A new "first"

A month ago we had a "first" event for our family.  Our "first" fractured bone!  Any guesses which child?  Yep, Isaac! ;)

We were playing at an Omaha park with a friend.  Part of the playground equipment was a low balance beam (less than a foot off the ground) that was 4 or 5 feet long.  Five minutes after got to the park, Isaac took two steps on that balance beam and slipped off, hitting his elbow on the way down.  He immediately started to cry.  Was I concerned?  Not really.  This kid cries like that if he gets a paper cut or if he happens to see SOMEONE ELSE'S blood!  I held him on my lap while the other kids played.  He calmed down and fell asleep. 

About an hour later- yes, we continued to play for an hour!- we headed back to my parents' house for dinner.  As soon as we walked in the door, Isaac climbed onto the couch and went back to sleep.  Was I worried?  Not really.  This was a Friday evening, and Isaac often gets tired on Fridays of busy weeks.  The rest of us ate dinner.  The other kids went outside to play. My friend and I enjoyed chatting and catching up.

Around 8:30 Isaac woke up whimpering.  He was holding his arm gingerly.  Was I troubled?  Yes, actually.  I was starting to wonder if I should take him to the ER.  Lige was in Minden, so I called him, got him up to speed, and asked for his advice.  He wanted to see for himself so we popped up Skype. (Oh, technology, sometimes I just LOVE you!)  After Dr. Daddy did his Skype exam, we both decided it would be best to take him in "just in case".  Thankfully, my dear friend was there and offered to take the other four kids back to her house so I could just focus on Isaac.  What a peach!  She even had them bathed and asleep by the time we were done at the hospital!

The Emergency Rooms in big cities are something else, let me tell you!  You know it's bad when there are stop-light signals in the waiting room indicating your wait time and next to the green light it says your wait should be less that TWO HOURS.  It's no secret that we've had horrific ER experiences in Minden, but I have to admit I had thoughts like, "They might have cut off his whole arm, but at least in Minden we would be home by now"!

The ER had a clever little system to make waiting patients have more patience.  Part of me appreciated this fancy little trick, and part of me was even more annoyed than I would have been just waiting for 2 hours.  The ER instituted a handy little system of 17 different check-points to keep things moving.  Let me see if I can explain this to you.

• We arrived and were immediately greeted by a standing nurse who quickly took our name and type of injury.  Then they had us sit in the waiting room.

• Then we were called to the back of the reception desk where we were asked for Isaac's birth date and were given a fancy little arm band with his identifying information on it.  Then they had us sit in the waiting room.
• Next we were taken to an ER staging exam room: you thought you were in the exam room because nurses were examining you and entering all sorts of information about you.  But apparently this wasn't a real exam room, because, you guessed it, they had us go back and sit in the waiting room.
• A kind young gentleman came to escort us to the X-ray room.  Then he had us sit in the waiting room.
• Now for some real excitement, we were taken to a real exam room, complete with a sliding glass door and a fully loaded iPad.  There was also a new nurse, who repeated everything the other nurses had done.  Then we were asked to wait.
• Next, a student doctor came in to exam Isaac's arm.  How do I know it was a student doctor?  Because when he was done examining Isaac's arm, he asked us to wait....
• Until he could come back with another doctor, considerably older, though wiser?  None could know.  He repeated the exam that had already been done by a group of 2 nurses, another nurse and a student doctor and comes to conclusion that the x-ray didn't show a fracture but showed fluid that often indicated a fracture, and thus would require a splint, which we would have to wait for.
• The student doctor and the nurse return and used pretty cool new-fangled medical equipment to splint and wrap Isaac's arm.  We were then asked to "sit tight" while we waited for the insurance lady to come.
• So the insurance lady comes, wheeling her computer on a stand, and takes all our billing information and says....Wait here for the nurse to return with your discharge papers.
• Nurse finally returns with all our follow-up information and directions and we are FINALLY FREE TO LEAVE!

 I understand why they do this.  They make you feel like things are happening so you don't become disgruntled in the waiting room after sitting and worrying for 2 hours straight.  I imagine they feel this has streamlined the process, but I'm not certain this is actually an efficient use of time or resources.  I was moderately annoyed by this entire process.  :)

The one bright spot in all of this was my sweet boy.  He was so good.  He didn't wail or complain about the wait or ask when we would be done.  He snuggled me and sat calmly.  He answered the many (repeated) questions with clarity and understanding.  Another bright spot was that I didn't have to give one spare thought to my other kids, because I knew my friend had them under loving control.  I was able to give Isaac all of my attention, and that was a huge blessing since Lige was not there to help.

There were a couple of cute things that Isaac said or did that night.

1.  This requires a bit of a back story.  Isaac has a stuffed dog named Maggie.  Sometime during the summer he informed us that Maggie was going to have puppies on his birthday (which was the Tuesday before this trip to the ER).  On his birthday, Isaac introduced Maggie's invisible puppies to the rest of us.  Oh, what a joyous day that was!  Anyway, after waiting a while at the ER, Isaac says to me, "I really wish I would have brought Maggie's puppies."  I chose to be a great mom and replied, "Hey, um, they are here in my purse.  I grabbed them before we left the house."  Isaac was sitting on my lap facing away from me.  He turns his head to the side, not to truly look at me, but in deep thought.  After a pause and with a furrowed brow he says seriously, "You know they're just pretend, right, mom?"  I gently said yes.  He shook his head once in solemn affirmation, then scooped up the invisible puppies and held them on his lap!

2.  Once we finally made it into the real exam room and the door was shut, Isaac leaning back in the bed and said with great satisfaction, "It's nice and quiet in here."  (Which made me laugh because only a kid with this many wild siblings could appreciate a little peace and quiet! And also, of course we could only achieve that by a trip to the ER!)

Isaac had to visit an orthopedic surgeon in Kearney the following week.  Their high tech equipment was able to verify that there was, indeed, a fracture.  They used a fiberglass splint which was wetted and formed to the backside of Isaac's arm.  Once dry the splint is hardened.  Then it was wrapped in an ace bandage to keep it in place.  We were able to take it off for showers, which made things so much easier than with a full cast.  He wore it for 4 1/4 weeks, and just got the "all clear" past Tuesday.  He still needs to be somewhat careful with it for 2 more weeks, after which it should be 100 percent. 

A life with five children (or any children, really) is never dull!  Isaac is doing his best to keep us on our toes, and we love him all the more for it!