Random Thoughts by MommaSquid

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Not For the Squeamish

I took hubby to the emergency room on Sunday. He had a sharp stabbing pain on the right side of his lower back and mild abdominal pain. The back pain started out mild, too, but within minutes he was in extreme pain and clearly needed immediate medical attention.

Men do not handle pain very well, so as we drove to the hospital I tried to distract him somewhat.

Me: Do you mind if we stop at Home Depot for a few things first?
Hubby: Oooooooh….ow….mmmmmm.
Me: I guess that’s a no.

The hospital wasn’t very busy and hubby was examined and given Percoset in under 90 minutes. Usually the ER is filled to capacity and the wait can top four hours…thank random chance that wasn’t the case this time.

Once the pain pills started to kick in, they whisked him off for x-rays and a CT scan. Hubby was diagnosed with a kidney stone. Yikes! He was given a lovely medicine to dilate his urethra, a few days worth of pain pills, a container in which to pee, and a strainer to catch the stone.

Approximately 36 hours after the first stab of pain, hubby pissed out the stone. How it came out, I don’t even want to imagine; yet there it was, rock hard in the strainer. He saved it, and the urologist will be testing it tomorrow. Hopefully there is some sort of treatment that will prevent future painful episodes.

I’m not sure how close I want to get to my hubby’s member until he is cured of this malady.

I could lose an eye!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Club Penguin

My niece and I recently joined Club Penguin, which is a kid-friendly online community, filled with games, chat and fun.

Members "waddle" around as a penguin, playing games and chatting with other members. The chat options are safe, as parents decide what level of communication their child can participate in. Pre-selected phrases, such as "yes", "no", and "How are you?" are accessible from a drop-down menu for members to use. Some members have full access chat, which allows them to type whatever they want to say, but even members who are too young to have full access can have fun conversations with other members by using the drop-down menu. The site is monitored for bad language and rude activity, and kids who abuse the site are banned.

Club Penguin is a free site; however paying members have access to upgraded functions, such as dressing their penguins and decorating their igloo homes. Kids earn coins by playing games and then redeem the coins for catalog items. The membership fee is reasonable, but even kids who don’t pay for membership can participate in games, parties and can earn free prizes for their penguin to display.

My niece is nine years old and I don’t get to see her very often because she lives on the East Coast and I live in Arizona. Club Penguin has provided us with a fun way to stay in touch.

If you have small children in your life, I highly recommend this site.