The Broken Arm

Carter broke his arm on March 20th. Joe was in the kitchen making dinner and the boys and I went for a walk. As we were walking I decided to go a different way, a path we haven't walked before. On that path we came to a big hill and the boys were so giddy to ride their bikes down the hill.

Down goes Bryson screaming with excitement the whole way, then it was Carter's turn. Carter starts off the hill and down he goes screaming all the way. I make my way down the hill also and meet the boys at the bottom. They both shout that it was so much fun they must do it again. They head back up the hill and Bryson starts off down the hill. Once again screaming the whole way down. Carter gets on his bike and heads down the hill also. He gets almost to the bottom when the sidewalk banks right. The previous time he just kept straight on to the grass and down the remainder of the hill, this time he decides to follow the path of the sidewalk and hits the concrete hard. He starts screaming and I run over to him. The first thing I say to him is "Why did you turn, why didn't you go straight like the last time." Poor kid huh? I untangle his feet from the bike and take it off of him when I see the arm. It's bowed, and awful looking.

I send Bryson off to get Joe and he carries him back to the house. I pick up the bike and the handle bars are all twisted sideways. I pop him some Tylenol and off to the hospital he and I go. Getting x-rays was horrible.

They had to move his arm in all different ways and he screamed and cried the whole time. Finally the Loratab(liquid Vicodin) kicked in and he was much better. The splinted it that night and we were sent back on our way. Surprisingly the ER wait, three different sets of x-rays and the splinting process only took 4 hours.

(drugged up on the liquid vicodin, he was playing with his arm)

We did go back to the ER on Sunday for swelling, They said it still looked alright and just re wrapped the splint not so tight. Monday we went into have the cast put on. We were told not to give him anything to drink or eat after 12. It was a horrible experience. The doctor said he would try to reset it. I told him he hadn't had any pain medications and the doctor said they don't give them any up there. That he could give Carter a shot but that 4 year olds don't like shots. He proceeded to pull and twist Carter's broken arm. Carter of course stars screaming and finally the doctor says alright he needs to be sedated. We head back to the ER and they give Carter a medicine that is suppose to make him fall asleep. It's suppose to be a happy drug that puts you in dreamland. It starts out with the kids looking off into space and then they fall asleep. He does indeed fall asleep(with his eyes open) and the doctor from Ortho comes back down. He put Carter's arm up under a radar machine and begins to bend, pull and twist is arm back into place. All the while Carter (asleep) is screaming and moaning every time the doctor pulls, bends, or twists his poor arm. The way he was bending Carter's arm I would have thought there were no bones in his arm. Carter broke his Radius in the middle of his forearm and it's a spiral fracture.

(these are both his x-rays)

His fracture doesn't quite sit right on top of each other. While it was being casted the doctor placed his foot up on a chair and placed Carter's arm over his knee and then proceeds to bend his arm over his knee to create a bow in the cast. Carter once again starts screaming(asleep).

Has anyone ever heard of a bowed cast or banana cast? After it was casted another set of x-rays was taken and then Carter started waking up from his medicine. He was not happy, it wasn't dreamland for him. I kept asking them what they were giving him for pain and they just kept saying he won't remember, he won't remember. They never gave him anything for the pain. After all the bending, pulling and twisting the Ortho nurse had to cut the cast the whole length to allow for all the swelling of Carter's arm.

(coming back from dreamland, yeah right, more like a nightmare)

We had to go back on Tuesday because of the swelling also but they said it was acceptable.

(his fingers look like little sausages, he is also drugged up)

We just got back from his appointment today. The main concern was for the fracture to see if it has lined up or not. After all he went through on Monday his fracture had slid back to it's original start. The Ortho doc says it's acceptable that with his age the bone will bridge itself, but we have to come back on the 12th. If it has slid anymore or if it's not aligning itself up he will have to have surgery to have a pin place. He now has an orange cast and doing much better. Say a prayer for no surgery.

(He said the sun was in his eyes, and it hasn't been signed yet. He says I get to put Mommy and I asked about Joe and he just gets Dad.)