First Broken Bone

Last weekend, we finally set up the trampoline that was given to us a few months ago. The thing is huge - takes up about half of our yard - and so much fun! You'd think that if someone was going to break something, it would be on this. But no, it wasn't the dangerous trampoline, it was the dumb chair.

It started out like any normal Monday. Evie came over in the morning, Katelyn woke up, and Noël came over to pick up her dog, Rory (we'd been dog-sitting). We have an armchair in the living room that Katelyn loves to climb on. She climbs up, sits on the arm, and slides off. She does this about a million times a day. On this day, however, she climbed up and straddled the arm of the chair, saying, "Look at me! Look at me!" No sooner did I turn and look at her, a whole 3 feet away, when she lost her balance, and slipped off the chair. She landed on her chest with her left arm underneath her. I can't even describe how it looked except to say it was backwards - arms are not meant to be bent that way!

Katelyn began screaming immediately. I picked her up and her elbow became red and swollen almost instantly. I thought it was probably dislocated, but not broken. Noël and I decided we'd better take her to the ER for x-rays. I don't know what I would have done if Noël hadn't been there. She got Evie into the carseat, got her bottle and diaper bag, loaded her into the car, then drove us to the hospital. And then later, she drove Evie back to the house so Tim could pick her up.

They saw us immediately in the ER, took x-rays of Katelyn's arm, and within an hour, we knew that her elbow was not only dislocated, but also fractured. The orthopedic surgeon came in and told me she needed surgery or it wouldn't heal properly. So they scheduled the OR for 6pm and got ready to admit her.

Up until this point, we hadn't given any medication to Katelyn. She seemed to be doing ok as long as she wasn't moving her arm and there were cartoons on the TV. I wanted to put off the trauma of an IV as long as possible. But in preparing to admit her to the Pediatric Unit, we decided it was probably best for her to have some pain meds before moving her. Well, I was right about traumatic. It took 20 minutes and 2 sticks. I was 30 seconds away from telling them to stop and send down a pediatric nurse when they finally got it. Poor Katelyn - she was screaming the whole time, but kept her hand completely still! What a trooper!

Up until this point, I'd been keeping Kenny updated, but he was still at work. Katelyn started crying again, a sad, pitiful cry. I asked her if her arm was hurting, she shook her head, and said, "It's just so hard about [without] my dad." Broke my heart! And that's when I called Kenny and told him he needed to leave work - now.

Up in the pediatric unit, we watched movies all afternoon, waiting for 6:00. The surgeon wanted her stomach to be empty before putting her under general anesthesia, just in case she aspirated. Katelyn got to ride down to the OR in a little red wagon, and she took Brown Bear with her. I thought Kenny and I would be able to stay with her until she was completely asleep, but they wheeled her off just a few minutes after starting the anesthesia meds, assuring me that she wouldn't remember anything after that point. I made it to the waiting room before I started crying. My poor girl! I knew she was in good hands, but still...

Katelyn did great in surgery. They were able to align her arm perfectly the first time, and placed 2 pins in her elbow. The whole procedure took under 5 minutes. We only waited about 25 minutes and then we were able to see her in the PACU, just as she was waking up. Her arm was in a soft cast to allow for swelling. Brown Bear came out of surgery with a soft cast on his left arm too!


Right after surgery, they had an automatic BP cuff on her arm that took her BP every 15 minutes for 3 hours. At first, it scared her, so I told her that it was just giving her arm a hug. The third time, and every subsequent time, she put her head against the BP cuff and hugged it back. She even gave it a few kisses!


I spent the night with Katelyn at the hospital, and Kenny went home so he could get some sleep before work the next day. Neither Katelyn nor I got much sleep. She was so uncomfortable, and the nurse was coming in every few hours to take her vitals. And when we finally started getting some good sleep, the surgeon came in to check on her. Oh well, hospitals aren't for sleeping, are they?

We were discharged Tuesday morning, and Katelyn was so happy to be home! Copper and Ali must have known she was hurt, because they didn't leave her side that entire day. Katelyn adapted almost immediately. She's doing everything pretty much one-handed, and she's even learned that she can do lots of things with her feet!


Yesterday, we saw the orthopedic surgeon again. They took her soft cast off, and put on a hard cast. A bright, fluorescent, hot pink cast. I talked her out of black, which was her first choice. Brown Bear also had his soft cast replaced with a pink cast! We'll go back in 3 weeks to have the pins taken out, and then she'll be in a cast for another few weeks after that. Brown Bear probably will be too.


I'm so proud of Katelyn, she's been so brave! Thank you everyone for the well wishes and prayers! If she's anything like her dad, however, this will not be the last broken bone...