We have now knocked out 3 big firsts all at one time all with the same kid. On Thursday afternoon (Jan. 10) Zoey did a flip on the trampoline, landed on her elbow, bounced up, then landed on her elbow again. She came in complaining about it and I just had her lay on the couch and be still for a little while. At about 4:30, an hour after she hurt it, she was in tears and couldn't handle the pain anymore. Her arm had swelled quite a bit and she was in so much pain I decided I should probably take her to Urgent Care.
(You can see her laying on the couch in the background. She was miserable.)
I threw all the kids in the van and we shot off to the urgent care Jay was working at. I was sure it wasn't going to be broken but if it was they would probably just immobilize it and we would be sent away with a referral to a specialist. Unfortunately that isn't what happened at all. After a little waiting and an x-ray we learned that Zoey did indeed have a broken bone. She broke her humerus right above the elbow and just barely missing the growth plate. (Left supracondylar fracture in technical terms.) We were informed though that she may have to go to UMC and there was the potential she would have to have surgery. Really, surgery. I was sure we were going to get off easy
with this. Jenn came and picked the other kids up thankfully so I didn't have
to deal with them as well. Jay's boss was nice enough to let him leave with me
so I didn't have to take Zoey to UMC by myself and deal with whatever was to
come on my own.
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We spent the morning and afternoon visiting the gift shop,
doing crafts and playing with play-doh. It felt like we were waiting all day to
hear her turn was up. Finally at around 2 pm they came in to get her. I was dreading
it but I was so happy it was finally her turn. We gathered all our stuff to
follow her down to surgery. She was going to be out for an hour max and then
once she was in recovery for a bit we were going home. We got situated in the
OR prep area where we hung out for just a bit. The nurse did the typical stats
and all that while Zoey played on the hospital's IPad.
A couple
anesthesiologists came in and talked to us and Zoey about what would happen.
Right before we were ready we finally got to meet Dr. Valencia . He
came in and went over everything thoroughly and made sure we knew what was
happening. When all was clear to everyone it was time to wheel her out and say
goodbye. We followed beside her bed as long as we could and then had to let her
go on without us. It truly was one of the hardest, most emotional moments of my
life. Knowing your child is going to be put under is a very unsettling feeling.
It makes my heart go out to any parent who has experienced it especially in way
worse scenarios than our own. I hated it. The wonderful, reassuring nurse led
us to the waiting room and there we sat. I basically spent my time watching the
clock and regularly checking the available computer screen to see where she was
at in the process. As we hit the hour mark I was anxiously awaiting someone
coming out to let us know she was done and we could go back to be with her in
recovery. The minutes ticked by. After 10 minutes had passed I just knew
something wasn't right. I knew she was ok but I knew something wasn't right.
Finally 20 or so minutes past the max amount of time it should have been done
the doctor finally came out.
So, we left the urgent care and headed to Diamond Children's
of UMC. I was really holding out hope that since they had called ahead we
wouldn't have to wait for too long. I was so wrong though. We ended up waiting
in the ER for like 4 or 5 hours or something crazy like that. When we finally
got back to see a doctor they made things sound optimistic in terms of not
having surgery. 2 or 3 different people we talked to said they were pretty sure
it would just get a cast and we would be able to avoid surgery. They were in
consults with the pediatric orthopedic specialist during that time. When the
final word came back the news was shocking. Zoey was indeed going to have
surgery. (A closed reduction with lateral pinning to be exact. It means they don't actually cut her open but do everything by looking at x-ray. She did have to be put under though.) Dr. Valencia
(peds ortho specialist) looked over the x-ray several times and said he just
didn't feel certain enough about it to not do surgery. The break was close
enough to the growth plate that he didn't want to take any chances.
OK, so we now knew surgery was going to happen. I still
figured we would schedule it and we would get sent home. That was not the case.
The surgeon wanted to do it in the morning and since it was already 1 am they
decided to admit her. So not only had things not gone the way I planned from
the beginning but now here we were with an immanent hospital stay. One of the
worst parts of all this craziness is that for these hours upon hours we had
nothing to do. Because I thought we would be in and out of the urgent care I
didn't grab a book or the Kindle or anything. So all this time of waiting was
spent staring into space, the wait in the ER waiting room being the worst of
it. When they finally decided to admit Zoey neither of us really wanted to
leave because we didn't want to miss anything. Zoey really wanted both of us
there too.
(Awful cellphone pick. It's the only camera I had for a whole day.)
We finally got settled in our room sometime after 1 am. We were all
exhausted and starving. Poor Zoey didn't get to eat anything since she was
going under anesthesia the next day. Luckily for Jay and I the hospital does a
24 hour room service for a pretty reasonable price. So we ordered food and ate
"dinner" at somewhere near 2 in the morning.
After a few hours sleep we were awakened by the hustle and
bustle of the morning. We were nervous about Zoey going under but were also so
ready for it to just be done. We waited all morning to hear that it was her
turn. We kept waiting and waiting and waiting. There were obviously some cases
that took priority over ours. One of the wonderful things about Diamond
Childrens though is all the staff they have on hand for different things. Zoey
was showered with encouragement and kindness and gifts.
One girl brought in a
whole bag of fun crafty things for Zoey. It's something they give out to the
kids who can't eat to help them keep their mind on other things. A man came in at one point with Mr. Darcy the dog. The most awesome, sweet dog ever. He was great and I think it is great that this dog comes to hang out with the kids at the hospital. Later a
different girl came in who showed Zoey a binder about what was going to happen
when she had her surgery. She left for a moment when she was done and then came
back with a brand new pillow pet for Zoey. She said that all the kids who have
to have surgery get one. How cool is that?
Dr. Valencia
sat down and explained that the procedure went just as it should have. They
placed 2 pins in her arm and the placement looked great and all went well. That
was up until they went to bring her out of the anesthesia. When they were
waking her up she had a major asthma attack and wasn't able to breath. The best
and only reaction was to immediately put her back under. Every time they moved
her she would spasm and have the breathing problems. They were able to give her
a treatment though and get it under control and finally totally bring her out
of anesthesia. When he was done explaining things he said someone would be out
in a few moments to get us. When the doctor walked away I about lost it. I just
didn't know if I could handle anymore surprises. I had been strong and kept it
together but at that point I just wasn't ok anymore. I would have never thought
that what started as arm pain would have led to that moment. It was all over
though and I was glad for that.
So we finally got to go back to recovery and see her. She
looked so small there. She was groggy and breathing heavy and had oxygen on. It
was really difficult for me to not break down and cry. I had to be strong
though because I didn't want to freak her out. I just gave her a hug and told
her how great she was. Then we just sat while she spent her time in recovery.
So, remember the plan that she was going to go home the same day as the
surgery? Yeah, that didn't happen. The whole breathing issue thing got us
another nights stay. Dr. Valencia
just wanting to watch her and make sure she got back to normal.
(This was after recovery and back in the room for the night.)
We eventually
made it back to our room. Jay ended up going home to be with the other kids and
I spent a very long night at the hospital watching over Zoey. She was on the
oxygen for a little while but was able to be off it before the nights end. It
was still difficult to watch her breath though because her chest was heaving so
much. It was a long night of me not really being able to leave her side and of
many, many times helping her to the bathroom. She was weak and tired and hooked
to and IV and trying to learn to maneuver with 1 arm. It was seriously one of
the longest nights of my life. I was glad she was ok though and in good spirits
and she was able to get some decent rest in between bathroom trips.
Morning came and we just anxiously awaited the doctor's
rounds so we could get the green light to go home. We finally saw Dr. Valencia and he
gave us all the low down on what she could and couldn't do and how long the
cast would be on and when we needed to see him and all that. When the nurses
got the paperwork all together we were able to get out of there. Jay stayed
home with the kids and my mom and dad came to pick us up. I cannot tell you how
happy I was to leave that place. It seriously felt like we were there for a
week even though it was just like 2 whole days. So we went into the urgent care
Thursday evening and made it home Saturday late afternoon. It was so good to be
home. I took a shower and then passed out in bed for a few hours.
Well, we made it through it all. We survived the experience
and Zoey was amazing through it all. She was so strong and so brave. The nurses
and doctors were so complimentary of her. We were told multiple times that she
was one of their best patients ever and how amazed they were at her bravery and
calmness. I was and am still very proud at how she dealt with it all. I also
cannot speak highly enough of our experience at Diamond Children's. Every last person we came in contact with was wonderful, kind, and supportive. They were all so nice to Zoey and really did all they could to make sure she was comfortable and not nervous and feeling ok about everything. It was a great experience considering what we were dealing with. I wouldn't hesitate to go back in an emergency. We definitely came away feeling very blessed by the doctors and nurses that were placed there to help us. It was not a fun experience but we are very grateful everything turned out fine and we walked away without really any issue.
