It's crazy to me that I can have one child who has never had a broken bone (knock on wood), and another child, who in the course of 13 months, has fractured the same arm twice by simply running and falling, and ended up in a cast both times. I am unsure if that means that our girl is more clumsy, or simply moves at a faster pace, but whatever it is, it means we know more about "that" cry than I care to. It's never good to have that sinking feeling that your child is hurt. You want to believe that you (or they) are over reacting, but inside, you are pretty sure that's just not the case. I had held and rocked our girl for 30 minutes after her fall, trying to decide if the long day of walking and lack of nap at 8:30 at night was the culprit or not. But after still hearing cries with slight movements, I was pretty sure there was something up.
Thank God for comfort items like her blankie and her little stuffed panda. Those things bring a different comfort than I ever knew they would. That and a frozen bags of peas were our saving grace. About 30 seconds in, those peas went on and stayed until the hospital replaced them with a permanent ice bag. My camera, on the other hand, ended up in the hospital because it hadn't made it in the house after our long day - and I wasn't about to leave it in the parking lot.
The wait to find out if something is wrong or not felt like trying to collect a jar of maple syrup. Or at least what I would envision it to be. Good thing hospital rooms have televisions and cable. But within about an hour or so, we found out that indeed we had a fracture #2. Same arm as last year, just on the inside this time. We were able to get a splint and sling this time to get us through the weekend until we could get to an orthopedist.
With a friend who works in the ER, we not only got a personal recommendation on a doctor, but also a familiar face when our girl went to replace her splint with a real cast. We adore Who!
Why I was surprised to see that large bump on the backside of my girl's arm, I am not quite sure, but that was sign number 17 that we definitely had an issue on our hands. And still the wincing and tears when she was turned the wrong way. Thank goodness for toys that came along to keep my people occupied, friends that play along, and doctors who know how to make your kid smile.
Then off to get a second x-ray. This is the 4th time our girl has done an x-ray, but none of the other times was I able to take pictures. This time though, without needing me for support, they preferred that I was out of the room, and I was happy to finally get this part for our books.
We got the double nurse treatment to help make things go quickly, which meant that I had to get out of the way and watch. Once our girl asked for a purple cast, those nurses matched up purple gloves with purple scissors and we had the royal treatment.
Along with that royal treatment came purple sparkles - and then a purple sucker. I mean, when that staff found out that purple was our girl's color, they were all in.
Once home, this time was different because our girl decided that she was ok with getting signatures! It was fun to watch her be the first to sign her own cast and then give directions to each of us about where we could sign.
I loved that once Daddy signed with a heart, that was an expectation moving forward. 💜
So, having a fractured arm obviously isn't all bad. You have friends to support you, get to choose your cast color, add glitter, and get candy and a sticker. Plus, it's like you're famous for a day and everyone wants to sign your cast, so that's a highlight, right? Right! But, I am glad that it's only on 4 weeks because a 4 yr old with a cast in the summer is ... well ... not awesome.
Until next time,
