I wish there was a more elaborate and exciting story for how Amelia broke her arm, but all we've heard is that she was dancing. And somehow slipped on or over the sit-n-spin toy. She fell onto the softest carpet in the house...go figure.
I think it would have made more sense if she had broken it earlier that day while we were on our hike and they were playing on fallen trees and such.
Or, if she had broken it learning how to ride her bike a few weeks back.
But no, she broke it from a standing position fall, she's about 42 inches tall.
Here's the long timeline. She fell shortly before 9pm on Saturday night. Barely cried. Bedtime.
Sunday, it's swollen, we think it may be "Nursemaid Elbow", basically, pulled out of joint-the description matched perfectly. She's playing with others, but clearly not using that arm. We decide not to rush to the ER.
Sunday evening, we see bruising; and now think it's broken. But, it's getting close to bedtime and we again opt not to go to the ER. (Most of you are aware that we are self-employed and not under an insurance umbrella. Plus, we already went to the ER this summer for Nolan's head.)
Monday morning, first thing, we call and get an appointment for her as soon as we could. We were lucky enough to get in (just by coincidence) with the same doctor that stitched Nolan up....we have a "family doctor" now. Lucky him; right?!?
We had to get X-rays to confirm the fracture. Amelia was not totally cooperative with this, but, they made it work. They have very fancy, state of the art, expensive equipment; as this hospital is very new. The doc showed me the fracture and how the bone was totally out of line with the joint of the elbow. And then he starts talking about us going to Primary Children's or over to Grand Junction; for a Pediatric Orthopedic Doc. Ugh!! But, then he mentions an orthopedic surgeon in Moab- not a pediatric one though. He had to let that guy look at the x-ray and decide if he would take our case. {So, just in case you're wondering, it wouldn't have made a difference if we had taken her in Sunday morning. We would have have gotten into surgery any sooner. }
I'm not really sure why "surgery" didn't enter my mind when he said "pins". I just thought they would numb her arm and place the pins in. Until the local doctor called me back to say the guy in Moab would take us the very next morning. I was in a store when I got that call and totally lost it. Seriously!
I finally calmed down that evening after cooking dinner, making Julie's birthday cake, and cooking dinner for the next day so we would have something to eat after getting home from the surgery. {And a little Priesthood Power that I am so thankful for!!}
This pic is Monday before going to the doctor.
So, that brings us to the next day. Surgery Day!!
I know I'm a bit of a pansy. Lots of you out there have had children go through surgery. This was a first for us! I tend to have anxiety issues.
We were very fortunate that Grandma Georga was around to care for the older three kids. What a relief; one thing taken care of, at least.
We reported to the hospital as instructed at 9:30am. It seemed she was a bit of a treat to the staff. I'm guessing they don't get little kids too often. They were really great with her; and turned out to be great with me too!
Before we left for Moab.
At the hospital, before going to pre-op.
She was given this awesome medicine that is not allowed to be called a "sucker" or a "lollipop". It is fentanol (sp??) that tasted like a strawberry sucker. And it smelled quite good. She got a little hyper-loopy before calming down and getting sleepy.
Above is after the medicine took effect. She met the doctor while in this state and asked him if he had a knife. Thankfully, he was not using one for her procedure. Whew!!!
After waking up, the main discomfort was her throat; from the breathing tube. She woke up asking to Color....not asking for either parent. ?? We were very lucky that she did not seem to suffer from and nausea; she never vomited. She was in recovery for about an hour.
This was when I nearly passed out myself. Nice.
Moab's hospital is quite new as well. I think it might be just a year or two older than the one here in Blanding (which I think is about 18 months).
Here we go, heading home. I'm so thankful Will was able to work out going with us. We didn't think it he would be able to go until about 10 minutes before we had to leave.
She looked pretty rough all evening. But she still got out to play. We've got to watch her close!! She does not get a full cast. There is a splint that goes up the back of her arm and the bandages hold the splint in place. This is great for the initial swelling from the surgery. But I really do not know how we will make it 4 entire weeks!!
She has follow-up x-rays scheduled for next Tuesday, here in town, to make sure the pins are still in the proper place. They will also check for infection around the pins at that time. I wish they would put a full cast on it if everything is okay. I really do not want a re-do of the surgical procedure. They already plan on the putting her totally under when they remove the pins next month. I'm not looking forward to that.
Her two-outfit wardrobe is now even more limited.
I think, by the time this month passes, she will be cured of sucking on her finger. She has mentioned a few times that she can't suck her finger anymore. Not too bad of a thing....she is 4!
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment