Zoe's arm
She was climbing up the slide the wrong way, with a friend pulling on her arm to help her up. Somehow her arm twisted and that was it. Lots of pain and crying. I got the call at 12:12 p.m., exactly 30 seconds after sitting down to an off-site office lunch to which, of course, I hadn't driven my own car. Called M, who promptly canceled the rest of his day while flying out the door. I ate a lunch I did not taste, and made small talk without really listening, while silently willing my colleagues to eat their damn food already so I could get back and get my car.
M swung by my office and switched cars, as mine is the one with the car seat (we never do things the easy way), and as soon as I got back I hopped in his and took off. He called as I was pulling out, to get her pediatrician's number. We were instructed to bring her there, so that's where we met.
It's hard, as a parent, to watch your child suffer. It's an entirely different level of agony to watch your child scream in pain and not be able to fix it. This is pretty much the first time in her little life that Mommy's kisses couldn't make it all better. Dr. F manipulated her arm to the point he was satisfied it wasn't nursemaid's elbow (which she's had before). He couldn't rule out a hairline fracture without x-rays, but because she hadn't fallen on the arm, he didn't think that was the case. He sent us home with instructions to use ice and Motrin, and if it wasn't better in the morning to call him to schedule x-rays.
We got her home and she ate a big lunch, and then we got her into bed (which resulted in more tears...we got tears, actually, any time we moved her a half inch in any direction). She had a fitful nap with her Hootie and an ice pack, and we let her go until 6. It took a half hour to get her up and out to the couch, again with more tears. M and I eyed each other warily, and I mouthed to him over her head, "ER?" He nodded. "After dinner." Since we had her settled, and we figured we'd be in for a long night, we thought we'd at least try to get some food down her. She ate a little bit, we threw the dishes in the sink, and packed her in the car (more tears...especially the car seat strap-in).
St. John's ER was incredible. It helped that there was no one there. Got right in and a doc practically walked in the door with us. More manipulations, and screaming, and x-rays, and screaming. The doc and nurses were excellent, and very gentle, but she was in so much pain that even touching the arm sent her over the edge. X-rays showed no broken bones, but he was worried about her growth plates, which are bones that haven't calcified yet. X-rays look for cracks in calcification, so since growth plates aren't calcified, there's no way to see if there's anything wrong. He recommended a soft cast and sling, and Motrin every six hours to help with pain, and a visit to her ortho in the morning.
Swear to God, when they casted and slung her was probably the most emotionally painful five minutes of my life. I held her and tried to comfort her while she cried and screamed, and M held both of us. I put my head to hers and prayed to God to please, please let me feel the pain instead of her. I'd have given anything to make things better for her.
When it was all over, she looked at me with watery, red-rimmed eyes and tear-tracked cheeks. "Mommy? When I grow up, I want to be a mommy." My heart swelled. And then she said, "No, wait. I want to be a bus driver." Okaaaaay.
That was good, though. Meant my Zozer was getting back to herself. And so she was, once the arm was immobilized. We got her home and in bed without further incident.
This morning she did well, too. Got up and ate some breakfast and watched videos while waiting for the ortho to call us. Which she did, promptly at 8. We set an appointment for 9 and got ready to go.
They took the sling and soft cast off, and then the doc manipulated the arm more to try to figure it out. More crying, but not nearly as bad as last night. Due to the range of motion she has, the doc ruled out anything major and is leaning towards a stretched or torn muscle. They re-casted and slung the arm, and we made an appointment to come back Monday. There's a good chance she'll be fine before then, in which case we're to just cancel the appointment. Until then, she's in the soft cast and sling at all times except for bathing (both come off) and sleeping (sling comes off).
Right now she's watching what is arguably the worst movie ever produced in the history of cinema (it's a Thomas the Train movie that is so horribly written and poorly acted that you wonder how a major motion picture company could ever put its brand on it - but she loves it) on the couch with Hootie. Hoot, incidentally, has a problem with his wing, requiring x-rays and a cast and a sling, but he's being very brave (or so we're told).
More updates as they happen, but she does great with the arm immobilized. She's starting to milk it, taking advantage of getting to watch whatever video she wants and drink lemonade (Mommy's giving her whatever she wants at this point).
M swung by my office and switched cars, as mine is the one with the car seat (we never do things the easy way), and as soon as I got back I hopped in his and took off. He called as I was pulling out, to get her pediatrician's number. We were instructed to bring her there, so that's where we met.
It's hard, as a parent, to watch your child suffer. It's an entirely different level of agony to watch your child scream in pain and not be able to fix it. This is pretty much the first time in her little life that Mommy's kisses couldn't make it all better. Dr. F manipulated her arm to the point he was satisfied it wasn't nursemaid's elbow (which she's had before). He couldn't rule out a hairline fracture without x-rays, but because she hadn't fallen on the arm, he didn't think that was the case. He sent us home with instructions to use ice and Motrin, and if it wasn't better in the morning to call him to schedule x-rays.
We got her home and she ate a big lunch, and then we got her into bed (which resulted in more tears...we got tears, actually, any time we moved her a half inch in any direction). She had a fitful nap with her Hootie and an ice pack, and we let her go until 6. It took a half hour to get her up and out to the couch, again with more tears. M and I eyed each other warily, and I mouthed to him over her head, "ER?" He nodded. "After dinner." Since we had her settled, and we figured we'd be in for a long night, we thought we'd at least try to get some food down her. She ate a little bit, we threw the dishes in the sink, and packed her in the car (more tears...especially the car seat strap-in).
St. John's ER was incredible. It helped that there was no one there. Got right in and a doc practically walked in the door with us. More manipulations, and screaming, and x-rays, and screaming. The doc and nurses were excellent, and very gentle, but she was in so much pain that even touching the arm sent her over the edge. X-rays showed no broken bones, but he was worried about her growth plates, which are bones that haven't calcified yet. X-rays look for cracks in calcification, so since growth plates aren't calcified, there's no way to see if there's anything wrong. He recommended a soft cast and sling, and Motrin every six hours to help with pain, and a visit to her ortho in the morning.
Swear to God, when they casted and slung her was probably the most emotionally painful five minutes of my life. I held her and tried to comfort her while she cried and screamed, and M held both of us. I put my head to hers and prayed to God to please, please let me feel the pain instead of her. I'd have given anything to make things better for her.
When it was all over, she looked at me with watery, red-rimmed eyes and tear-tracked cheeks. "Mommy? When I grow up, I want to be a mommy." My heart swelled. And then she said, "No, wait. I want to be a bus driver." Okaaaaay.
That was good, though. Meant my Zozer was getting back to herself. And so she was, once the arm was immobilized. We got her home and in bed without further incident.
This morning she did well, too. Got up and ate some breakfast and watched videos while waiting for the ortho to call us. Which she did, promptly at 8. We set an appointment for 9 and got ready to go.
They took the sling and soft cast off, and then the doc manipulated the arm more to try to figure it out. More crying, but not nearly as bad as last night. Due to the range of motion she has, the doc ruled out anything major and is leaning towards a stretched or torn muscle. They re-casted and slung the arm, and we made an appointment to come back Monday. There's a good chance she'll be fine before then, in which case we're to just cancel the appointment. Until then, she's in the soft cast and sling at all times except for bathing (both come off) and sleeping (sling comes off).
Right now she's watching what is arguably the worst movie ever produced in the history of cinema (it's a Thomas the Train movie that is so horribly written and poorly acted that you wonder how a major motion picture company could ever put its brand on it - but she loves it) on the couch with Hootie. Hoot, incidentally, has a problem with his wing, requiring x-rays and a cast and a sling, but he's being very brave (or so we're told).
More updates as they happen, but she does great with the arm immobilized. She's starting to milk it, taking advantage of getting to watch whatever video she wants and drink lemonade (Mommy's giving her whatever she wants at this point).
posted by Amy at 11:33 AM
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