On October 21st, I got a call from Mr. Shaefer telling me, "I think Hailey may have broken her arm." Not exactly what you want to hear form your kids teacher.
It all happened around 2 pm, during her final recess of the day. From the sounds of it, Hailey tried to jump from the top step of the ladder to the first bar on the monkey bars. Well, she didn't have a good hold and she fell backwards on to her back....putting her left arm down to brace her fall.
They took her into the office and Mr. Schaefer and Lorie (the office lady) tried their best to get her to calm down. Lorie said they were having a hard time getting her to breath. Which I can understand! Once settled, they got her arm into a sling with some ice....that is when I showed up!
She was so relieved to see me! We went immediately to see her pediatrician Dr. Gottman. He looked at it and shook his head yes (meaning he thought it was broken) and sent us on our way to get x-rays. While waiting in the waiting room, Hailey fell asleep...she was absolutely exhausted from all the crying and pain. When they came to get us for the x-rays I woke her up and we went to get the pictures taken. This was probably the most miserable part of the experience. They asked her to put her arm on the table and turn it many different way...which she was unable to do. She was screaming and crying harder than I had ever seen her cry....and as you all know, Hailey is pretty loud.
After getting the x-rays done, we headed back downstairs to hear the results and yes, it was broken. So they fixed us up with a splint and sling and sent us on our way. Hailey would get a cast in 7 days (which I thought was a long time).
The first two nights were miserable. Because the arm was not casted, every time she bumped it, turned, rolled over, it hurt. Not a lot of sleep happened. We also found it difficult to get dressed: no long sleeves, not pants with buttons or zippers, and no coats. I had to make a few trips to the store for leggings and sweats so she could dress herself and use the bathrooms at the school. Mommy was taking her to and from school, per her request. Hailey thought the bus was too rough.
On Wednesday (two days after breaking), I had a doctor's appointment with my orthopedic doctor for my ankle (whole other story). After my visit we were small talking and it came up that Hailey broke her arm. As we discussed it, she decided to look up her x-ray. Dr. Heid immediately said, "you have to get her in a cast TODAY." To be honest, I was relieved. The 7 days waiting with the pediatrician sounded long. So, they told me to go get her from school and she would x-ray and cast right away!
Hailey at Dr. Heids office for the first time. Checking out x-rays.
Here was the hard part...for me anyway. I had to tell my pediatrician I was going to have it casted by someone else, that I was going to handle the rest of her healing with the orthopedic doctor. I called and they seemed a little upset, but they understood.
So, I grabbed her from school and took her in. X-rays showed that the bone had moved since the 1st x-ray, and not in the direction we wanted. So, we were glad we were getting it taken care of right then and there. It was casted and Hailey chose pink!
Hailey's new full arm cast. pre-signature! Thanks to Mr. Schaefer for the pictures.
Now, with all the signatures!
Happy to be in a cast and feeling better. Day three after break!
After getting the cast things got much better. She was sleeping at night and was able to be more herself. Well, for at least 2 days. A cold hit and she was miserable with that. We went to Bozeman for a football game and she ended up with a 103 fever. She had a tough weekend, but was a trooper. That week she continued to go down hill with both her eating and attitude. She was just so lethargic and not her happy smiling self. It was a tough week.
We made it to the game, but Hailey really started to fade by the end.
Hailey and Nana.
One week later (Halloween morning) Hailey was to return for a routine x-ray to check the progress of the healing. I was at work and Kevin was in Saudi Arabia, so my Mom took her. Well, what was suppose to be routine didn't end up as such. The bone had moved again...and it was bad. She needed to have surgery right away. And by that they meant the next morning. Hailey spent the morning going from Doctor to Doctor clearing her for surgery (because she had such a nasty fever the week before). After all was said and done, Hailey missed all of her school day, but did make it to her school Halloween party. Which she really enjoyed!
Hailey and her class on Halloween.
All ready for Halloween night.
That night (Halloween). We had a great time at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Mike's house. We did lots of trick-or-treating. It was a school night, but because Hailey had surgery the next morning at 11, we let her stay out a bit later since she wasn't going to have to wake up and get on the bus at 8.
The morning of surgery Daddy sent her balloons and flowers. Thanks Dad!
Surgery day came and we got checked in. Hailey was very nervous...of course. After getting her silly juice to settle her down she was feeling much better! They prepped her for surgery and Dr. Heid came in and told us she was going to be able to preform a "closed" surgery. They decided not to cut. She said I would be back with Hailey is no more than about 45 minutes. So, they took her away and there I sat in the waiting room....very anxious.
Prepped for surgery...waiting on Dr. Heid.
Getting ready to head into surgery.
Well, an hour had gone by and I was starting to get pretty nervous. Then, and hour and a half. Now I was starting to loose my mind. I was just about to go find a nurse when Doctor Heid came out to update. She said Hailey was out of surgery and all went well. It was longer than they had expected because the corners of the bone had connected and they had to re-break that before they could set the bones. They took x-rays throughout the entire surgery and I got to see how things looked at the beginning, middle, and end. She got a plaster splint applied to the arm. This was to stay on for three weeks. It was open on one side for swelling.
They took me back to see Hailey. Her and I were both relieved. She came out of surgery well...better than the previous two times with tubes, tonsils, and adenoids. She just let me cuddle her and rest. Hailey asked for her IV to be taken out and also said she was starting to have pain in her arm. They gave her codeine and we had to stick around for 30 minutes to make sure she didn't have a reaction. When all was said and done, we left the surgery center at 3:30.
Halloween weekend was suppose to be packed with fun things for the girls to do, but with the surgery we were not sure we were going to get to do any of it. On Friday night, the night of her surgery, we suppose to go to the GT Halloween party and go trick-or-treating. We were also suppose to go the Whizpops Concert at the Top Hat (which she had been looking forward to for months). When I told Hailey we were going to miss both...she completely LOST it. I mean she came unglued. So....we decided to skip the GT party, but try making it to the concert. I told her we could go early, say hi to Mr. Schaefer, maybe listen to a song or two and then go home. She agreed!
So away we went (against my better judgement) to the bar for a kids concert. I really wasn't certain how she was going to, all I know was we had to try. When we got there it was crowded. Too crowded to find a seat. Hailey was having a hard time with me not letting her up front around the stage area. Kids were running and pushing, dancing and having fun, but there was NO way I was going to let my little girl get bumped into....a few hours after surgery. Hailey and I found Mr. Schaefer while my mom and Sydney tried to find a seat. We got to say HI to her teacher. They were both so happy she made it! Mom and Sydney found 1 seat at the end of the bar. So, we joined them and propped both girls up on bar counter and settled in for the show. A few songs went by, and then a few more. Hailey was doing well. In fact, doing really well. She was singing and dancing and having a great old time. It made me feel so much better to see her like that...it had been a long hard week prior and this is just what she needed.
About half way through the show a table left and we got some actual seats. Hailey and Sydney spent the rest of the night laughing, singing, and dancing to the Whizpops. We enjoyed the ENTIRE show. Yes, we stayed for the whole thing. We ended up leaving around 8:30. Again, a great decision to go!
That night we continued to give Hailey her codeine. She slept through the entire night and was well rested in the morning. She woke up the next day feeling great and saying she wasn't hurting. So, that was the end of the codeine. We took it pretty easy for the next few days until we had to see Dr. Heid again for an x-ray update.
Tuesday came and we went to see how things were healing (4 days after surgery). All was looking good and the bone was still in alignment. She decided to pull Hailey from all recess and PE until we were sure it was going to heal correctly. Hailey was okay with that (the other option was to hurt it and end up back in surgery for pins).
That week, Hailey continued to feel better and get back to normal. She was enjoying staying in for recess and playing with Perler Beads and coloring. Mr. Schaefer has quite the collection of pictures on his wall. We were set to see Dr. Heid the following Tuesday for another x-ray.
This is the splint Hailey wore. She also had to wear a sling. We had two different types.
On November 12th, we went in for her 2nd post-op check up. Again, x-rays were taken and she was looking good. You could see in the x-rays the new bone forming...it was kind of cool. She asked that Hailey continue to NOT participate in PE or recess and we would get a new cast on the following Thursday (November 21st). Keep in mind, she was still wearing a heavy, plaster splint...not a cast.
On Monday, Hailey took a bath in the morning. She had on her cast sleeve and all was good until....I left the room. When I came back in she was laying in the tub with her arm fully under the water. We both looked at each other and she said, "On NO....I totally forgot." We pulled her out and sure enough, it was soaked. I dried it the best I could and sent her on her way to school. Meanwhile, I called the doc and they said they wanted to see her at 1...just to make sure it was okay.
So...away we went to the Doctor. Dr. Heid decided it was too wet to leave on and the stability of the plaster was gone. X-rays were taken AGAIN and it was healing perfectly. The decision was made to cut the plaster splint off and cast. We chose to put on a waterproof cast (that way she could put it in the bathtub, take a shower, and even go swimming at Sydney's birthday party). Hailey's color of choice was yellow. When I say yellow, think yellow highlighter!To be honest, I'm kind of glad she stuck it in the water. Having a short arm cast was going to be much easier and she was going to get to participate at Sydney's pool party! All was good!
Hailey's new short arm cast!
Signing her own name!
Kind of! Within two hours of having the new cast, it was starting to come apart. The cotton on the palm side of her hand was coming out. I couldn't believe it. I called the nurse and she said it would be fine, just put some mole skin on it. So, we did and hoped all would be okay. The next day, after getting home from school it was worse. It had now grown to about 3 inches and the yellow cast was even starting to frey. I know the cast was doing it's job and it was going to heal properly, but it looked horrible and we were only 1 day into having this NEW cast. Not only that, Hailey is a picker and there was no way this thing was going to last another 3 weeks. So again, I called the nursed and asked if there was anything we could do to repair the mess. She called back about 5:30 that evening and had us set to come in the next morning at 8:30.
Hailey was kind of bummed. She was certain they were going to cut it off and put a new one on again. Not the case. They pulled the cotton down and re wrapped the arm. Yes, the brand new signatures were covered, but it didn't have to be recast. Now the cotton was fixed and it was bigger and bulkier...but it gave "me" peace of mind. Hailey was to school that morning by 9.
Sydney's party finally came and Hailey was able to swim with her friends and ride on the water slides. She had fun just like everyone else. The cast didn't slow her down a bit. It was SO worth paying the extra money for the waterproof cast...just so she could take part at the pool.
Hopefully this is the end of my story! Things seem to be going well now and she is back to recess and PE. We are scheduled to have the cast off on December 10th, the day before her school Christmas Program.
