Boston's Broken Elbow

After Dallas' birthday party today we started putting out some Christmas lights and playing in the front yard. Boston was practicing perfecting riding his bike without training wheels. He's been doing it well for a while now but the tires needed air. I had gotten air in them a couple of days ago and it was his first time riding it with the blown up tires. He was so excited that he could ride so fast now! I was videoing him when he ran into the neighborhood steel mailbox and fell. He skinned both elbows and we went inside to put some band aids on. He said he was never going to ride his bike again so I quickly explained that Daddy and Uncle Hess fell on their bikes when they were little and got lots of boo boos and he just have to get right back up and ride again. I knew if I didn't get him right back on he would develop a long time fear of the bike. So back on he went and he was doing great. As Sean said, "He has one speed and that's fast." But it wasn't very long before he ran back into the mailbox! But this time the cry was a lot different. As I sprinted over to him I felt his elbow and felt a bone sticking out. I knew right away something very bad had happened. I rushed him into the car, grabbed my purse and a jacket, and drove quickly to After Hours Pediatrics. Sean stayed behind with Dallas and napping Asher. Boston was very brave even though I know the pain had to be horrible. With every turn I took he was in even worse pain so I had to take it very slow to get there.

The elbow swelling up

When we got there they were very nice and we saw a nurse right away. We watched Incredibles while waiting for the doctor. When she came in right away she said she didn't think it looked even without an xray. She thought we might have to go see and Orthopedic doctor and have surgery! I was shocked. I just figured they were going to give him a cast right there. They had to give him a shot of morphine to help with the pain so they could move his arm to xray it. He acted like he was in shock a bit and his face and lips were starting to turn white. He sat in my lap and we tried to keep his arm still. I called Sean and had my mom come and stay with the other two while Sean met me there. Thank goodness the morphine kicked in and it took the edge off the pain. I felt so bad for him. I was tearing up constantly but holding back the tears to be strong for him and not let him get afraid of what was going to happen. They took him away for xrays and sure enough it was confirmed the break was VERY bad.

You can see the break very clearly in this xrayThey called our pediatrician and set everything up with the Orthopedist at Arnold Palmer, Dr Knapp, to have surgery today. They wrapped up his arm best they could so it wouldn't move much and we carefully loaded him into the car. We checked in at the ER and finally got to see Dr Knapp. He was very concerned with his nerves, as was every nurse that came in. He said his break was very bad and that the nerves to his arm were right were it broke. But he was pretty confident things would be fine since he could wiggle his fingers. He said their might also be some damage and he might not be able to extend his arm fully but he was confident that he's young and and healthy that he would recover fully. (Again...Mommy and Daddy are fighting back tears.) Boston was watching tv laying in the hospital bed. A Christmas show was on and he was enjoying that. But then the sweet nurses came in to give him his IV. Oh my! He did well as can be expected...my goodness this is my least favorite part when giving BIRTH! What a strong and brave little boy he was. He never even complained about it after it was in. Much braver than mommy! I hated that dang IV!

Then we were finally wheeled into the room before heading for surgery and were greeted by the anesthesiologist, who herself had a very dry personality, although very nice. But I think Boston was a little annoyed by her questions because at one point she asked him if he had any teeth loose and he responded, "Don't you worry about my teeth. I have them under control." ALL the nurses in the room were rolling on the floor laughing! I think they enjoyed someone talking back to this lady. She laughed too herself ( a little :-) Funniest part about it is the rest of the night everyone we meet knew about the story in the hospital and thought Boston was one of the funniest kids they had met. Glad he was able to entertain even in his pain....defiantly gets that sense of humor from daddy!

I just knew when they took him away for surgery and we got in the waiting room I was going to lose it. But luckily my sweet friend Carrie had called in the midst of it all and insisted on bringing us our favorite food, Olive Garden! All in Gods timing, she showed up right as we got to the waiting room and we laughed and had a great time. It took the anxiety of waiting for the surgery to be done away.

The surgery ended up lasting only 1 hour, instead of the predicted 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When the doctor walked in the room he said it was a MIRACLE that he was able to insert the pins and fix it without having to cut him open!!!! Praise God! And thank you for all of you that were praying so faithfully while he was in surgery. I do believe God was there holding the doctors hand.

Very soon we were able to go in and see Boston and he was very groggy and kept falling back asleep. When he would wake he was in pain and they would give him more morphine. Poor little boy. But the doctor came back and said it would only take 3 weeks once he gets the cast on to heal, which he would get in a week. In the meantime he has a splint on.

We were moved to our room in the hospital and they had a cot for me in the room. Sean ran home and gathered a few things for Boston and me and I called it a night. I figured I was going to be up a lot. And that I was. Whether it was nurses checking his vitals all night or having to help him get up to pee and collect the pee in a cup to measure.

But when morning came we enjoyed room service and movies all morning long. Boston loved the "hang out" time we were having at the hospital. We watched "Honey I Shrunk Us" and he laughed and laughed. We watched a few others as well. He really wanted to get up and walk around so we got permission and went exploring the hospital some.

Inside the castle at the hospital

In front of the beanstalk...there's all kinds of Disney stuff and Character at the hospital

On the pirate ship. It was too cold to stay out here long...he had my sweater on!

We were released at around 11am and headed home. Daddy rented Speed Racer and got him Chocolate Milk and Fruit, which Boston had requested. We layed around all day watching movies and hanging out. He would sleep off and on.

I knew the day was coming when we would be heading to the ER or something, I just didn't realize it would involve surgery and an overnight at the hospital! But Boston LOVED and I cherished the time we had together. He's still smiling about our "hang out" at the hospital!

Here's a picture of him after his xray watching Incredibles