So if the skunk incident this morning wasn't bad enough, it gets worse! Shortly after I returned home from picking up Emmalee at school, Micah decided he wanted to go outside and play. I tried to put him off - told him it was too cold, he could play outside later. Then I thought to myself, why shouldn't he go play outside? We just had 2 days of rain and he had been stuck indoors and although today was a little chilly, it was sunny and dry for a change. So I told him he could go out. Emmalee was just about to go outside about 5 minutes after him, when I heard him crying at th
e door. I opened the door and asked him what was wrong. He was crying so hard, he couldn't answer. I picked him up and sat in a chair and asked where it hurt. I was a little concerned; usually when he gets hurt, he cries a little bit and then as soon as he gets my attention and sympathy, he stops. He wasn't doing that today. He was finally able to choke out that his arm hurt. I asked him to move his wrist - he could. Steve and I (Steve was still home) said "you're okay buddy". Then I asked him to raise his hands above his head and, still crying very hard, he said he couldn't. Then Steve pulled up his sleeve, and it was obvious that his arm was slightly deformed, kind of bowing downward. "It's broken, and I'm pretty sure it's a displaced mid-shaft radius and ulna fracture", said Steve (his ortho knowledge comes in handy even at home, we learned today). So immediately, Emmalee starts flipping out, screaming, "is he going to need stitches? Will they have to cut open his arm?" "No no no" we said, "but we have to bring him to the hospital". I called my friend Jenn and asked her if I could drop my 2 stinky girls off at her house (yep, even Lily smelled like a skunk), and, thankfully, she said yes (Thank you Jenn!).
Our first stop after dropping off the girls was at one of the Ortho Doctor's offices that Steve frequents. They took xrays of Micah's arm. Dr. Jambor comes into the room where we are waiting and says "it's a displaced mid-shaft radius and ulna fracture". Dr. Burstein then called ahead to the Children's Hospital Emergency Room and let them know we were on our way in and to have an orthopedic resident available (it helps to have business associates in high places - Thank you, doctors!).
What a trooper Micah was through it all - he charmed all the nurses (even nurses not associated with our case were coming by to check out the cute little boy in room 24!) , got to watch a movie while we waited for the ortho resident to get in, and was given gifts by the nurses! One brought him some bubbles, another found him some matchbox cars to keep. Once the resident came in, he was looking at Micah's x-ray on the wall. A nurse walked into the room and Micah said "hey, look at my bones!", pointing to the x-ray. He was great. Singing, laughing, playing with the nurses.
The worst part of it all was getting the IV administered - they couldn't find a vein and had to try twice before they got it in. They then gave him a sedative and we watched as he very quickly fell asleep. It was really weird - one second he was talking, and then his eyes started moving back and forth and I asked him how he felt and he just stared at me blankly. "He's out" the nurse told us. Steve and I then had to leave the room as they reset his arm and casted it. The procedure lasted about 20 minutes, and about 10 minutes later, he w
as coming around again. After a red popsicle and a carton of apple juice, we were off (all of this lasted about 5 1/2 hours!). When we got home, the neighbor boys were playing in the backyard, and Micah asked if he could go play with them. Uhhhh - no. So he settled for playing a computer game - left handed!
He looks pretty cute with his arm all casted up to his armpit. He's got about 6-8 weeks in a cast.
If you recall from my skunk post, I think my last words were "at least we have nowhere we have to go today" - yeah that got blown right out the window. We all stunk of skunk and had to keep explaining and apologizing for our odor to each new administrator, nurse, doctor, etc. that came into our room at the hospital...
e door. I opened the door and asked him what was wrong. He was crying so hard, he couldn't answer. I picked him up and sat in a chair and asked where it hurt. I was a little concerned; usually when he gets hurt, he cries a little bit and then as soon as he gets my attention and sympathy, he stops. He wasn't doing that today. He was finally able to choke out that his arm hurt. I asked him to move his wrist - he could. Steve and I (Steve was still home) said "you're okay buddy". Then I asked him to raise his hands above his head and, still crying very hard, he said he couldn't. Then Steve pulled up his sleeve, and it was obvious that his arm was slightly deformed, kind of bowing downward. "It's broken, and I'm pretty sure it's a displaced mid-shaft radius and ulna fracture", said Steve (his ortho knowledge comes in handy even at home, we learned today). So immediately, Emmalee starts flipping out, screaming, "is he going to need stitches? Will they have to cut open his arm?" "No no no" we said, "but we have to bring him to the hospital". I called my friend Jenn and asked her if I could drop my 2 stinky girls off at her house (yep, even Lily smelled like a skunk), and, thankfully, she said yes (Thank you Jenn!).Our first stop after dropping off the girls was at one of the Ortho Doctor's offices that Steve frequents. They took xrays of Micah's arm. Dr. Jambor comes into the room where we are waiting and says "it's a displaced mid-shaft radius and ulna fracture". Dr. Burstein then called ahead to the Children's Hospital Emergency Room and let them know we were on our way in and to have an orthopedic resident available (it helps to have business associates in high places - Thank you, doctors!).
What a trooper Micah was through it all - he charmed all the nurses (even nurses not associated with our case were coming by to check out the cute little boy in room 24!) , got to watch a movie while we waited for the ortho resident to get in, and was given gifts by the nurses! One brought him some bubbles, another found him some matchbox cars to keep. Once the resident came in, he was looking at Micah's x-ray on the wall. A nurse walked into the room and Micah said "hey, look at my bones!", pointing to the x-ray. He was great. Singing, laughing, playing with the nurses.
The worst part of it all was getting the IV administered - they couldn't find a vein and had to try twice before they got it in. They then gave him a sedative and we watched as he very quickly fell asleep. It was really weird - one second he was talking, and then his eyes started moving back and forth and I asked him how he felt and he just stared at me blankly. "He's out" the nurse told us. Steve and I then had to leave the room as they reset his arm and casted it. The procedure lasted about 20 minutes, and about 10 minutes later, he w
as coming around again. After a red popsicle and a carton of apple juice, we were off (all of this lasted about 5 1/2 hours!). When we got home, the neighbor boys were playing in the backyard, and Micah asked if he could go play with them. Uhhhh - no. So he settled for playing a computer game - left handed!He looks pretty cute with his arm all casted up to his armpit. He's got about 6-8 weeks in a cast.
If you recall from my skunk post, I think my last words were "at least we have nowhere we have to go today" - yeah that got blown right out the window. We all stunk of skunk and had to keep explaining and apologizing for our odor to each new administrator, nurse, doctor, etc. that came into our room at the hospital...
1 comment:
girl, when it rains it POURS!! poor sweet buddy ... he looks darling but still, no fun at all for any of you. he is lucky that you and steve were quick to react and that steve knows a lot about orthopedics. charlotte is hanging on me .... i just showed her micah's pics and she is GLUED!!
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