The Bones They Are A-breaking

I swear there are tons of people breaking their limbs around me lately. A few days before I had been talking to my brother about when he broke his arm. I had to take him to the hospital since my parents were out of town so it made a bit of an impression on me. I mentioned to him that I wondered when one of my kids would break something or if they ever will.

So, I was sitting in my grandparents front room having a nice chat. The kids were playing in the back yard when Brother B and Loofa came dashing in with very panicked looks on their faces saying "I think Fefe broke her arm!". I jumped up and dashed to the back just as Fefe was coming in sobbing. There was no mistaking the fact that her arm was broken since it was at a definite angle. My grandma told me to go to LDS hospital since they have a less crowded ER. I left the other kids with them. We almost forgot Fefe's blankie. Thank heavens I went back for it or that would have been an even longer day. I was so grateful for my iphone so I could look up driving directions. I called J's parents and had them come pick up the kids so I could go straight to Bountiful when we were done. Fefe wasn't crying too hard, but she kept saying over and over "I need a bandaid". It was truly pitiful.

This is the best picture I have of it broken. I wish I had a better one.

I was a tad in shock, but once we got settled in a room I was doing better. Fefe fell asleep on my while we were waiting for x-rays. She kept her blankie over her arm because it made her happier. They gave her a bandaid since she kept asking for one.

The xrays showed both bones were broken, but the radius was offset so it would have to be set. The orthopedist wasn't comfortable doing that so they sent us up to Primary Children's hospital after the x-rays. We spent about an hour and a half at LDS. They let us drive to Primary. I'm so glad they didn't insist on an ambulance.

We got back to a room pretty fast at Primary. That was when the long wait began. We waited about 5 hours for the pediatric orthos to get out of surgery. Fefe got an iv and some morphine during that time. She was really upset about the iv. I think it bothered her more than her arm. We were both pretty hungry and tired. I hadn't eaten anything all day. I thought I would get lunch at least, but I didn't want to eat in front of Fefe. I knew she would need to have an empty stomach for the sedation. We spent some time reading books, watching cartoon network and playing the iphone. Fefe kept asking to leave and I kept telling her we had to get her arm fixed. Towards the end she said "Where's my Ephant, I need my Ephant". The magic finally started happening at 7pm. They moved us to a bigger room because they had a big old flouroscope to make sure they set the arm right while she was sedated. She really fought the sedation. It was actually kind of funny. She kept refusing to lay down and then suddenly, boom, she was out. It was a very short acting sedative so they had to time it just right. As soon as she was out, they set it, checked it, put on a splint and sling, and then they were done. She was so out of it. If she hadn't been breathing I would have thought she was dead.

To leave we had to wait for her to wake up and eat something without puking. By this point if one more person asked me how it happened I was going to bite their head off. I know why they do it, but I got so tired of saying "I don't know." Fefe was a little disgruntled when she woke up and really wanted her Popsicle. The nurse was nice and brought me some cheese and crackers too. It was a good thing because I was seeing stars at that point and I don't think I could have driven.

We finally made it out at 7:40. I promised Fefe a cheeseburger so we stopped at Mcd's on the way up to Bountiful. The kids were really happy to see us. When we got there, there was an accident at the top of their street so we walked up to spectate. I got to see the jaws of life for the first time ever. The person didn't seem hurt too bad. Fefe was doing really well with her arm and didn't complain about it hurting. We were both exhausted.

I didn't find out till later how it happened. My grandparents have a little swing in their backyard. It hangs from a metal pipe that is about as tall as me sticking out from the garage wall. Brother B had Fefe on his shoulders while she was holding on to it. She let go and tumbled forward. The doc told me it is the most common fracture in kids (a buckle fracture) because it is the result of trying to catch themselves when falling. Her cousin got one around the same time and a boy in our ward got one about a week later. See what I mean about an epidemic?

They match pretty well!