Not So Humerus

Gosh.  All I can say is that when you have a really warm day, and tell your kids to get dressed, to go OUT and play, maybe you should think first.  Think of all the mayhem that could break loose.  Think of the accidents they could have on bikes and play equipment.  Think of broken windows, light fixtures knocked crooked, vans scratched by bike handles, and bent golf clubs.  And how about a broken humerus?  Then maybe you'll keep them under lock and key in their rooms.  With no exercise or fresh air.

But, I did quite the opposite.  When I heard it was going to be 64 degrees (in December!) today, I yelled up for them to make their beds, and get on some play outside clothes!  I was so excited!  They'd been kicking a ball around inside, making up goalie rules, and generally pounding each other, and they sooo needed a day outside.  I got a roast ready for the crock pot, and thought to myself what a great day it was going to be!

Then Mary Claire came in crying.  It sounded little enough not to panic over, so I didn't.  Then she came in my room, with her white face, pale bluish lips, and her arm hanging.  She said she'd broken her arm (on Play Outside Day!), and she couldn't move it.  I set her down, ran to see why Ethan was screaming (please, please don't let it be another broken bone!).   (Just a previous booboo dirty with bacteria from all the outside playing.  Am I a total moron for letting my kids go outside?)
Ches was getting ready to go for a bike ride in the amazing weather, and I told him that I thought her arm was broke, and that I'd try to schedule an appointment, and to come back in an hour.
I called the doctor's office, and they told us to come right in, no appointment needed.  Umm..I needed time to wash my hair, but no.  I got around, took her (and the boys!) in, and made it to the xray lab before Ches caught up with us.  We learned that she'd broken her upper arm, pretty close to her shoulder.  The curvy line at the top is called the growth plate, and the fracture was very close to it.  The orthopaedic surgeon we saw later this afternoon said she didn't need surgery (he was disappointed-ha!), but it was considered a growth plate fracture.  He said if she stayed calm and sedate, we could try a sling.  We need to re-xray it in ten days to see if it's moved, or if it's still stable.  If the "ice cream" on the top of the bone doesn't move, it'll heal fine (the chances of it moving after ten days of stability is small).  If the "ice cream" starts to fall off to the side, she'll need a cast to keep it more stable.

I have to say, I had no idea when I got up this morning how this day would go!  I guess we really should be thankful for each day-it could've gone totally differently.  That's what I think families going through really awful days must think.  (And why, oh why, do these things always happen when I have bad hair?  When she swallowed a penny in kindergarten, to see how it'd feel, I had bad hair, no make-up, Ethan had no shoes, and I'd left his baby bag at home-I thought I was just picking up a girl with a tummy-ache at school-and we got checked into the hospital for surgery after seeing the doctor, and a gastroenterologist-I do have an interesting life.  (Her blood sugar went low, and she couldn't eat for the pain and stuck penny in her esophagus.  I gave her some glucose gel, it lubed up the penny, and it went on through!  She felt better all of a sudden, we re-xrayed at the hospital, and it had gone into her stomach.  FYI-if it makes it through the esophageal sphincter, it'll make it all the way through.)

We finally had lunch around 2:40-I was starving!  And we came home, she had her medicine (Tylenol with codeine), and she hated the taste.  I'm sure they make it taste nasty so the kids won't want more!
She's had another dose tonight, and she's resting relatively comfortably now.  I helped her go to the bathroom, get her jammies on, settled her with a pillow under her arm, then read to her.  I love my baby girl-I didn't realize how independent she'd become until she wasn't anymore.  She's so worried about school, about how to get her pants up, how to eat and write, how to control the pain.  I worry for her too.  I want to be all positive for her, but I'd be really nervous too!  It's her upper arm, so she can write, but doesn't have a very wide range of motion.  Bless her heart-could she please catch a break?
I think back now to all the times I called her diabetes our third child, and now I regret it-maybe I have my four kids. : (  I guess we don't get to pick our kids-God picks for us.  I can say it's taught me a lot of patience and understanding, but I can't say I'd pick that one again.
Here's my baby in her "sling":

How she really feels.

When I asked her to smile for me.  She's a brave soul.  This is one more thing she can weather.