Arm

2nd times the charm....not really and hopefully we don't go for a 3rd. After getting home from the movie theater, I went into the kitchen to start getting things ready for dinner. The boys asked if they could go outside and ride their bikes. I told them that that would be fine, but to check in if they wanted to play with a friend. They agreed and off they went.

I continued to work on dinner, but I didn't get very far when Owen abruptly came in the garage door and said very sternly, "Mom you have to come now." Instantly my heart went all over the place. I had no idea what I was walking into, but the second I got into the garage I could hear William crying and I knew it wasn't good. I ran to the sidewalk across our little cul-de-sac and found William laying on the ground with the neighbor. The neighbor was sitting with him trying to help while Owen came and got me. I knelt down and tried to ask him what was wrong and he was inconsolable. He was holding his wrist kind of funny and I asked him if he could move it. He said he wasn't sure, so I helped him stand up, thanked the neighbor, and walked with William back to the house. 

Once in the house, I got him a bag of ice and had him lay on his bead. It had already started to bruise and I knew that that was not good. I then called Ben and told him that he needed to come home. While talking to him about what happened he immediately said that we needed to take him in just in case. That's not what I wanted to hear. I didn't want to do this again, but as soon as Ben walked in, he went and got William and we headed for the E.R.

When we got to the entrance, I dropped them off at the door and I went to park while Ben checked them in. After parking the truck I met them in the E.R. I was surprised that they hadn't been brought back and were still waiting. With the last time, they had him back in a room within minutes of walking in the door. I stood there next to William hoping that we wouldn't have to wait long. He was moaning from the pain in his wrist. I was thankful he wasn't crying, but I couldn't take how long this was taking. We sat there and watched others check in and even got taken back before us. It annoyed me so much. I can only assume that because they had a fever (which meant it could be COVID) that they were being taken back above other more emergent cases. I know it shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. William was sitting there in pain, with a possible broken arm, and a fever was going ahead of him. More than once I might add. 

After almost 20 minutes, his name was finally called. We stood up and walked back to the triage room. They took his temperature, weighed him, and took his vitals. She then asked him how it happened and he began to tell her. Apparently he was taking jumps on the scooter. The sidewalk is slightly lifted because of a tree root and he was jumping it on the scooter. He said he had done it a few time, but this last time he thinks he landed on an acorn and that instantly stopped his wheel and threw him from the scooter. He said he put out his hands to catch himself and then landed on the ground. She asked him if he hit his head and he said no. She asked him if he hit anything else and he said no. She then took the ice pack off his wrist and started to ask him where it hurt to narrow down his care. When she was done looking at his wrist, she added that info to the computer and took us to imaging so he could get an x-ray.

I was funny watching him walk to imaging. He was trying to guess which way he was going. You could tell that he wanted to be the leader, but honestly had no idea where he was going. I think the nurse could sense that as well and nicely told him which way he needed to go before we got to any turns. I was surprised how far away imaging was, but once there she took us to the waiting room. Yay, we got to wait again. I had him sit on my lap while we waited because I didn't feel comfortable sitting too close to anyone else. It was a small waiting room, had 2 others waiting, and not a lot of chairs. To bid the time and to hopefully get his mind off his wrist, I was asking him questions about the pictures on the wall. He happily went along with it as we waited our turn. 

After another 10 minutes they called him back to the room. I was grateful that we got to go inside with him. They had him stand next to the machine behind a safety panel and then I was handed a panel as well. Once we were set the technician explained to him how he wanted his wrist for the x-ray. He did really good at first, but as he was asked to do different positions, it became apparent that he was in a lot of pain and that it most assuredly broken. The last one was the worse and he was moaning and quietly crying while doing his best to hold still for the x-ray. Once he was done, we stood there and waited to be told what was happening next. We waited almost 10 minutes. I had no idea where the tech went or if we were supposed to leave the room, when he finally came back and told us that we were now headed to an exam room.

Once in the exam room William sat down on the exam chair and I gave him my phone to watch a show while we waited. We had no idea how long we'd be waiting. Luckily it wasn't too long. Within 10 minutes the Doctor came in, introduced himself and did a short exam of William's wrist. He didn't do much and he almost didn't seem serious, but once he did his quick once over he told us that it indeed was broken. It was called a buckle fracture and could easily be seen on the larger of the two bones in the arm. He said that they would send in someone to wrap it in a splint until we could get in to see an Orthopedic Specialist. He then left and we waited a few more minutes until the next Doctor came in.

When he came in he explained to William what he was going to do. William happily told him that he knew what was going on and actually explained what was next to the Doctor. He was so funny and the Doctor did so well with him and making this an easier experience. After applying the first layer of dressing, he stepped out to get the hard portion of the splint. While he was gone the main Doctor came back in and said with further review of his x-ray, that he had actually had a buckle fracture on both bones in the wrist as well as one in the hand. He had done a number on himself, but said that it didn't look like a surgical case, but he wouldn't be able to say for sure. He said that decision was for the specialist. I'm crossing my fingers it stays out of the operating room.

After he left the second Doctor came back in with the splint material to finish what he started. Sadly he got one in place, but had to go and get another one because he had cut it too short. Once he had the right size he finished placing the splint material in place and then wrapped the whole thing in ace bandages. After he was done his arm looked enormous. He had so many layers I could barely put my hand around it. I sat there looking at him with the thought of "how am I going to get his shirt off over that very large splint?" One way or another we'll make it work and it is all for the best. Now that he was all done William asked if he could have a picture with him. The Doctor was happily to oblige him and they had a thumbs up picture with big smiles on their faces. Now all we had left to do was to wait for the discharge papers. We waited longer than I wanted, but was grateful when they finally came in the room.

Now that we were done, we walked back to the truck. William seemed to be in high spirits, he even wanted to run. Ben and I had to remind him that it wasn't a cast and that he could further damage it if he wasn't careful. I think that disappointed him more than anything else. Once in the truck Ben asked William was he wanted for dinner. We obviously weren't going to go back home and cook dinner seeing how the other two had already eaten, so Ben left the choice up to him. He said he wanted chicken nuggets, so we headed to Burger King. Once we had our food, we headed home where we were met in the garage by Owen and Gabbi. William was happy to see them and they all had a large group hug before going in the house.

Once in the house Ben, William, and I sat down to eat. He told Gabbi and Owen how everything went down and what was said. The both were very supportive of William and told him that they would help out wherever they could. Once he was done eating they did just that. Owen set up a place for him to sit on the chair and Gabbi cleaned up his dinner mess. Once all was said and done, the kids watched Shag-Chi and the Legend of the 10 rings while Ben and I finished an episode of Elementary in our bedroom. When their show was over, I gave William some Ibuprofen, we had prayer, and all went to bed.