Broken Wing

Early last year my sister wrote a post about her poor little girl falling at the park and breaking her arm. I remember thinking how awful it must have been for my sister to handle that and how it must have just broken her heart to see her daughter in pain. I also remember hoping that I never have to go through anything like that. Ever. And I remember knowing that it was bound to happen sooner or later. Little did I know that it would happen only four days later.

Someone once told me that the average ER visit for a little boy is once every six months. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I figured I was ahead of the game because Isaac had never been to the ER and in fact had never even been to Urgent Care. Luckily, that earlier incident with Isaac's bloody face didn't require either. We had a friend from our ward come over and butterfly him up.

Last week my college roommate was in town with her family and we had so much fun. She has two little boys the same ages as Dylan and Isaac and the kids always have so much fun playing together. Since they come to visit from Pennsylvania their only request is to spend plenty of time outside. I'll share more about their trip in another post, but suffice it to say, we spent a ton of time outside and at the park.

And that's where this story really begins.

On Thursday we were spending time at the park in our neighborhood with all the kids and enjoying the sunshine. Isaac wanted to climb up the ladder to the landing on the playground and he needed some help. I stood with him to help him keep his balance and he made it all the way up. He was holding on to the bars with two hands, both feet firmly planted on the landing and I drew my hand away so he could climb the step to the slide.

Here's where I decided that I'm a crappy mom. I know Jamie said she felt like a crappy mom, but the award has to go to me.

As I pulled my hand away, Isaac's left foot slipped backward, he let go of the bars and he fell flat on his back, hitting his head on the ladder on his way down. I was right there. I should have had faster reflexes to catch him. Instead I watched him fall just millimeters from my outstretched hands. It was awful.

He cried. A lot. I held him and he kept asking to go home. He was moving everything but kept pointing to his left forearm saying "hurt." We could move his arm, rotate everything squeeze and everything else we wanted to do and it wouldn't hurt, but he just wasn't the same. My little boy was hurting and I didn't know how to make it better.

I took Isaac home and gave him some Tylenol and he spent the next hour or so on my lap watching tv. He walked around with his arm hanging limply at his side. He would hold things in his left hand, but wouldn't raise his arm. If asked to give high fives or grab something, it was always with his right hand, never his left.

I decided to call our resident on call nurse. Our friend down the street is a nurse at a nearby Urgent Care and we've called her for fevers and any other concerns we may have. It's nice to know she's so close when we have a quick question. I called Katie to tell her the situation, and more to ask about the Urgent Care location and acceptable insurance options. Katie asked a few questions and was concerned about his collar bone so she wanted to see him. We walked him down the street and decided we should think about taking him in to see about his collar bone.

We went home, gave Isaac some Motrin and had dinner. Afterward the kids took a bath hoping Isaac would play in the water and not worry about his shoulder. It didn't happen. In fact, he almost drowned. He fell over and couldn't even support his body and lift himself up with his left arm. Luckily, Todd was there and pulled him out of the water.

After getting the kids ready for bed we sat in Dylan's room to read a story and say prayers. Whitney joined us and I started the story. Isaac was roaming around the room and wanted to climb onto a little step stool to sit. He was on all fours and every time he lifted his right arm to lift himself up, he'd fall flat on his face because his left arm couldn't support him. This happened three different times and it was so, so sad.

We decided it was time to take him to Urgent Care. We called Katie (who called ahead to warn them) and off we went. As soon as we arrived we were brought back into the triage room and initial tests and information was taken. Then X-Rays so they would be ready as soon as the doctor was ready to see us. We even had an early chat with the doctor and Isaac charmed the entire staff. They were wonderful. After waiting for about 15 minutes to see the doctor we found out that Isaac's shoulder and collar bone weren't broken, but there was a bad sprain. They gave him a tiny little sling to wear and told us he'd probably be sore for a few days.

not the best lighting, but it was late and he was so tired

his tiny little sling

All in all, not bad news, but to use Jamie's words again, I sure felt like a crappy mom.