Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Little cast, little water

Isabella is still unable to completely extend or bend her right arm, so we made an appointment with a Pediatric Orthopedist this morning. We took the original x-rays with us and we were seen almost immediately! He took one look at the x-rays and confirmed that her right elbow was broken and that she would need a cast! He said that the elbow joint actually heals quite quickly (around 3 weeks) and since it has been broken for at least 2 weeks already, he put her in a temporary cast for 2 weeks. Basically, they casted her arm and then cut away the top portion and added straps to it so it is removable for baths, etc. She was so excited about it until he got out the "saw" to cut away the top and she began to panic! She was terrified even though I assured her the "saw" wouldn't cut her. She was a brave girl only screaming "OUCH!" once and then she realized it actually tickled instead of hurt! After we finished there, we met Granna for lunch. When we got home, I walked into my bathroom to find the entire tile floor swimming in water! (Apparently, Elijah stuffed A LOT of toilet paper and wipees down the toilet this morning before we left for the doctor and the toilet clogged. I am guessing by the amount of water, the toilet had been running from around 8:30 am until 2 pm today!) When I saw water flowing freely from our master bath toilet, I quickly shut the water off! I yelled for Brittany to bring me some towels and she ran in the bathroom and we discovered that not only was the bathroom floor wet, but the carpet in the dressing area, both of our closets and part of our master bedroom! So, I put a request on ServiceMagic for a water damage specialist and within minutes, someone called me and told me they were on their way! I LOVE ServiceMagic! We have used them several times and they have excellent service! All you have to do is get on their website, answer a few questions letting them know what type of service you need (emergency service or just regular home service) and they line up several professionals in your area to contact you literally within minutes of placing a request! The dry-out company came to assess everything and found that the water had leaked under our bedroom wall and into the living room as well!!! They quickly removed everything out of the way, vacuumed up all the water, pulled up the carpet and the carpet pad, removed all the bathroom trim around the cabinets and floor and removed all base boards in our bath and bedroom. Then they had to drill holes at the bottom of our bath cabinets and cut away some of the sheet rock and placed 10 huge utility fans in the area to dry out everything. They told us the fans will be running for three days!! So, we are going to spend the night at my parent's house tonight so we can get some sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!Oh, and the water damage has been estimated at around $10,000! Hopefully, insurance should cover it. We should know......we have been here before. Two years ago, when Elijah was 2 years old, he stopped up the guest bathroom sink with toilet paper and several pairs of his underwear (????) and left the faucet running. It flooded that bathroom, hallway, and part of Isabella's room. I am trying to see this as a little mishap by a little boy with a curious little spirit who has not a little clue what his little curious spirit has cost us! And while that is true, putting the word "little" before other words doesn't the make the sting of $10,000 any less! At least I tried!

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