I can get you $40,000

For Ethan's second birthday, my grandmother generously decided he needed a swing set to play on in the backyard of our home. She went to Toy 'r' Us and bought one of those small all metal play sets that has some swings, a teeter totter, and a small slide. Kevin and my dad spent all weekend reading the 57 page instruction manual (52 of those pages were safety warnings) and assembling it.

They wanted to make sure if was safe and sound for our precious first-born. Ethan was excited; he loved to climb up the slide and slide down head first, or con one of us to "sit" on the teeter totter and rock him back and forth. But, he loved the swings the best. Since he was only two, he couldn't get himself on and off the swing, nor could he get himself going. This meant he had to be pushed (usually by Kevin).

We had the swing set for a little over two months. On a lovely Saturday morning in the middle of the summer, Ethan was outside being pushed on the swing. Suddenly in mid-swing he let go and went flying off. I guess he didn't realize that would happen, but he didn't fall far, and caught himself on his hands so his face never hit the ground.

Of course he cried - we thought mostly from the shock - but he was holding his right arm. It wasn't disfigured; there were no bones sticking our and no swelling, but we put some ice on it and waited a few hours. He wouldn't use his right hand at all, so we called the advice nurse who suggested we take him to the Emergency Room.

We load him up and head over there. They take us in pretty quickly and do an X-Ray of the arm and wrist. Nothing is broken. They tell us it is sprain and it will hurt him for a few weeks; we can give him some Advil for the pain.

For the next three days, Ethan complains about his arm hurting and refuses to use it even though I tell him he is okay and it will be fine.

On Wednesday Kaiser calls to tell me that I need to bring Ethan into Orthopedics that day because they were reviewing his X-ray and want to have his arm checked again. I am fine with that and we head in.
When we get there, the doctor comes in and asks me what color I want Ethan's cast to be. I am completely confused and ask why he needs a cast. The doctor explains that the bone in his wrist is broken - apparently the ER doctor missed it. I am pissed and wonder (out loud) how this could happen. Apparently, kid's bones are pliable - so when they break them, they compress instead of snapping. Ethan's wrist bone was shaped like an S; it was only caught because Kaiser has a policy of reviewing all X-rays before they are filed away.

I felt so terrible; I had been telling this kid there was nothing wrong with his arm! Ethan had to be put in a full arm cast (above the elbow), so he couldn't bend his arm at all. He had the hardest time eating or playing. When he got it off six weeks later, he freaked out because he didn't want it off - he was afraid it was going to hurt again, and he insisted on wearing a splint for another week until he realized his arm was healed.

The funniest thing is that Kevin worked at a law firm at the time. His buddy (an attorney) told him that we should sue the swing set manufacturer - he could get us about $40,000. The reason? There was no warning in the instruction pamphlet and 52 pages of warnings that said not to let go of the swing! We didn't sue, but this is proof that common sense is not so common, especially in two year olds.