Last Monday we were heading into swimming and the kids were running on the sidewalk. Right out of the gate Elizabeth fell. It was one of those falls that you know is not going to be good. I always think "please let all their teeth still be there." Well, I was in luck, the teeth were all there. Her face on the other hand was pretty scraped up. She was bleeding from her forehead to her chin, so I picked her up and loaded the kids back up into the car and we went home. I washed and examined everything and the wounds were mainly concrete grazes and I knew it would heal, but also knew it would look bad for a few days. You might also notice an ice pack on her wrist. I didn't think she got her hands out in front of her, given how much damage her face took, but she said her arm hurt. I figured it probably got jammed pretty good when she fell.
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| The next morning...at least she is smiling! |
She really didn't want to go to dance the next day. She didn't want anyone to see her face. I told her we weren't going into hiding until her face healed so we just had to do it. Her dance friends were all extremely kind and they got to try on their dance costumes so it was a good thing we went.
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| Happy girl in her costume. I am sure she has forgotten about her face at this point. |
The next day we were playing air hockey and she was playing with her left hand. She said it hurt to play with her right. I went through a small series of tests. "Does it hurt when I do this? this? that? Squeeze my hand." You get the idea. Nothing bothered her. She was still doing everything else. Writing and coloring at school. But I called the doctor just in case and they agreed to just keep an eye on it.
So we kept an eye on it. Sunday she came in from riding her bike because it hurt her arm. The following Monday I took her to Fun Splash and she didn't want me to pull her around the pool because it hurt her arm. We were at my parent's right after and I asked Dr.Johnny Pops to take a look at her arm and the answer was "Bad news honey, I don't think it looks quite right." Another call to the doctor and we were sent right to X-ray. A few hours wait and we get the verdict: "Distal Radius Fracture, we will be referring you to Ortho."
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| The bone should not bump out there to the left. |
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| Polka Dots make everything better! She looks at least 9 in this picture, I swear she is still only 5! |
The doctor was amazing!! He came in the room, shook my hand and then got right down on her level and talked to Elizabeth the whole time. The break isn't near the growth plate so that is good news. We had the option of a traditional cast or this new Exos Splint. The Exos does everything a regular cast does, but you can take it off! So we can scratch those itches without sticking a bent hanger down the cast. She can swim! She can bathe with it off! It's light, pretty and she still great flexibility in her fingers. Since it is her right hand this allows her to still grip a pencil. They heated it up in a NuWave (infrared oven - yes like on the infomercials) and put it on her arm and it moulds to her size. Really cool medical product! The best news...in 3 weeks it should be off and we can go to Disney without this accessory!!
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