It was bound to happen at some point in time. We had hoped it would happen much later than it did... but the McDowell boys have experienced their first broken bone. We went to some friend's house for a bbq on Saturday night and Reid was sitting on top of a swing that was a big yellow ball. He was swinging high and fell backwards hitting his head and pinning his arm in a funky position. Reid was crying frantically and couldn't quite calm down or stop sobbing. It took us about three minutes to realize that we were going to go get it checked out. I took Reid and Ross (because I had the infant car seat) with me to Children's Mercy South and Hockey Ross got Russ and Ryan home.
I am the BIGGEST fan of Children's Mercy! We were checked in, triaged, and bumped in front of a full waiting room. After triage we went to get some x-rays. I went in the room with Reid for the x-rays and a nurse stayed with Ross who managed to make quite a few friends in the hallway by the time we were done. He was all smiles and talking to everyone.
When we were done with x-rays the nurse put us in a room with a bed, not the typical room we get with a chair and a stool to see a dr. I immediately felt like something wasn't right. I stepped outside the room and asked the nurse if she thought that I should call Russ to come pick up Ross. She gave me a little look and said that it would probably be a good idea. Not long after the doctor came in and told us that his humerus was broken and displaced. She was calling an ortho to consult but thought that we would need to go to Children's Mercy North where Reid would be sedated and his arm would be set. EEK! Before Russ could get to the clinic the consult was back and they decided that they were not going to set the arm. Russ and Ryan said hi to Reid and then took the baby home. We waited a while longer and Reid's arm was put in an immobilizer and we were discharged with orders to call an orthopaedic surgeon in a week.
We left the hospital a few minutes before 10 and headed to a 24 hour pharmacy with our prescription for Reid's pain killer and to pick up some Motrin. Reid was pretty loopy at the pharmacy. He was talking non-stop to a dad and his grown daughter. They asked if he was loopy or if he always talked like he was. I told him it was a combination of both - but he sure was being quite funny.
On Sunday we rented several redbox movies and we let Reid lay around and watch movies all morning. He started getting restless from being cooped up after lunch and got in trouble for diving across the living room after a hula hoop. He said "having a broken arm is no fun; you won't let me do anything!" We ended up letting him go outside to walk around as his friends played. One of his friends was trying to talk him into riding his bike with one arm and he said "my mom won't let me." One day down, 41 or so to go :)
Reid went to school today and is doing just great. He really hasn't complained about pain much at all. He took a bath last night and didn't like the arm moving at all. His teacher seemed very ready to deal with helping him through his day and said they would figure it all out. I hope he stays calm! Russ and I were telling him that he could not participate in recess or p.e. and he thought it would still be ok if he just went down the slide. It might be a long couple of weeks since recess and p.e. are his favorite parts of school :)
We meet with the orthopaedic doctor on Wednesday at 1:30 pm so we'll see what the long term plan is then.
No comments:
Post a Comment