Yowzers

2011 has been one heckuva year for us when it comes to the medical dramas: preterm labor and hospitalization in February, bed rest at home Feb and March, induced 3+ weeks early, placenta previa and abruption during delivery, Eli in NICU for 2 weeks, Adam with pneumonia at the same time, Lucy fractured her left forearm (radius) then got strep throat in June, Zach wrecked on an ATV in July and got road rash all over his left side, Adam got strep throat and Eli got his first ear infection in August, Lucy reinjured her left arm in September and we thought it was broken (pediatrician still thinks there was a break they couldn't see), Adam cut his head open on a rock in Sept. and had to have it glued back together, Eli got his second ear infection and Zach broke his right hand 2 weeks ago (shattered his ring finger bone down in the hand) playing basketball and had to have a plate and 8 screws put in to put it back together, and on Sunday, Lucy came running around the corner of the house yelling, "I broke it, mom.  It's broken.  My arm is broken, mom!"  I could see from 10 yards away that it was indeed broken.  Not hard to see when it looks like this:

 My parents and my uncle happened to be visiting, so my mom stayed to watch the kids while we headed to the ER.  My dad had picked Lucy up b/c she looked dangerously close to fainting again (which she did when she broke her arm in June), and held her all the way to the hospital.  They checked us in and then took her back for x-rays, which she said hurt like the dickens.  It took an hour or so for us to get a room and they were able to give her something for the pain.  She did not cry even a little bit, but as you can see above, she felt pretty miserable.  The x-rays came back looking like this:

Broken radius and cracked ulna.  Lovely.  Another view of her broken arm:

 The on call orthopedic surgeon (who happened to be the same guy who put a rod down Zach's leg when he broke it 12 years ago) was in surgery, so we had to wait for about 2 hours to see him.  They sedated Lucy and after 3 tries, he was able to set her arm in a place he felt good about.  They splinted her and put a sling on her, and after waking up pretty loopy, she came out of it and felt much better.

 Our follow up appt on Tuesday showed that her bone had slipped a little bit.  If it will stay put where it is, the Dr. feels it will heal nicely and reform just fine.  If the bone slips any more he wants to pin it back together.

I'm still wondering if she had a hairline fracture when she injured it last month and that's what made it snap this time.  All I know is that I am very thankful for good doctors, insurance, and family who helped so much.

p.s. I may also be slightly tired of broken bones.  But it could have been so much worse!