Sticks and Stones

April 8th. Tuesday late afternoon.
I get a call from the preschool. The news: Xander had fallen on the playground and his arm was hurting and swelling. The person calling sounded very calm. It couldn't be that bad, I thought. Big brother Kalvin and I jumped into the car and headed to town.

When I got there, I experienced one of the saddest, most heart-wrenching moments I've ever had as a mother. My little boy was sitting in one of the tiny chairs at a work table, his left arm resting on an ice pack. Tears were streaming down his face. He looked at me with his large puppy dog eyes and just cried out, "Mama!" His left forearm just below the wrist was turning blue and was indeed swelling. And it was distorted. Very obviously so.

I scooped up my little boy, trying to not move or jar his arm in the process. He just cried and cried. We made it to the car, I buckled him in as carefully as possible, and drove to Daddy's office. When I walked in holding Xander, Matt and Dr. S., our anesthesiologist we work with, could see from across the room that his arm was probably broken. A splint was applied to Xander's little arm, and we were then off to the Emergency Dept.

Waiting for the doctor

Poor little guy. We had the usual wait before being taken back to be seen by the doctor. A few x-rays and the verdict was in: two very broken bones, and they needed to be reset in place. An IV, medication, and some painful tugs later, our brave little guy was put back together. Thank goodness for sedation medication--he doesn't remember the very uncomfortable resetting part.
A cast laden arm and some hours later, Xander and I finally left the hospital. He was sure tired after the whole ordeal, especially with it also being 2 hours past his normal bedtime.



Unfortunately, the drama continued throughout the rest of the week. The next day, Wednesday, Xander's little arm was swelling so much under the cast that the circulation to his hand was being cut off. His fingers looked like little sausages. At the Dr's office, they had to cut an incision down the length of the cast to allow it to expand. The color of Xander's fingers immediately improved, and he wasn't complaining so much about them hurting. They took another x-ray as well. The bones had shifted in the past 24 hrs, and the Dr said Xander would need to have surgery on Friday to get it fixed.

Thursday was fairly uneventful, aside from the fun of trying to conjure a waterproof covering over the cast so Xander could have a shower.

All wrapped up for a shower

Friday. 11:10 am. My little boy is wheeled into the OR. A good friend, another anesthesiologist, graciously agreed to come in on his day off, to take care of our Xander. About 45 min later, I look out of the waiting room and see and hear some familiar crying. The nurse has carried Xander out of the OR in her arms, and he is looking around rather dazed and confused. He settles down as soon as I hold him. How good that made me feel to know that I, his mother, could provide the comfort he was desperately seeking. I carried him to his room and we got to snuggle together for the next three hours while he recovered from the anesthesia. As much as I hated to see him have to go through the experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time we were able to share together. I think he did too. At least he smiled alot.

Just before surgery

Today, our X-man is doing great. We let him go without the sling today, and no swelling or other problems popped up. He complains of no pain, and hasn't needed any pain medication for two days now. Of course, he is running around the house at full force, which terrifies his Dad and I. We're sure he's going to take a tumble and upset whatever healing has been able to take place thus far. Xander has a follow up with the orthopedic surgeon on Friday to see how things are going. We're crossing our fingers for good news!