3 Times a Charm

Yesterday was a loooooonnnnggg day! First of all we were supposed to be driving to Florida for vacation, but TS Fay changed all of that. Thanks Fay. So we did yard work. Now that was a great exchange, vacation for yard work. It was almost lunch time (really it was after my lunch time and I was hungry). Granny and PaPa had been there helping me dig up some bushes, but were leaving and we were in the back yard. Papa was on the driveway with the kids. About that time, our day took a massive detour that we are all feeling still today. Bobbi came screaming around the house with Tyler in tow. She was crying, saying that she fell and hurt her arm. I told her to let me see it. Well, Dr. Mom made a diagnosis in less than a second: it is Broken. I was calm, as usual. I don't know why I am able to stay calm at time like that. Only God can give you something like that. Granny wanted to find her a chair. I said she could sit in the van because she was going to be travelling to the ER. I put her in the van, and went inside. I grabbed her Teddy bears,(can't go anywhere with tears without them), turned off lights, locked doors and grabbed my camera. Yes, I said my camera. I learned last time to always take my camera to the ER. What? Did you say last time? Yes, this is her third time for breaking this arm, but I will talk about that later. We were sitting in the ER in about 20 minutes. God gave us pretty clear driving. Within 15 minutes we were in a room, but then time pretty much stood still. Bobbi got her IV which is the second most painful thing of the day not including the fall itself. Then she got pain medicine. Wow what a change. She was a trooper in all of this, but what a difference pain medicine makes. She went from painful glum to chattery happy. She reminded me of the little girl in the cell phone commercial who never stops talking. I didn't mind, though. Then little brother came in and gave her a Barbie doll from Granny. More happiness. She named Barbie Julliane. Then we were off to X-ray. She got to ride in a wheel chair which was fun, but then they had to move her arm to position it. Owwww. No amount of pain meds can combat that. That was the most painful moment. What was mom doing while the x-ray was going on? Well, Mom was hungry because it is now 2PM and I haven't eaten since say 8AM. Granny brought some peanut butter crackers, but I hated eating in front of my baby since she couldn't eat until it was all over. I did eat 2 crackers in the room, but still felt weak. So while I was behind that shield, I was cramming my face with crackers. LOL I had to eat fast. They only took 2 shots of her arm. Shortly after we returned to her room, the nurses were all called into a staff meeting. I couldn't believe it either. It took about 45 minutes of our time for the meeting. You see the Dr. could have been setting the arm, but he had no nurses. Bummer. Finally it was time to set her arm. Last time I stayed in the room and watched, but this time I was still so weak that I only stayed until she was fully asleep. They were also pretty adamant that I leave or at least sit outside the door. I chose to go to the waiting room and have some real food. My husband, Mike, came back to stay outside the door. The whole procedure only took 15 minutes and then she was awake. Groggy, but awake. She then had a "pretty" white cast; the only color choice for the ER. She was dizzy, but OK. They brought her a cherry popcicle which she loved. Her nurse, Amanda, brought her a little pink stuffed pig which we named, Amanda. It was fitting since later we went home to barbecue. LoL In order to go home she had to keep something on her stomach and be able to walk. An hour later she was still dizzy and didn't want to stand up. She tried, but it felt funny to her so she gave up. I told her she could go home if she would show the nursed she could walk. "Ok," she said. And up she went. We were discharged and went home to eat supper. We were all famished, especially Bobbi. She usually sleeps in a loft bed, but for the next 8 weeks she will sleep on a futon matteress under her bed. She has to keep her arm elevated for a few nights so it won't swell. I think she rolled over some time this morning and her arm was probably hanging down because she came to my room saying that her fingers were tingiling and her arm was itching. After getting her arm elevated again and blowing cool air down the cast, she was fine. This was the worst break yet. Both bones broke completely and sat on top of the bones they were supposed to be connected to. How did she do it? She fell while riding her scooter.

I said this was the 3rd time. The first time was when she was 4 1/2 years old. She tripped over something and fell in the house. Only one bone was barely broken. In fact we didn't believe it was broken until the next morning when it was still hurting. The second time was just a year and a half ago. She jumped over something on the trampoline and landed on her arm. This was a bigger break; both bones were broken, but still attached. They told us at that time that if she broke it again, it would probably require surgery. Praise God that it didn't. So 8 long weeks of cast for my sweet girl. Today she is a bit sad because she can see all of the things she can't do like play video games, have a birthday party at Crossfire, ride rides on vacation in October. So, pray for her.