Man it has been a crazy few weeks around here. We had our first major accident that ended in a broken bone here at Casa de Dwinell.
Dustin was out of town on a Monday evening and I was at baseball practice with Parker, Brooks, and Bosten. Parker was playing with a few little girls that she had made friends with and Brooks was up to bat. I walked up to the fence to be able to watch a little more closely. I left Parker sitting on the bleachers just fine. I few minutes later, I heard a scream that I didn't recognize. I didn't even turn around because I didn't know who it was and it wasn't that loud. The next thing I heard was Parker scream louder than I have ever heard her. She then repeatedly yelled..."Mommy, I broke my arm, I broke my arm." I then turned and ran and picked her up. I hadn't seen her fall, so I figured she had gotten down and had just tripped while skipping or something. I started to tell her to just shake it off, obviously thinking that she fell a short distance, and then I sat her up on the top bleacher to take a look at her to be sure she was ok. When I did, I saw the arm. Yikes!
This is a picture of her arm that evening after they had already tried to adjust it int he hospital. It was awful.
So, obviously as soon as I saw it, I knew it was definitely broken and so my reaction completely changed. I put it into strong Mommy gear immediately and tried my best not to panic to help her through the next few minutes until we could get to the hospital. I yelled for the boys and we were in the car on the way to the hospital within 5 minutes. The deformity in her arm was so bad that I second guessed my instinct to go to Cook Children's from the beginning. I was afraid that she might be in shock or bleeding internally or something, so I went to the very closest hospital to our home. I have made this mistake before and I really do know better, but I was on the phone with Dustin, in Lubbock, and between the two of us, he said to just get somewhere quick, and I agreed.
We didn't wait even a minute once we got there. They saw her arm and rushed her right back, again because of the obvious deformity. I had the boys with me and they were so worried about their Sissy. They did an awesome job of being good and staying calm and helping us all smile a little throughout the process. Dustin wasn't there, so I was glad to have them there to support their Sister.
Once the Doctor came in and assessed the situation, they felt like she definitely was in shock, hence the white face in the pic below, and that she definitely had two broken bones in that arm. Both of the bones broke all the way through. It was ugly. So they hooked her up to an IV and put her under and did some pulling and shifting to try to straighten the bone as much as possible. This was a hard thing to watch for Mommy. Luckily, a dear friend had come to pick up the boys by then and brought them home to go to bed. I was so grateful that she did because seeing Parker under was one of the scariest moments of my life.
She did great and Mommy tried hard to put her brave face on and be strong for baby girl. They got her as straight as possible and then splinted her arm for the night. We left the ER about midnight that night knowing that we would be going to the Orthopedic Doc at Cook Children's the next morning to reassess the situation from there. She did so good and was so incredibly brave.
The next morning, after about 15 phone calls and some persistent Mommy insisting, we got an appointment with the Orthopedic Doc at Cook Children's and got in. They did more X-rays and were sad to tell us that the bones weren't set correctly and needed to be re broken and reset again that day. This would be a very painful procedure for Parker and so they let us know that she would be going under anaesthesia again this day and undergoing another yanking session. This broke my heart for her, but of course I just wanted it to be right. They got her into surgery immediately and she was out and conscience by 3pm that day. We were home by 4pm. It was a great experience. The treatment at Cook Children's for kids is not even comparable to that of an adult hospital for kids. It was as pleasant and pain free as it could have been and they did an amazing job answering her questions and making her comfortable through the whole procedure. I truly cannot say enough good things about this hospital.
We went home at 4pm that day with a split cast on so that the arm could continue to swell while being held in place. She was in a lot of pain having been though the trauma of having her arm broken and adjusted now 3 times.
Once home, she was happy to be home and comfortable, but this was the biggest (fake) smile I could get out of her sweet face. She really was in pain for the first three days after the procedure. Luckily, we had lots of pain medicine to keep her feeling ok.
During those three days after the procedure, Parker was shown so much love. We had so many people drop by to visit her and bring her goodies and gifts and cards and hugs. It truly was humbling to see how many people loved my Parker Rae enough to support her in that way. Here is a pic of sweet Harper who brought her some JRae cookies (The Best Ever). Mommy may have stolen a few bites of those. I was so grateful for her friends because she truly lit up when they started to show up and it was the first time I'd seen her smile in days.
This is how Parker spent the next several days. Sitting with her arm above her heart and her puppy, Maci, by her side while playing on the iPad.
I was so grateful when I took the picture because she had been hurting so bad and she finally found some comfort and peace enough to sleep. This was a good moment for Mommy.
A few days later Parker was ready to try to go back to school to figure out how life without the use of her right hand would be for a bit. I went with her for two days and just watched to try and assess how it would be for her and what I could do to make it easier on her. She made it half a day the first two days back before the throbbing began and she was ready for a break.
Parker has done an incredible job adjusting and learning to function in a classroom with only her left hand. We did purchase a clip board and some pencils with grippers on them, but other than that she was really just fine. She keeps up really well and just writes a little sloppier with her left hand than she normally does with her right. Her teacher has been amazing in helping her adjust and being patient with her regarding her arm. I feel very blessed by that.
Colder weather had been a little challenging because the cast is so big that jacket can't fit over it very well. Nana gave her this great over sized jacket from a recent vacation that she went on and it has come in handy. It fits really well and will continue to be her jacket of choice throughout the Fall.
Playing has been fun too. Brooks and Bosten have been awesome about watching out for her and making sure that they are gentle with her. The Saturday after it happened the kids spent several hours building these towers with all the Solo cups in the house. It was safe and indoors and not active, so it met the criteria for her playtime. They had a blast.
Parker does have to wear a cast of some sort for the next 5 or 6 months. So, knowing this, I started searching Etsy for a way to make this cast fabulous. I bought her this cute sling and she has really enjoyed wearing it. It is super comfy and washable and definitely cuter than what they gave her at the hospital.
When we went back after a week for her new cast and a follow up Xray. Daddy got to come along. She got a cool new cast that has a little loop built into the cast for this sling to fit through to go around her neck. It is a little uncomfortable, but keeps her from using those fingers on that hand which could cause those bones to shift. Daddy bought her a Build a Bear that day with a broken arm. When you purchase these at the Cook Children's hospital the proceeds go directly to kids. So, of course we wanted to support that cause.
After two week of being on pins and needles, we all needed a little down time. So, we headed to the lake shack to see Grandma and Papaw. The weekend was filled with lots of rain, football, baseball and relaxing.
Parker is finishing her 3rd week with a cast now and she is getting used to it. She went back for a follow up yesterday and had more Xrays. The bones looked great and everything is healing nicely. She has three more weeks with this big cast and then will go back and get one that goes up to her elbow and allows her to use the top of her arm. That cast will last for a month or so and then she will transition into a brace.
She has really been such a trooper through this whole process. I think kids are so amazingly resilient in these situations. Mommy and Daddy and Grandparents have been a little stressed and worried, but Parker seems happy as a lark. She definitely has moments where her friends are doing their gymnastics, or sports and it makes her a little sad that she can't participate, but overall she is so incredibly positive about the whole thing. I am so very proud of her.
She is still her silly, weird self and makes us all laugh around here. We sure do love her and are so grateful to have her sweet spirit around the house to make us smile.
Brit
No comments:
Post a Comment