A Break in Time...

Over the weekend, while preparing for a party my son got hurt!

He was playing outside and I kept looking outside and I saw him having a great time with his friends. Time went on and my friends husband came in to tell us he thought he was hurt. We got outside to see him holding his arm and crying. I hugged him until he calmed down a bit. His arm was red, I didn't see anything other than it being red so I was hoping he sprained or dislocated his arm. I asked him to stretch his arm out and he couldn't and that's when I saw the swelling. I was out of town so I went to the nearest ER that I knew of St. Pete's - I just have to say real quick they are great!

My son wasn't calming down in the car in fact he was really uncomfortable. It didn't take me long and we were waiting in the waiting area. They gave us a pager like you get at a restaurant, that was the only thing that was funny since my son got hurt and for the rest of the day. We talked with a Nurse Practitioner and they requested x-rays so we went back out to the waiting room. They were very quick, we gave them our insurance info and they were ready for us. The technicians were patient and talked calmly which really helped. My son had a hard time with it but he was very brave. We went back to the room they assigned us and shortly after they told me it was broken, I must have been in my head with worry because I heard 2 breaks. They told me they were paging the Orthopedic Surgeon. I told them I need to let my husband know since I couldn't get cell reception. They were able to patch my long distance call through the room. Once I told my husband, he was on his way. 

They wanted more X-rays, because of the type of break he has sometimes there can be more than one break. I was super worried by then. They wanted to give him some pain reliever before the next set of X-rays. They have liquid Vicodin for children, I was happy to hear that they would be able to make him feel better. Once that set in we went back to Imaging. The technician's were great again. It did take another set of hands to help and luckily one of them was able to help out. My son did better the second time, and they positioned the machine to him instead of the other way around. He got a cute stuffed animal for doing so well. When we got back to the room a nurse came in to put a splint on. He did really well with that too. He's pretty brave and I think the medicine helped. There was a shift changed and we got a new Nurse Practitioner - he didn't like the way the splint looked so he got one of the best to redo it again. I'm so happy they were willing to go with their instincts. 

My son's attitude was great, he knows when he doesn't feel well he can pretty much ask for whatever and we will say yes. He wanted ice cream, then marshmallows and a lollipop. I couldn't deny him, and as the night went on we had a few treats.  We didn't get to every treat, plus we hadn't eaten since lunch and a snack around 12-2.

We were finally getting out of there. Since we were not from around there and the drive back and forth would not be good for him, they had called our pediatrician office to handle the follow up with the surgeon. I stopped at fast food place to get some food in his belly, I was too sick from worry to eat. He fell asleep on the ride home. His medicine had warn off by then, so got him more and some ice cream and then he went back to sleep with us. Until he gets his cast on he will sleep with us.

We couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday morning with Orthopedic Surgeon. Sunday and Monday went pretty well - he had some energy to play a little. I even caught him jumping on the couch. I believe he was trying to make me have a heartattack!

The appointment was nerve-wraking. We're expecting to hear he needed surgery but I was hoping he didn't! Turns out he does. He will need 2 pins put into his elbow. They will leave the pins outside of his skin so they can easily pull them out after 3 weeks. Scary part is the chance of infection. My husband and I are beyond worried, not only for the surgery but keeping his arm dry.

On Thursday, please wish us good luck, pray if you pray and we thank you!