Thursday, March 5, 2009

A Cast for a Character

First of all, I must say after a good night's rest, I was able to put things into better perspective. Thankfully, D's fracture does not affect his growth plate, and the cast will come off in 3 weeks. I'm also very grateful it wasn't his leg as a dear friend of mine's 3 year old broke his femur, and my hat goes of to that strong lady.

D got his cast on this morning. I realized what a crazy scrapbooker I am when halfway to the appointment I almost turned around to get my camera. However, Mr. Happy-go-lucky turned into Mr. Scream-my-lungs-out when they began applying the cast, so I wouldn't have gotten any pictures anyway. Poor little guy just didn't understand what was going on and no lolly pops or any treat could calm him down. I was blessed with a very understanding doctor and nurses who were patient with my son (and me) and had us out of the office in record time. It took D about an hour to really acclimate to his cast, and although he still wants me to take it off, he's adjusting just fine (so much so he's using it as a "weapon of mass destruction" against his sisters.)

Telling family about his boo-boo.

Nothing is slowing this kid down.

And last but not least, the offending bench.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Mama Said There Will Be Days Like This...

Well, it's been one of THOSE days. I was supposed to be resting, or at least taking it easy since I had a small surgical procedure yesterday (just minor fibroid stuff). Just after I got a nice relaxing shower, hubby called me and informed me that he (or at least his car) was hit by a deer on his way to work. Fortunately, it just took out the passenger's side mirror, but unfortunately it meant it needed to be fixed. No big deal, though. At least he was safe.

I took my oldest to her ballet class in the early afternoon since the school is only 5 minutes from our house and all I do is sit. I could handle it, and to be quite honest, I was feeling pretty good. The class was in full swing and I was enjoying some adult conversation, when out of the corner of my eye I saw that D had fallen down and was laying on his left wrist (he is a lefty). Mind you, he had been standing on a short bench/locker(no higher than a foot) watching his sister dance- something he did each and every week without a problem. His screaming shot all of the moms in the waiting area into high alert mode. Fortunately, one of the instructors ran out with an ice pack, but 20 minutes later he was still crying. I was trying to reach our pediatrician, who then referred me to an orthopedist, who after I called them and waited on the phone, told me that they do not see children- huh?? I then contacted our insurance company who gave me 3 referrals for our area. Unfortunately, they all wanted a "confirmed fracture" before they would see him, and they couldn't see him before tomorrow. Several of the moms who had previous experience with broken bones definitely agreed that he should be seen by a doctor, although within 30 minutes he was back to playing with the other kids.

I made an appointment for later that afternoon with our pediatrician, went home, gave D some Motrin, and put him down for a nap. The little guy fell asleep right away. Hubby came home to watch the girls, and by the time I took him to our pediatrician's office, he was as chipper as could be, laughing and singing. He cooperated beautifully for the doctor, and didn't wince a bit when she poked and prodded his wrist. However, the doctor did feel it would be in his best interest to still get an x-ray at the hospital. Fortunately she wrote a prescription for the x-ray, so that we wouldn't have to wait in the ER.

Once again, D turned on the charm when we arrived at the hospital. He was fascinated with pushing the buttons on the elevator, and nicely and politely played with his trucks in the waiting area. We were whisked back to radiology since we had the prescription, and he was incredibly cooperative with the radiologist taking his wrist's picture- even said "cheese." Since it was supper time I briefly entertained the thought of going on home, but they told me the results would be ready in 20 minutes. D danced around the waiting room singing and playing, not at all acting in pain and using his left hand without hesitation. I began to feel a little foolish, wondering if it was "just" a sprain or a bruise, when the doctor called the waiting room to give me the results. She informed me that he had indeed fractured his wrist, which shocked me. She then asked how he was feeling and I babbled about how he was happy and playing as normal. The doctor felt that we could return home, get him to bed, and see an orthopedist in the morning for a cast. I was still in shock as we returned home, thankful the whole trip to the hospital took less than an hour, but shocked that my baby had a broken bone.

As I write, D is sleeping peacefully. Pictures will follow soon. I'm thinking of taking my mama's advice of eating some chocolate and going to bed early. That's the best way to end a day like this.