What a Weekend!

As some of you already know, we had an very unexpectedly busy weekend. Dave and I received a call from Tay's gymnastics coach about 45 minutes after we dropped her off for Parent's Night Out last Friday. Tony said she'd twisted her elbow while on the uneven bars and then fell, landing on the same arm she'd twisted.

We picked her up and it was immediately apparent something was very wrong with her arm. The elbow joint was crazy swollen and was filled with fluid. She refused to move it and was carrying it with her opposite arm.

Mom's intuition kicked in and I just knew we HAD to head to the ER. It was Friday night and we knew it'd be a long wait but something just wasn't right. We got to the hospital about 7:45pm and finally got called back 2 hours later. After seeing a PA, who ordered x-rays (during which she SCREAMED - this just reconfirmed that something bad was up), we waited around for another 1.5 hours before he came back to let us know the verdict.

It was broken. Badly. She was instructed not to move it at all - like that was going to happen anyway - while we waited for the trauma/orthopedic surgeon who'd been called in. I'd been chatting with my mom back and forth during this entire ordeal. She and my stepdad decided to head up after hearing ortho had been called in.

Did I mention the ER was crazy busy on Friday? We had a really good experience considering the traffic volume and saw the surgeon in only 30 minutes. He was very nice and we like him a lot even though we weren't crazy about what he had to say. You see, Tay's elbow was broken approximately 1 inch above the actual joint. The bone was broken in two and was unstable.

Surgery would be required to fix it. She would be admitted immediately and would have surgery on Saturday morning. WHAT?!?! This is what I was screaming in my mind. And my man, who has worked in healthcare for 23 years and is never surprised by anything that happens in this arena, lost all of the color in his face and was absolutely shocked. Me? Well, I stood behind my crying child, stroked her hair and began crying myself.

Dave let my parents, who were getting the little one some food from McDonald's since she got hurt before they ate at PNO, know what was going on and they raced to the ER so she could eat before going NPO after midnight. Then he took my quickly scribbled list and went home to gather our necessities.

A tech came in to put a splint on Tay's arm and brought her a teddy bear, who Tay named Ace, who also had a splint on his right arm. We smuggled her food into the room in my purse and sat back waiting for a room.

I'm really not sure what time we got to the room but I think it was about 1am. She had to get an IV put in, which went surprisingly well, and then she kicked Dave and my stepdad out of the room after getting a bit of morphine.

On a side note: this kid is TOUGH. She refused pain meds until we told the nurse to give them to her at 2am because she was really anxious and scared. We needed her to sleep so it seemed like the logical solution. My mom sang her to sleep and we spent our first night in the hospital.

Neither Dave nor I slept more than 30 minutes so Saturday was a really long day. They came to get her for surgery about 9am and we were all able to go with her all the way to the OR. Her surgeon chatted with us before taking her back and said, after consulting with a pediatric specialist, that he'd decided to just put a plate in her arm as it would be more stable and would heal faster.

We were fine with whatever he thought was best but I must admit to being really upset about the 6-inch scar on her arm. I've since gotten over that and just decided to buy stock in Mederma. I might suggest that you do as well if you're looking for a sound investment. :-)

She came through surgery with flying colors, came out of the anesthesia with no issues at all (thank you, Jesus!) and spent most of Saturday sleeping it off. Which was just fine with me! Late that evening she woke up and wanted to watch Baylor play football (what can I say - the girl has her priorities straight), walked the halls several times and began eating again.

Every doctor, nurse and tech we had was absolutely phenomenal and we could not have had a better experience. We are incredibly blessed to have been discharged Sunday morning and will be following up with her doc on October 13, the day after her birthday. She can't return to school until next week and won't let me out of her sight so it looks like I'll be working from home for the duration.

If I'm being honest, I have to tell you I was really upset on Friday evening. This was my baby. She was going to be cut on. Her birthday was 10 days away. She just wanted to go home and go to sleep, for crying out loud!

But you know what? As I stared at her in that hospital bed with tears streaming down my face, I thought of my friends who are watching their kids battle cancer and others who said goodbye to their children this year and won't see them until Jesus comes again. In that moment, I realized how superficial and silly I was being.

Those parents would do anything to nurse their child through a broken elbow that required surgery. So I have decided to simply be thankful that I have the opportunity.