Our little man was so brave. I knew something was wrong right away. There wasn't any major swelling or disfigurement in his arm (of course, there wouldn't be with a mere "wrinkle"), but Sam wouldn't use it. We gave him a sippy cup of milk and my iPhone (two of his favorite things in this world), and he wouldn't touch them with his right hand...and unlike Henry, Sam is right-handed.
So, 30 minutes after his fall, there we sat...in the Emergency Room. There was a full moon that night, so you can imagine the crowd we saw as we patiently waited. By the time they called our name, Sam had fallen asleep in my arms. And I began to doubt my instinct. That our trip to the ER might all be for not...the late night, the $100 co-pay, the germs we were breathing as we sat and waited.
And it wasn't just me. After seeing Sam, our ER doctor doubted any major damage as well. But he opted to proceed with an x-ray, just to be sure. And low and behold, Sam had a wrinkle. After a dose of pain medicine, the ER nurses splinted Sam's arm and sent us home with 1) instructions to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon within the week, and 2) a script for more pain medicine. They warned me that although the fracture wasn't severe, it would be very painful for Sam. But Sam is tough. He refused to take any medication and after 24 hours, seemed oblivious to any pain or discomfort.
It took Houdini less than 12 hours to break free of his splint which sent me into a panic. The earliest I could get an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon was Monday...and it was only Thursday. We were given strict instructions that Sam was to remain in his splint until Monday. Or, he was at risk of fracturing his arm more severely. As hard as I tried to get Houdini back into his splint, he would have nothing of it. And the more I tried, and the harder he fought, I feared I was going to cause more injury.
Thankfully, I've got friends in high places and they were able to squeeze us in early. God bless Dr. Stubbs who saw us during his lunch hour, just before leaving town for the weekend. And yes, you heard right...Dr. Stubbs. Our orthopedic doctor's name is STUBBS. Which reminds me of our local chiropractor in Blackwell, Dr. BONEBRAKE. And my aunt's gynecologist, Dr. HANDS. Not joking.
I digress...
Well, Houdini got casted. He screamed the entire time. Sam HATED his cast...for the first day or two. Now, he hardly notices it. And it certainly hasn't slowed him down. In fact, you wouldn't know his arm was fractured at all if it weren't for the cast.
My gut tells me this may be the first of many fractures (and stitches) for our Sam. Sam, who is only two, has now been to the Emergency Room THREE TIMES. Henry, who is on the verge of five, has been once. Once. This pretty much sums up their personality differences.
So, how did the injury happen? Let's just say that warning Sam over and over AND OVER again that the bathtub wasn't a slip-n-slide did no good.
1 comment:
Dr. Stubbs is great! He'll have great fun getting the cast off too =)
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