Fun in the ER

Last week Steve started tearing off the shingles of our roof. Since he's laid off currently, it would be perfect timing if the weather permits, to get the reroofing done. Unfortunately, the first night of demolition, Steve came in to me and showed me his arm. Directly above his wrist was a 2 inch by 1 inch swelling, very red, almost looked like a vein had burst. He was experiencing pain in it and I told him it should be checked. The next day there was redness on the underside of the arm (about 4 inches by 2 inches). I encouraged him to go to the doctor.

They weren't sure what caused the problem but decided to treat it as an infection. Placing him on Cefalexon, they told him to keep an eye on it. By 10:00 p.m., the redness was climbing up his underarm and there was a new swelling on the outside of his arm. After calling the hospital, he was told to come to the ER for an I.V.

We arrived at 11:00 p.m. There were probably five people waiting before us. They took his name and sent him to the lobby to wait. After a few minutes his name was called. He explained his symptoms and was sent to the lobby again. A young girl walked up to the reception desk complaining "I've been here for 3 hours!" Oh, my goodness. We are going to have a long wait.

After two I.V.s of something stronger than Cefalexon, we headed home (4:30 a.m.) He was given instructions to rest with his arm on a pillow. If the redness climbs on up the arm and toward the heart, he's in serious trouble. Cellulitis was the prognosis. Great! And how does he reroof resting with his arm on a pillow? I knew we were going to have trouble.

Stevie and Josh came over Saturday (Josh worked Friday evening) and worked, trying to keep their Dad from doing hard stuff. Ha! No, my guy keeps on working and wonders why his arm is still in bad shape. I swear, with all the stress I've been under, I'll probably need acne products after this.

It rained yesterday, so the roof will have to wait. Between Steve, Joshua, Stevie, and Joe (Steve's brother), the north side of the house has tar paper down and is ready for singles. The balance of the house has old shingles off. The addition is ready for tar paper, but the rest needs OS board put down first. With the winds yesterday, a board flew off and hit my bathroom window cracking it and leaving a few small holes in it. Great! It's not all the way through, but will need replaced. Gotta love it!

Tomorrow we should receive a bid for someone else to finish the roof. Steve's arm now has a hard knot in it where the swelling used to be and is getting more painful. Hopefully someone else will get up on the peak of the house instead of my husband, sons, or brother-in-law.

Hopefully the bid will be low enough for Steve to agree to it. Since most of the work is done (the shingling is the easiest part). We will have a ton of nails now around the yard. Heather and I have been walking around with a magnet collecting some, but Steve is going to get one on rollers which is a lot longer and will pick up a lot more nails at once. If Steve doesn't like the bid, at least the next three days (starting tomorrow) will be sunny!

Have a great day! Halfmoon