Need I Really Say Any More?

Probably not, but you know I will, because I've never been a lady of just a few words.

Yes, that is a soft cast Grace is sporting; the technical term used last night I believe was sugar tong splint. She gets to wear it for a few days until we can see the orthopaedic doctor. They will re-x-ray it and probably put on a regular cast. Never a dull moment around here.

So last night dinner was coming out of the oven and Grace was playing on the stairs. She was about three steps from the bottom when she bent over to get something and lost her balance, falling to the tile and landing on her wrist and neck. She isn't the type of kid to go on and on when she gets hurt, but this time she did. It took us quite awhile to figure out where she was hurt, but eventually it became clear that although she could wiggle her fingers on her right hand slightly, it caused her a lot of discomfort. We gave her some Tylenol and put "snow" on it, got the other two kids settled in at friends' homes for the night, and headed to Lafayette to have it checked out.

Grace settled down on the ride to the ER. She didn't cry much but did ask me to kiss her hand every few minutes. I think the Tylenol was helping with the pain but she was still obviously hurting.

I have to say I was most impressed with all of the staff at this hopsital. (And sadly I don't even know the name of it right now to give appropriate kudos; it wasn't a hospital in our plan but under contract with our provider.) Every single staff person we encountered was friendly and great with Grace. They took such good care of her, from putting the "sticker" on her toe (to measure the oxygen in her blood), to taking her "picture" with the x-ray machine, to splinting it, to just coming in and visiting her and talking to her and keeping her comfortable. One nurse brought her a DVD player and another tech brought her a Popsicle. I hate that she was hurt, of course, but I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

So yes, although the doctor at first didn't think it was broken, the x-rays showed that her wrist is fractured in one spot, and possibly fractured in a second spot as well. The fractures aren't anywhere near growth plates, and they reassured us that she should heal quickly and without any complications.

The splint she is in is to allow the injury to swell, and hopefully by the time we see the ortho, her swelling will be down enough for a regular cast.

She is such a trooper. She was timid and quiet at first, but gradually warmed up as we waited in her special bed, and eventually even broke into a round of "EIEIO," drawing the staff into the room to see if a pig had gotten in. :) She fell asleep on the way home and didn't even stir when we put her in bed, and she slept peacefully all night. She hasn't seemed to be in much pain this morning, so we haven't given her anything, although we stayed home from church since I wasn't sure how she'd do in the nursery with her new cumbersome arm accessory. Every once in awhile I think she gets bugged because it's a little big and awkward, but she seems to be handling it fine so far.

What a kid.

Incidentally, while all this was going on, Deb had a blow-out on the freeway in CA and had to deal with that. She finally got home and was relaxing when a monster spider came in through the doggy door and tripped her out. She said she's never seen a spidey so big and isn't sure what it is. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Strange evening!