it looks like I might have more free time on my hands than I know what to do with. Give me a call.

And have a good week!