Oh BOY!

I woke up feeling very uneasy. The inside of my body was very uncomfortable and I couldn’t figure out why.  For about the last 3 weeks we have been having a regular pool party on the side lawn with Playgroup friends. Today wasn't any different from previous times. I setup the pool and sprinkler and let the kids go wild. I was looking down when I heard a cry that I recognized from before when you broke your leg 2 years ago. You came over to me holding your elbow and telling me that you fell out of the pool when trying to get out. We were surrounded with friends and your crying just wouldn’t stop. I took you inside and had Nana help me see if it was indeed broken. She offered you an Oreo to grab with your right hand which you refused. That's not like you; you love Oreos! I just had a feeling that I should take you to the Orem Community Hospital ER. Nana held you in the back while you held your arm by the wrist next to your body. On our way to the ER you fell asleep. I carried you to the ER where we talked to receptionist and then shortly after, nurse Tom took us back to a room.

Tom checked your vitals and temperature and when he was done Dr. Hyer came in to examine your arm. You weren’t very talkative, just nodding your head to the questions or a very faint answer. Dr. Hyer wanted to get an x-ray done to check your elbow. We went to radiology and I held your hand while Wendy moved your arm and took pictures of your right elbow. Every time she moved it you cried and tears ran down your face, but you were very brave and held really still. It hurt me to see you hurting so badly.

I held you and walked back to our room where you quickly fell back to sleep. I laid you down on the bed where you slept…


until the doctor told us that your Humerus (elbow) supracondylar fracture needed to be splinted for 3 days. Then at that time we would go to your pediatrician to get a hard cast put on. This was another hard one to watch because Tom and Jim moved your arm to wrap the splint on. You were once again very brave, but I was losing it inside.

While I was holding you, you were still in and out of sleeping until nurse Tim came into the room with the paperwork so we could leave. I held you all the way home.

Once home I gave you Ibuprofen and put on the movie Monster's University. We sat on the couch cuddling until you felt well enough to walk around. When daddy came home from work you played iron man together and you were becoming happier. That night your friend Gavin and Keeli came over and gave you some gummy worms. You are loved by everyone and all your neighborhood friends came and checked on you to see how you were doing.

You haven’t slept really well for the last 2 days. You are still trying to figure out how to sleep with it on and that's when you complain the most about it hurting and itching. During the day it hasn't bothered you too bad.

Friday at 4:40pm we went to Alpine Pediatrics' office and met with Dr. Jeffery where he talked and explained your x-ray. He mentioned that he couldn’t see a true crack in the bone and that the gray circle around the outside of the elbow looks like fluid and blood. He said that he feels comfortable re-splinting your arm for a better sling.
You were a little scared and were really brave. Dr. Jeff measured your arm for the right fitting.

Waiting for him to prepare everything. The nurse even gently scratched your arm while you waited.

Dr. Jeffery said to come back on Thursday July 2nd to have it x-rayed and if there's a bright white line {where it's calcified} then for sure it is broken and you'll need a cast. If there is no bright line then it was badly sprained and the splint can come off. 

Thursday morning we headed to Timpanogos Hospital to get your x-ray. You asked me if it was going to hurt and it broke my heart to tell you it would. You held on tight to your bad arm while they unwrapped the splint. When they stretched your arm straight down you cried and big tears rolled down your face. At that moment I just knew that it was broken. It took 4 lady nurses to get a couple of x-rays and 2 to wrap up your arm again.

About 2pm I got a call from Dr. Jeffery saying that indeed it was broken and to go to Alpine pediatrics to get the cast on. I made the appointment for 3:50pm that same day. We picked up Dad from work and headed over. On the way over we talked a lot about how cool your red cast is going to look and how it will help heal your arm. You seemed pleased with that answer and fell asleep.

We got in the medical room and waited and waited and waited some more before the doctor and his PA finally came in and said that the Doctor was talking to a Orthopedics to see what they said about the brake. About 10 minutes later the PA comes in and said that they are making an appointment with the orthopedics just in case. I thought well that’s weird, what is just in case for?” The doctor and the PA finally came in and said, “our policy is that we don’t do elbows, but we made an appoint for Thursday July 9th.” Alright, we waited an hour for you to tell us that your policy is you can’t do elbows. It would've been nice to know that when I made the appointment. We asked them if they could call other orthopedics to see if they can get us in sooner. They said they could and would call us as soon as possible.

About 5:30pm the PA called and said she made an appointment at North Valley Orthopedics on Monday for 3:50pm. We were super excited but we needed to make sure they took our insurance but it’s Friday with the 4th of July holiday, so we waited until Monday morning to call.

Monday morning I called North Valley Orthopedics and they did take our insurance and I made sure that they do casts for Elbows and that was a yes as well.  At 3:30pm we picked up Dad from work and headed to another appointment. Trying to get your cast on has been quite the adventure. We were waiting about 20 minutes when a nurse walked up to us and said, “one of the other doctors got called in for surgery and Dr. Kendra Parker was doing double duty and it is over an hour wait.”  They told us we could reschedule for tomorrow. I wasn’t happy, and told them we've tried 2 times to get this cast on and that I'd rather wait. We decided it was best to go find food and the receptionist would call us with the time she wants us back. We found a Chili's and ordered our food. Right when we placed our order they called me and told us Dr. Parker would be ready at 5:30. That gave us just 30 minutes to get our food, eat, and drive back to the doctors. We did it with only being 7 minutes late.

We were the only ones in the office when we arrived and the x-ray tech told us we needed another x-ray because that's how their office does things. I couldn’t believe it. We just had one on Thursday and here we are doing it again. You knew what was happening because you ran away from us twice and you kept saying, “It’s going to hurt.” Once again I was hurting for you. You were very brave and did a great job holding still, even though you were in so much pain and tears were running down your cheeks. The tech put your splint back on and we headed to the cast room.

Dr. Parker came in and looked at the new x-ray and said, “the bones are all lined up and it’s a very clean break.” She also mentioned that you would need to have a cast on for 5 weeks. Dad told her, “you already had your splint on for 2 weeks.” She then said, “come back in 2 weeks and we will take another x-ray through the cast to see how the healing is going and at that time I will decide if it needs another week or two.” That sounded so much better. Dr. Parker and the nurse did such a great job talking to you while they put your red cast on. Dad and I made sure that they made it a waterproof cast and paid the $10 out of pocket so you could at least have a fun summer. From start to finish that appointment took 3 hours, but we finally got your cast on!

On the way home you told us you really wanted Uncle Brian to draw Iron Man on your cast. We told you tomorrow after Uncle Brian gets off work we would go to his house and play with his kitten and he could draw Iron Man.

Tuesday evening Uncle Brian drew on your cast which you absolutely loved. Uncle Brian made having a cast a lot more fun.

July 20th at 10:50am I took you back to get your 2 week x-rays done through your cast. Now grand total of 4 x-rays done since you broke your arm.

You did a great job getting your x-rays done, because you knew that it wouldn’t hurt. Actually you were supper excited the whole time.

Look closely at the x-ray. You can see your sweet little nose. Dr. Parker came in and said your bones are healing great, but since it's the elbow she wants to be on the safe side and go another 10 days. You don’t mind your cast at all, thank heavens.

Dr. Parker made the appointment to get the cast off August 4th at 3:30pm. Yay!!

August 4th at 3:30pm, we picked up Daddy from work and headed to your cast removal appointment. We waited in the waiting room for a good 30 minutes before we were finally brought back to the cast room. You were getting really scared and asked if you could keep your cast on. We talked to you and told you that it needed to come off since your bone was all healed. As she was taking it off you were crying and asking daddy to hold your arm. It was a quick removal and once off you quickly grabbed your arm and starting crying uncontrollably and saying that your arm was tingly. I started to get scared that your arm wasn’t fully healed, but the nurse calmed my nerves and said that your arm was getting blood flow back in and it just feels really weird.

We were sent back to the x-ray room where more tears and sweat were shed. I was doing my best to hold back my tears. Daddy saved the day and helped you calm down and got you to do what the x-ray tech said, even though she was quite rude. She got her 2 x-rays and sent us back to the cast room.

Dr. Parker came in and told us that she is very happy with how it healed. She laughed while saying, “I can’t even see where the brake was, that’s a great thing. You are healed.”  

We went home where I rubbed lotion on your dry peeling skin which you kept saying, “oh this feels so good.” 

Then we found a place to display your cast right under the TV. Here’s to hoping for no more broken bones next summer.