It all started on my end with a call while I was on my way home from work on Monday at 3:50:
Bill: "Are you still at work or are you on your way home?" I hear screaming in the background...
Me: "I'm on my way home." panic, panic....
Bill: "Where are you?"
Me: I look around and can't come up with the name of the street I'm approaching. I stumble with my words and say, "I don't know, what is going on?"
Bill: "Logan fell off Shaun's bed and his arm doesn't look right!"
Me: "What, how does it not look right?
Bill: "I don't know it just does. I think we need to take him in.
Me: "Since I'm close to home, why don't you look up the time when Everett urgent care opens, and then I'll be home and we can go together."
Bill: "Ok" panic, panic...
So then I got home and looked at Logan's arm myself, while he was still crying/softly sobbing. Bill was right, it didn't look right. His right arm had a slight bulge in it and was kind of curved. Bill had them both ready to go, so we hopped in the car and headed to Group Health's Everett urgent care clinic which opens at 4:30. Otherwise, we could have gone to Seattle or Bellevue which are open 24/7 for urgent care.
We got there about 4:30 and were seen pretty fast, just had to wait maybe 5 minutes. The nurse looked at him and took all his vitals, etc. and made comments like, "that doesn't look good.." (just want I want to hear). She gave him some ibuprofen, which seemed to calm him down and stop the crying; amazingly. We saw the PA on duty briefly before the x-rays. She looked at him too and explained stuff to us, and said it could just be a "green tree fracture" which isn't as bad because just part of the bone has broken.
Then x-rays were next. The x-ray room was right next to the exam room we were in. They did a couple x-rays of his arm while sitting on Daddy's lap. He did so well. I was quite impressed!
The x-rays were then reviewed by the PA and she also consulted with the radiologist. The PA showed us right away that the two bones in his forearm were broken in half, right in the middle of his arm; no "green tree fracture". This was not good news. Then the radiologist cautioned that there may be a dislocated elbow, so to be aware of that because that could mean surgery, etc. This is when I started to break down.... So tough, watching your baby hurt! :(
This was as far as they could help us at Group Health urgent care (probably because of the severity of the break and that he is a small child). So, they said we were going to Children's hospital in Seattle. Luckily we could drive ourselves, and not have to go by ambulance!
This is when I called my parents to tell them what was going on and to ask if we could drop Shaun off for the evening/night on the way. Of course they said yes. This is also when I texted some of you to pray for Logan! I think we ended up leaving Everett around 6:30-7ish. We had to wait around for a bit before we could leave as they got the paperwork together and got the images on a disk to send with us. We then dropped off Shaun and got to Children's around 7:30-8ish.
We had only sat down for like a minute after checking in at Children's when they took us back to a room. They had been expecting us because the PA at Group Health had consulted with them and then told them we were headed that way. As we were sitting there, I kept thinking of our time at Children's a year and a half ago with our niece.
The nurse assigned to us started evaluating him along with a couple of pediatricians. They got him some stronger pain killers; oxycodone. Then we had to wait for a bit for the orthopedist to review the x-rays already taken and evaluate him. This seemed to take forever, probably 20-30 minutes. One of the doc's said that he was guessing that his arm could be fixed here in the ER, but there was a possibility that it would need to be done "upstairs" in the operating room; the orthopedist would make that call. Panic, panic.... The orthopedist wanted an additional x-ray, so off to the x-ray room we went. He did great again and got a bunch of stickers that he was happy about.
When the orthopedist came after having reviewed the x-rays, he confirmed that yes, they could fix his arm in the ER and probably go home that night (hooray!). The orthopedist's explanation of his break made us feel a lot better than the previous information: The breaks were right in the middle of the arm. This is the best place, as opposed to near the wrist or elbow. And, there is nothing wrong with his elbow; it wasn't dislocated; halleluiah!! Also, it should heal well. If you were to take an x-ray in 6 months, you would not even be able to tell he ever broke it.
Then, when he explained the procedure to fix his arm, it got a little bit scary. They would sedate him and "reduce" it. The term doesn't make sense to me, but it means that they move the bones back into alignment. One break was going out into a triangle, thus the bulge in his arm, the other break wasn't off or if so, very little. So, they proceeded to put in an IV. They have the process down for kids. We distracted him by looking and counting at all of his stickers while the nurse worked on his "good" arm. The first attempt didn't work, so even though he had to get poked twice, he did so well! After it was all in, they put a brace under that arm so it was easier to rest it, and with everything coming off the arm, he wasn't too happy. He was complaining more about the "good" arm than the "bad" one! Also, he hated the blood pressure monitor on his ankle and the oxygen sensor on his finger. Those were the things he complained or cried about at this point!
By this time it was about 10pm. They had to tell us about the warnings of possible dangers or side effects for the meds to sedate him, but they have to tell you even if the chances are very small that anything will happen. We were there in the room as they administered the meds through the IV and saw as he went "out". It was more of a conscious sedation, meaning his eyes were open, but the lights are out...This happened very quickly, and then we were ushered out of the room to the waiting room. The procedure only took about 30 minutes and this included casting his arm too. We were called back in as soon as it was completed, and told that everything went very well and he had no side effects, even the minor ones (even no side effects that can happen later through the night like throwing up).
We sat with him and coxed him to wake up. We got to go home when he could drink. He requested juice instead of the standard popsicle and he was thirsty! He hadn't had anything to eat or drink since lunch and it was midnight now! We walked out of there at midnight, stopped in to pick up Shaun from my parents and then got home about 1am. Logan was out as soon as he was in his car seat, a lot of it being from the meds, but he was tired too; obviously. He barely woke up to change him for bed at home and then slept very well that night. We woke him up at 8am just to make sure that he was ok. He snuggled with each of us for a bit and then was ready for breakfast; he ate cereal and a banana! I was glad he had an appetite; to me that meant he was feeling ok!
He perked right up after that and was back to his old self pretty soon. I couldn't believe it really. He wanted to play and do his normal activities. I stayed home on Tuesday to get some sleep and take care of my baby! We had lots of snuggle time. He asked several times if his "band aid" (the cast) could come off because he wanted to use his hand, but when we told him it couldn't come off, he was ok with that and figured out how to play with it on. He even colored with his left hand; that is determination! The picture at the top of the blog was taken right after he ate his breakfast.
Here he is later in the day on Tuesday:
Then, today, Friday we had the first follow up appointment at Children's. This was at their orthopedic unit. It was to do an x-ray to see if the bones were still in place and to check him out again. The bones are still in place (yay!). The PA said that he looks good. His fingers are still swollen, but that should go down soon. They cut away some of the cast around his thumb to give the thumb some better movement and circulation. He did not like that. It was a loud saw machine that cut it.
The next follow up appointment is set for Tuesday afternoon, at Children's in Mill Creek; yay; not far from home! The PA today said that he will have the cast on for 6 weeks, not the 3 that we were told before. That makes more sense to me. He may have a new one put on part way through or keep this one without the wrap on top; I can't quite remember what he said today, but we will find out when we get there.
Here he is today!
We gave him his first sponge bath this afternoon. They suggested wrapping it in a towel and then with saran wrap. He didn't really like that, and wanted to take a normal bath, but at least he is clean!
Thank you everyone for all of your prayers. They have definitely helped! He is a trooper!
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