It is rare that I will talk about my children on here not pertaining to education; but this one is a special issue. First, I want to thank my teachers and my classmates for their understanding and their support. I know with papers and presentations due, there will be a slight delay in my academic studies for now. I will catch up, and I promise you (my group), I will definitely keep contributing through emails/phone calls. :)
My son got into a serious arm injury on the 13th, day before Valentine's Day. He fell off a chair, at his cousins, not more than 1.5 feet high, and fractured his right (dominant) arm. It has been a long week and the pain is much worse at night when he's sleeping next to me. I feel like I've been walking through a nightmare with him going from one doctor after another.
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His dad took him to the emergency and I met them there. We all know how that is -- it takes FOREVER to see someone. X-ray was taken; dad saw it, I didn't. TJ was on my lap. So all I had was a verbal explanation. To me, it didn't sound too bad. But when they cut off his long sleeve shirt and I looked at his arm it was almost as thick as an elephant's thigh! His dad, Ray, made sure that I didn't react in front him (I shoulda known better as I used to work with preschoolers). They put a splint on TJ and doubled it, called (let me see if I can get this right) "sugar tone" to lessen mobilization while he waits to see an orthopedic.
The dr. at the ER recommended that we take TJ to the orthopedic as soon as we can get him in, which is in our neighborhood at one of the clinics that we usually go to whenever any of us have a fracture (we all had fractures at one time or another). Good, I thought, maybe they can actually do something about it. The bad thing was we had to wait until Tuesday. I mean, okay, I understand that the swelling needed to go down, but to wait that long? TJ was prescribed oxycodone for the pain. It's small, about 5 mg, but I hate giving drugs to children that young.
So, the next couple nights seemed like forever. Poor TJ whimpered with pain everytime he moved his arm. It hurt me more than it hurt him, so I gave him the (stupid) drug. He was fine after that -- just more talkative than usual. I also gave him acetominophen when the pain is less severe. At night when he's asleep, I'm being mother bear. Everytime he moved, I made sure he doesn't move in a way that he might hurt himself. This is an active 7 year old, even when he's asleep, which means that I'm up pretty much most of the night preventing himself from more harm.
On the 16th, we finally get to see an orthopedic, but a PA, not a doctor. They looked at the xray that was taken at the emergency and suggested he goes to see a pediatric ortho at Children's Hospital. They called and wrote down that he's to be seen by the pediatric orthopedic surgeon on the 17th. Just great. I thought he was going to have surgery TODAY, but on the other hand, a pediatric surgeon is better. The PA suggested that TJ not eat or drink after midnight as he is more than likely going to receive surgery right there.
Another night of tossing and turning and whimpering because of the pain; another night of oxycodone.
We get to Children's on the 17th. Right when we checked in at the reception, they noticed that there was a discrepancy -- TJ's appointment was YESTERDAY! He was marked as a "no show". His dad and I were absolutely, undoubtedly LIVID! The ortho PA wrote down the wrong date! I was about to be in tears at this point. My son suffered for four days! I'm pretty sure readers at this point are saying to themselves, "Now, why can't he take it like a little man?" Put ANY 7 year old kid -- whether it's a boy or a girl -- and given the extent* of his injury, it would hurt like a huge boulder's been smashing his over and over again. (I had not idea how bad his injury was until later...read on...)
Because of our reaction -- and it was very loud and clear (we made the other orthopedics -- NOT Children's -- look very, very bad) -- the receptionist was able to squeeze TJ in later on in the afternoon to see the pediatric ortho surgeon. When asked if he can have lunch, the receptionist thought that because the previous ortho suggested he doesn't eat, TJ was allowed to eat a handful amount of food....just in case he needs to go into surgery. We hung around Children's for four hours.
We FINALLY got to see Dr. Song. And I finally saw the x-ray. My heart just about dropped. There was a 7mm size bone that chipped off his humerus bone (right elbow). I know the feeling because I fractured my elbow a couple years back while roller skating; although it was only a hairline fracture, it was gawd-awful painful! I could only imagine what TJ was going through. No wonder he was absolutely frightened and adamant about even touching his elbow. The darn thing hurt! And because of the extent of his injury, he was in pain!! My poor baby was in pain for four days.
The other orthopedc put a splint on him, but it was obviously tight -- his fingers were swelling and had a deep red color to it. Even after returning to the clinic to get it re-done, his fingers were still swollen. He elevated his arm up for four days before seeing Dr. Song, but it did not help to no avail. His pain was added on due to the splint's constriction. He had a splint on and it was too tight for four days. :(
Anyway...back to Dr. Song. He wasn't too happy that this went on for a long time. He seemed very sympathetic and was super gentle with TJ -- something that the OTHER ortho and xray technicians at the emergency didn't consider. I couldn't stop staring at the x-ray. Underneath the splint and bandage is my little boy's arm that's probably thicker than an elephant's thigh by now. His fingers were very swollen.
There was even more bad news that Dr. Song gave us -- he couldn't see TJ that day, the 17th. Because we were at Children's Hospital, they prioritize their patients. There's a little girl that he has to do spinal surgery on. Completely understandable; at this point, I felt very fortunate for TJ's injury.
I saw the little girl, and boy, was she a trooper. I'm very sensitive to children and practically get teary-eyed when something moves me whether it's heartbreaking or if it makes me feel angry. She's paraplegic and bi-lingual. Her parents can't speak a word of English, but this little girl can. She was in the next room and I heard a bit of their conversation. At this age -- she seemed to be about 11 years old --it's really hard to fathom the idea that she has to translate her own prognosis to her parents. I can only imagine what the parents are going through. This little girl, though, talks like she's talking with a smile. As if to say and comfort her parents, "It's okay, I'll be alright."
He really wants to take TJ in asap -- and sounded rather sincere about it --, but he will more than likely be in surgery for nine hours on the little girl.
Let's see.....he broke his arm on the 13th, saw an ortho on the 16th, visited Children's on the 17th, and will be seen on the 18th. Five days of painful suffering.
We got a call the next morning (the 18th) and it was actually good-bad news. There's a possibility that TJ can be seen earlier, but there's also a possibility that he may be the last to be seen or not at all until the next day. So, we starved him yet again. We were able to take anything at this point. He needs to have surgery. Last night was very painful for him.
So we went in, and his dad and I practically did cartwheels....the receptionist said that he'll be taken in at 3:30pm.
The surgery went well, and was put in a half-cast to allow for swelling for a couple days. It was painful, but to us, it was good pain. Dr. Song moved the bone back in place and had pins put into his chipped bone to prevent further damage. Because of his age, bones will naturally and quickly weld together as it heals.
I will stop writing about this chapter, because it is now, realistically March 1 and I have tons of catching up to do with homework and my practicum.
TJ is doing really well and is now in a full cast. The cast will be removed on the 17th and his bones will have healed by then. :)
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