The Break

We got the call, the call that every parent dreads when they leave their kids for an hour to run an errand. Ben tells me frantically (with hysterical crying in the background), "Mom, you have to come home; Meg is really hurt." We were about two miles away looking to buy a generator (our second power outage post is coming up soon; hence the need for a generator). Me, "What happened?" Ben, "Well, Meg was playing on the swivel chair and her leg got caught under the leg of the chair and fell forward and she caught herself with her hand and snap." Me, "Were you or Sam pushing her in the chair?" Ben, "Mom, can't you hear her crying, come home please." I'm pretty sure that I will never know the "whole" truth of what happened that night with the swivel chair.

When I got home, Dr. Ben had put ice on Meg's wrist and given her two Advil (Ben's going to be such a great doctor in about 17 years:). I wasn't completely sold on the idea that Meg's arm was really broken or just a bad sprain (we've been to the hospital before with her and came out with just a bad sprain). So I called one of our good friends who is a resident and asked him to look at it. He took about two and a half seconds to tell me that it indeed needed additional attention. Next stop, immediate care. It was a great suggestion of our friend to go there because we arrived 15 minutes before they closed and, therefore, they wanted to get us seen and out of there so they could go and enjoy their Saturday night. I didn't even have the paper work completed before they had Meg on the x-ray table. Beware of side comment: I broke something (can't remember what) many moons ago, and let me tell you, they have come a loooooong way with this equipment. First of all, everything is on the computer and can be accessed by Dr.'s offices and hospital all over Louisville (probably the world). Second, it's super clear and there aren't those huge slides that you need a light box to read. It seriously (pathetically) amazed me. Anyway, as I was standing behind the nurse and her computer screen she showed me the break as well as the growth plate which had been displaced. YUCK!!!! Her arm was too swollen to do anything that night. Also, it's a "doc in the box." Like I'm going to let him cast Meg's arm. So after getting instructions and a prescription for some STRONG pain pills we were on our way.

The first night right after the immediate care center.

The "incident" occurred on Saturday, January 17, and we saw the orthopedic doctor Monday, January 19. Let me just say that even with drugs, Sunday day and night were hell. Meg was in a huge amount of pain and made me "sleep" with her to rub her back. When we went to see Dr. Jacks she had already looked at Meg's x-rays (due to the amazing technology) and said she needed to do surgery to get the growth plate back in place and she might need to put in a couple of pins. She did cast Meg's arm for the day and night to help it feel better. This worked. Although she still was in pain, it wasn't horrible and probably would have been a little better except while I was running an errand that night Rusty let her play Wii. Are you kidding me Rusty? His response, "What? She said she could." And who's the parent?

Right before surgery. A little groggy. Meg told me I had three eyes and four noses.

The hospital has two types of slushies (red and blue). The test to be able to go home is if you can eat a slushy and "keep it down." Meg passed with flying colors and only had a few brain freezes to prove her lack of nausea.

Meg near the end of her stay. She came out of the anesthesia so well this time (she had problems the year before when she got her tonsils out) and was ready to go home right away.

Dr. Jacks likes to "spice" things up and give the kids she operates on a little "bling." Meg chose a blue cast and pink bow. When she woke up Dr. Jacks had also included the gold glitter. Meg has gotten a lot of attention with this cast.