Last Friday night, our younger daughter, Dana, attended a birthday
party at Pump It Up in Pelham for her friend, Vishwa. Vishwa was
turning nine years old.
The party started at 5:30pm and was slated to run until 7:00pm. Christina and Audrey took Dana to the party. I met them after I finished work. Then, Christina and Audrey took off for home to work on a project.
That left me in charge of the well-being of Dana. (You other dads know where this story is heading)
From 5:30 to 6:30, the kids had a great time playing on the slides and bouncy houses. At 6:30, it was time to eat.
Dana came over to put on her shoes. Everything seemed fine. All the kids went to the party room. Vishwa's mom and some other family members passed out pizza to the 28 kids.
I noticed Dana wasn't eating. And she loves some cheese pizza. I went to check on her. She was crying. And holding her left wrist.
I asked her what happened. She said she was climbing up the ladder to the slide. Something pushed her hand backwards real fast and she felt something pop. She was still having fun so she just kept playing.
Now that things calmed down, though, the pain started.
Dana has never broken a bone or sprained an ankle or anything involving a lot of pain. So this was new to her. Fear of something unknown mixed with pain made tears flow down her cheeks.
I looked at her wrist. She had a nasty bruise forming on the inside of her left wrist. Moving her wrist in any direction caused a shooting pain. She could open and close her fist, but that hurt too. I was afraid she had broken her wrist.
I checked the time on my watch. Children's Hospital on Acton Road closes at 8:00pm. So we had time to get there.
Now to make the call to Momma.
I told Christina to start heading toward Children's Hospital; we'd meet them there. But they had an issue. Traffic was at a crawl. An accident on I65 had snarled traffic. They weren't going anywhere fast. She suggested the hospital there in Pelham. I concurred.
Even though she was in pain and crying, I insisted she wish Vishwa a Happy Birthday and thank Vishwa's mother for inviting her. To Dana's credit, she did both.
When Vishwa's mom saw the tears, she asked what had happened. I told her about Dana's wrist.
Then
Vishwa's mom, Urmila, said some of the sweetest words I've ever heard:
"Go see my husband over there; he's a wrist surgeon". I was floored.
I went over to Vishwa's dad, Dr. Nilesh Chaudhari. I introduced myself and told him of Dana's dilemma. And, with gentleness, he took Dana's hand and started to examine her wrist. Dana was a trooper while he checked her out.
He ruled out a break. No swelling. He said it was most likely a tendon or ligament that was injured. He recommended icing her wrist and giving her Motrin for the pain. He even gave me his cell number to call if it wasn't better by Saturday morning.
He said we didn't need to go to the hospital. Just follow his advice. I thanked him profusely before heading outside. Turns out, Dr. Chaudhari specializes in Carpal Tunnel surgery and Hand & Wrist Fracture & Dislocation Treatment (found that out on the HealthGrades website later).
We got in my van and started home. I called Christina to tell her the news. At first, she didn't understand why I wasn't taking Dana to the hospital. Then it sank in what had happened: God provided for exactly the right person to be there at the right time and right place.
One verse came in my mind--Philipians 4:19 that says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus".
Some might call it a fortunate happenstance that the birthday girl's dad was a wrist surgeon when your daughter has a wrist injury. I call it a testimony of God's ability to calm His children (both Dana and me) with a healing touch.
Our lesson this week finishes our study of Joseph. The Bible passage is Genesis 50:15-21. It's called "Overcome an Earthly Mindset". The point of the lesson is: We can trust God is at work on our behalf.
So join us Sunday at 9:47am for the final installment of this series.
Finish Friday strong. Enjoy Saturday with your family. See you Sunday!
Loyally yours, Darren Bayne
"The church’s impressive roll call of godly people who did not get what they wanted suggests that we should expect to encounter God at the most unlikely place of all — at the intersection of expectation and disappointment." -- John Koessler
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