Chica’s “Skelegro” Arm

Oh my heavens, peeps.

What a day we had yesterday.

Because of THIS:

Yup.

That’s a cast.

On Chica’s broken arm.

And she was an absolute trooper.

But it was an event.

OYE.

*Pause for a moment to mentally regroup before rewinding to the beginning of the story.*

So…we were all happy-go-lucky after school yesterday. Since Daddy was already home for the day, the kiddos got out of the car and decided to play a bit with him in the driveway while I walked inside. Two minutes later, Chicklet and Little Man were flying in, hollering for me, saying Chica had fallen.

She’d been on her scooter (with her helmet on, and under Daddy’s supervision) when her momentum gained as she headed down a little hill in our cul de sac, and she fell/bailed when the speed got too high.

And…injury.

It was obvious from the get-go that her arm was just not right. But she was such a stalwart little lady in the immediate aftermath. Whimpering and only occasionally crying as we loaded her into the car and made a few phone calls to determine our hospital plan.

Daddy stayed home with the younger two, and Chica and I set off for a very painful ride for my girl. She was so brave, but every twist and turn and bump was excruciating for her.

In the ER at the pediatric hospital, they ushered us right in and immediately began an IV for Chica’s pain, knowing she would absolutely need it, in order to make it through the x-rays.

Careful looking at this next pic if you’re squeamish. Both Chica’s morphine sillies and the intense swelling of her arm had kicked in, and things did not look pretty.

I got this squishy smile out of her when I told her she looked exactly like Harry in the second movie when the bones in his arm are accidentally dissolved, and he’s left with a noodle-looking situation. All lumps and no structure.

She got a big kick out of this, and from henceforth, we called it her “skelegrow arm,” as skelegro is the potion that would regrow the bones, ha. Gotta find the humor where you can!

Please note the Harry sticker she got after she survived the intense pain of her x-rays. She was an absolute trooper, and all the nurses and doctors were incredibly impressed.



The x-rays confirmed what we suspected. Boooo, breakage. She managed a clean break of the radius, and another small fracture of the ulna.

Since the radius had gone off-kilter and would need to be re-set, they prepped Chica to be transferred via low-key ambulance (no siren or fanfare) to the downtown hospital, as that’s the only location where they could put her to sleep for the re-setting. 

And anticipating the pain of the transfer, they gave her additional meds and a temporary splint that was very helpful for stabilization.



Again she was an absolute champ for the ride, and I’m grateful I was able to ride along with her so she wouldn’t be nervous.



By the time we were settled in the downtown hospital and the on-call orthopedist had been in to discuss Chica’s situation, my girl was definitely starting to tank.

No surprise, considering the whopping combination of meds in her system, the pain, the loss of adrenaline to power her through, the nausea, the hunger, and the clock ticking closer to bedtime. She was wiped. And a bit weepy off and on for the first time, sweet girl.

However, she was majorly buoyed by the great news that she wouldn’t have to be put to sleep for the re-setting (that bit was making her so worried). The orthopedist was confident she could manually manipulate the bones into a proper place for casting. And that’s exactly what happened (with the help of even more medicine).

Voila! Brave, brave girl; purple, purple cast. :)



Throughout the whole ordeal, the hubby and the other kiddos were sending such sweet, encouraging pics, videos and cards Chica’s way. Every little thing was such a boost to her spirits.

Here are some of the cute shots…











And about six hours after Chica and I originally set out for the ER, I was able to summon the rest of our crew downtown to retrieve us, and the reunion was sooooo sweet (especially with a loopy, sappy on-meds Chica.







I’m sorry to report that everything finally caught up with my girl on the way home, and she threw up all those yucky meds, just a few minutes from the house.

By the time we got her bathed and fed (just a teeny tiny bit of food) and in bed, it was nearly eleven o’clock, and she was just WIPED.

Bless her, she slept like a rock, but since we didn’t want to shove more meds down her nauseous tummy overnight, we had to get the pain back under control this morning, and she fought quite a bit of pain and discomfort.

So…my girl with such a sweet temperament was easily agitated today, and rightly so. But we just gave her boatloads of TLC and family movie time, and she got better throughout the day.

With the bonus of joyful balloons and doodles and more yummy food, we made it through the day. :)











I can—and will—write another post about the fallout of this injury. There is a LOT that has been impacted in regards to our summer activities (and our major trip, OYE), but…I’ll save that for tomorrow.

For today, we’ve been reminding ourselves of the positives:

The injury is to her non-dominant arm.

She was wearing her helmet (as always).

It wasn’t a leg that was broken (sooo much harder to navigate).

There are only two weeks of school left.

The hubby was in town (last broken bone, we were away from him).

She didn’t have to be put to sleep for the re-setting.

And…excellent, competent medical service, overall.

I really am SO proud of my girl for how she’s handled all of this. We might have one more kind of yucky day to make it through, but then I hope the worst of her pain will be behind her.

This was a tough one. 

But this, too shall pass.

More tomorrow on what happens now.

Over and out.