As if we needed anymore stress...

Whelp... you guessed it. Our little boy has a broken arm! It happened a week ago Thursday when Alex and Rusty were wrestling on our bed. Rusty was picking him up and throwing him down into a pile of fresh laundry (because, well, that's just what you do when Mommy dumps a bunch of clean clothes on the bed). Anyway, Alex fell on his left arm in just the right way and broke it, right above the elbow. We didn't think he had broken it at first, just bruised or maybe sprained it. I called our pediatrician and consulted with the nurse on call. She told me to give him half an hour and see if he calmed down. We watched a movie together, he calmed down, went to bed without any problems, and slept all night. But when we got up the next morning, his arm was swollen, so I decided to take him in and have his arm checked out.

The doctor said she was pretty sure it was indeed broken, so she sent us for x-rays where this was confirmed. Oh, but wait... it gets better! Later that afternoon, we went to an orthopedic clinic where they were going to set the bone and put him into a cast. When we finally get in to see the doctor, he tells us he thinks Alex needs surgery on his arm and pins put into his elbow to help it heal properly. So, they put him in a temporary cast (picture above) and sent us home with the surgery scheduled for Monday morning.

On Monday, we drove out to Baptist Germantown Surgery Center. They asked us to be there at 7:30, called us back to pre-op at around 8:30, and finally took him back for his surgery after 9:00. Of course, Alex couldn't have anything to eat or drink all this time, so he was pretty cranky. When they were ready to take him back, they let Rusty help push the bed out into the hall, and then we just quietly hung back while they wheeled him down to the OR. It's really the first thing he's had to face without one of us by his side, and I will never forget how I felt as I watched him going down that hall, holding onto the sides of the bed, thinking he was just going for a ride...

In his hospital gown, just before going to the OR

In the recovery room

The surgery went well, and Alex was back to his normal self by evening. His cast will stay on for three weeks. Then it will come off and the pins will come out and he will be fitted with some kind of temporary cast/sling that we can take on and off. So far, he seems to be coping with the cast fairly well. Toddlers are so resilient and adaptable. The hardest part, I think, will be coming up with things for him to do for the next three weeks since I don't want to let him play outside too much. Anyone have any suggestions? Other than letting him get hopelessly addicted to TV? I fear we are already well on our way to that one. Since the night he broke his arm, he's watched "Cars" about 50 times, I think, and it's only been a week since the accident!