First, I'll catch you up on the story in case you didn't hear it. Abigail fell off our porch railing. Before she fell, her bottom would have been about 4 ft from the ground. By the time I realized she was hurt, she was laying flat on her back. I found out just a couple of days ago that she didn't actually fall straight back. She was straddling the railing, so she actually fell on top of her right arm. It took about 30 minutes to figure out if we needed to go to the emergency room or not. She wasn't exactly crying like I would expect someone with a broken arm to cry, but in hindsight she was in shock. Her lips were white and she was falling asleep. I kept saying, "Abigail, you cannot fall asleep until I know what all is wrong with you!" Whitley was working nights, so when I spoke with him, he suggested putting her in the shower to wake her up. It was the shower I'm sure that made the swelling escalate and then I knew something was probably broken. She also then began favoring the arm like someone with something broken would. I called my sister-in-law, who promptly sent my brother over to watch the other kids while I took Abigail. My parents had left that day to go to Lake Amistad (about 4 1/2 hrs away) to check on their property there, and I didn't even call them until I had details.
I don't have a smartphone like everyone else on the planet,but if I'd had one attached to my hip like everyone else, there would have been video of Abigail deep breathing and quietly closing her eyes for her i.v. in the emergency room. There would have been video of the radiologist saying things like, "Now Abigail I know this must hurt, but I need you to hold your elbow right here." And her reply, "I'm fine, I'll do it..." Things this mama will just hold in her heart.
Abigail needed to take an ambulance ride to the hospital to see an orthopedic surgeon, so Whitley got coverage at work and showed up at the e.r. just before 11. It made the most sense (although it was painful for me) to send Whitley with her to Lubbock and for me to go watch over the rest of the kiddos. So many people have asked why I didn't call and ask someone else to stay, but diabetes at night time is a full on-call job! My son takes care of himself mostly during the day, but I could have only left him with one other person at night... my mom! I didn't even know yet that they had been at the lake house only half an hour, and decided to come home to help! I thought they were crazy because now there would be 4 sleepy adults trying to take care of our kids! However, I know I'm just as crazy because as soon as they showed up at my house at 4:20 a.m., I got in our minivan and drove to Lubbock. I was so relieved that Abigail wasn't going to surgery without me there! They took her back for surgery at about 7:30, where she had 3 pins put in her arm. She had one main break to her humerus bone, with some splinter-breaks too. The surgery didn't take long at all, but recovery in her room was quite long. She was in a lot of pain for about an hour. It made me so sad because I was now fully aware of her high pain tolerance! Once they got her comfortable though, she went to sleep. And slept, and slept and slept! We came home that day with instructions to make her appointment to get the cast put on in 7 days. She wore a splint and sling during the wait for her swelling to go down.
Yesterday was cast day.
Waiting...
Getting the splint off
Sticky, yucky gauze off the pins
The pins
Heeebeeegeeebies!
They covered the pins back up with fresh gauze and I took this shot with her sympathetic brother!
I was surprised she chose purple instead of pink,
but maybe this event was just unworthy of her ultimate favorite color!
Her x-ray was great and she will get another in 3 weeks.
If all is still well, the cast will come off and the pins will come out!
