Thursday afternoon Kelly was in the other room (yes, I was posting something on my blog and neglecting my children. I keep trying to make myself feel better about it saying that "I could have been doing anything, my kids will never be able to have CONSTANT supervision". But it's not really helping, I still blame myself.) she was trying to slide down the cushions off of the back of the couch and fell and broke her wrist!!! She cried and I assumed it was another one of those "Brad took my ball" or "Charity won't let me play with her" kind of cries (this is Kelly we're talking about), so I didn't jump up (again, I feel terrible!), but when she came into the room all it took was one glance at her arm and I just knew! In the back of my head I really wanted to get a picture of it like that just because it was SO BENT! (is this confirming anyone's belief that I am the worst mom EVER!) But I refrained. It looked SO BAD though!! So anyway. Luckily Steve was home and he was able to watch the other kids while I took Kelly to the Instacare. What would we do without Uncle Steve!! He's really been a lifesaver since we moved in. Hopefully he lets us repay him soon. And can I just add right now that I am SO GRATEFUL for a husband who is so in tune to the Spirit! I was frantic, trying to figure out how to call him and see if there was any way he could get a ride home with someone, but I don't have a number to reach him, and then right as I'm about to just risk it and go-- HE CALLS!!!! Not for any reason other than he just felt like he needed to call me! I LOVE IT!!! He's so my hero. Okay, so back to the story :) Kelly and I headed down to the Instacare where they did the X-ray, and said she had completely broken her radius (wrist in lame man's terms- they obviously thought I was lame) and that she would need to go to Primary Children's Hospital and have her sedated to set the bone. This came as a huge shock to me because the whole time, I'm thinking that they would just splint it and have us come back in a few days to cast it and planning what we'll have for dinner when we get home...... Luckily Nate did have a ride home (and that was another cool little miracle, the guy was only going that one day to teach, so it was a HUGE "coincidence"- I don't really believe in coincidences in case you didn't notice). So..... long story short....we were in the waiting room for about 3 hours.....then we sat in the little tiny room for another 2 or 3 before they finally started on her proceedure....and then it was another 3 hours before they let us go. We got home around 1:00 in the morning!! It was nuts!!
a list of random things and thoughts from this experience:
- I really wasn't sure I should take her to the Instacare right away since before, I've been told to wait since they can't cast it till the swelling goes down anyway, but this time, it would have been harder for them to set if I had waited any longer....good thing Steve and Kelly were so persisitant.
- It has really been a long time since I've had to take someone to the Instacare OR the ER. I decided to be really grateful for that so that it can be a long time again :)
- I really don't like how nurses and doctors give you the grilling eye when you are trying to explain what happened. And all the writing down when I mention that "I wasn't in the room" and that "I didn't jump up and run to her when I heard the crying".....I understand why, but it's annoying.
- When we were at the Instacare, I had asked if they could give her some tylenol. They came back with 2 TABLESPOONS of Tylenol in this HUGE cup. I was confused and asked before giving her the whole thing, but "nope, that's what the doctor said....2 TABLESPOONS". So I gave it to her. Later at the hospital I find out that 2 Tbls is a toxic amount for a 5 year old and they're all looking at me like I'm crazy and they didn't believe me, because the chart said that they had only given her 2 tsp. I was SO ANNOYED!!! I am not an idiot, I know how to read 2 Tbls. AND I know what 2 TEASPOONS looks like!!!! It was NOT 2 teaspoons!! I understand there could be a different concentration or whatever, but the fact remains, whatever it was that I gave her at the Instacare, it was 2 TABLESPOONS. Can you tell I'm still irritated?? They had to draw some blood and test it to make sure she hadn't received a toxic amount and it did come out okay. It's either going to show up later with liver disease, or turn out to be yet another miracle, but I'm sticking by my 2 Tbls. I'm hoping it was just an answer to my prayers.
- The directions they gave me to Primary were incomplete and I got lost :) I don't think I've EVER driven straight to it though. Why is it so hard for me to find??
a list of random things and thoughts from this experience:
- I really wasn't sure I should take her to the Instacare right away since before, I've been told to wait since they can't cast it till the swelling goes down anyway, but this time, it would have been harder for them to set if I had waited any longer....good thing Steve and Kelly were so persisitant.
- It has really been a long time since I've had to take someone to the Instacare OR the ER. I decided to be really grateful for that so that it can be a long time again :)
- I really don't like how nurses and doctors give you the grilling eye when you are trying to explain what happened. And all the writing down when I mention that "I wasn't in the room" and that "I didn't jump up and run to her when I heard the crying".....I understand why, but it's annoying.
- When we were at the Instacare, I had asked if they could give her some tylenol. They came back with 2 TABLESPOONS of Tylenol in this HUGE cup. I was confused and asked before giving her the whole thing, but "nope, that's what the doctor said....2 TABLESPOONS". So I gave it to her. Later at the hospital I find out that 2 Tbls is a toxic amount for a 5 year old and they're all looking at me like I'm crazy and they didn't believe me, because the chart said that they had only given her 2 tsp. I was SO ANNOYED!!! I am not an idiot, I know how to read 2 Tbls. AND I know what 2 TEASPOONS looks like!!!! It was NOT 2 teaspoons!! I understand there could be a different concentration or whatever, but the fact remains, whatever it was that I gave her at the Instacare, it was 2 TABLESPOONS. Can you tell I'm still irritated?? They had to draw some blood and test it to make sure she hadn't received a toxic amount and it did come out okay. It's either going to show up later with liver disease, or turn out to be yet another miracle, but I'm sticking by my 2 Tbls. I'm hoping it was just an answer to my prayers.
- The directions they gave me to Primary were incomplete and I got lost :) I don't think I've EVER driven straight to it though. Why is it so hard for me to find??
- I took advantage of the Valet Parking at the hospital....never done that before.
- Kelly was in SO much pain the ENTIRE afternoon. She could not stop crying. Everytime she moved she would let out this ear piercing, wailing cry, and it would take me 5 minutes to calm her down. And once we were in the room, she would cry everytime a new nurse or doctor would walk in the room....before they even said or did anything!! It was awful. I felt so bad for her. Especially because she's generally a pretty tough kid unless it involves someone getting in more trouble the louder she cries (if you have kids you've seen this I'm sure). I ended up just holding her in my arms as still as could be the whole time.....we decided it was some good "Kelly time with Mommy" which she loves so much. I think it was some much needed cuddling. Good thing I've got lots of padding on my rear.
- The people in the waiting room were very interesting. I didn't need to watch tv, or read a magazine, they were entertainment enough! AND it made me rethink the "bad mom" thing ("maybe I'm not that bad afterall") ....there are some pretty strange parenting techniques out there :) Not to mention the lady who let her 9 month old play with the cigarette she was MAKING.....
- One Nurse told me I could be in the room during Kelly's procedure but then the orthopedic specialist said no and kicked me out after she went to sleep (and can I just say, I get REALLY emotional when I watch my kids' eyes close!!). I had to watch her from the hall through the tiny crack in the closed blinds on the door. The nurse out in the hall said that that was better because then I didn't have to hear it. Gross. I can't believe how brutal they had to be to get that little bone back in place!! Very surprised they didn't break anything else in the process...seriously!! You should have seen it! I'm glad they knew what they were doing though...I saw the X-ray afterward, and it looked good as new! My poor little Kelly though....that's gonna leave a mark!
- Kelly had wanted to color, but with the IV in one hand and the cast on the other, she decided that watching ME color and choosing what color everything was, would be just as good :) I colored for about 2 1/2 hours!!! Holy moly :) But I did love every minute of the time I got to spend alone with her....as crazy as that may sound (I don't wish these awful things on my kids, just enjoy them for what they're worth I guess :))
- Kelly had wanted a purple cast, so ALL of the Docs and Nurses did EVERYTHING purple :) The cloth to rest it on, any utensils that had a speck of purple was pointed out....anything they could think of, and even the popsicle afterward was purple :) They are so good at that there....makes me tear up just thinking about it!! Unfortunately they didn't have the stuff for a purple cast, so they did a pink one with a "purple (coban) overlay" :) They reassured Kelly that if she still wanted a purple one on Monday they had some in the office and she could get one then :) So cute.
- The book BAMBOOZLED (I think that's what it was called) is a REALLY fun, cute children's book. We read that one like 20 times....very fun pictures!
- Kelly was SUPER shy to everyone there. If she wasn't crying at them, she certainly wasn't talking. Poor little traumatized girl!
- The Doc that did the sedation was SO nice to answer all my silly questions and gave all of my concerns so much attention!! I was really appreciative of that. I'm such a baby when it comes to putting my kids out....I just hate it! But he made me feel really good about things.
- Amazingly, Kelly showed no sign of fear when I explained the sedation to her. She's way tougher than me.
- Even though Kelly had been sitting and waiting in pain and poked and prodded and twisted and bent and questioned all night, not once did she even mutter a word of complaint about being hungry, thirsty (she hadn't eaten or drank anything and couldn't since 2:00 that afternoon) or tired, or bored. I was very proud of her for that!
- Kelly picked a 3 for her pain level :) from the pictures of the sad and happy faces. The little sweetheart....I haven't seen her cry more about anything in her whole life, but she still said 3 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst!) "Say 8!!!" (brian reagan, sorry :))
- The not so flowery smell of Kelly's cute little feet filled the room the minute we took her shoes off and didn't go away while we were there. It was a little embarrassing for both of us :) But it does make me laugh :)
- Why can't I buy Motrin at the Pharmacy drive-thru?? I had wake up Kelly and haul her into the store to get her meds. Annoying. But we did find a Slurpee machine to make up for it :)
- The crazy-haired Pharmacist at Wallgreens was a complete jerk to me until I showed him my Alaska Driver's license (don't tell anyone I haven't gone in to get a Utah one yet, I'm bad, but the DMV isn't open on Friday and that's the only day I think about it ;)). As soon as he thought I was from Alaska we were best friends.....is that not strange? I guess it's not the first time someone's been more interested in me after finding out that I had lived there, and I know Alaska IS pretty cool...... but come on people!!! I guess it's a good thing that people are friendly to outsiders....how about I look at it that way. Kind of like how ya treat guests better than your own family......or something.....
- I'm really judgemental when I'm tired :)
- My husband is the sweetest husband....he did all the obvious feeding and getting in bed for the night with the other kids while I was gone, BUT he also waited up for us, and was there to greet us when we got home! What a sweet Dad and Husband! I just love him.
- Kelly's teacher is amazing!! Today (this is SATURDAY) her teacher came TO OUR HOUSE with a stack of letters from Kelly's class and a cute, little, stuffed, get well doggie. Can you believe that!!! What KINDERGARTEN teacher does THAT?!!! Amazing....do we love her? YES!!!
- I missed out on donating blood Thursday night, DARN IT! (sarcasm included) Crazy how things just work out sometimes :) lol
- Eventhough Charity is green with envy with all the attention Kelly has received from breaking her wrist, she has been such a big helper. She has just babied Kelly to death (almost too much), which has taught me a lot about Charity and her maturity level. I love it. But what mom wouldn't!
Kelly will go back to the Doctor on Monday for a new cast and then have that one on for another 3 weeks. She's already taught herself how to color and write her name with her left hand, so I think she will be okay :)
- Kelly was in SO much pain the ENTIRE afternoon. She could not stop crying. Everytime she moved she would let out this ear piercing, wailing cry, and it would take me 5 minutes to calm her down. And once we were in the room, she would cry everytime a new nurse or doctor would walk in the room....before they even said or did anything!! It was awful. I felt so bad for her. Especially because she's generally a pretty tough kid unless it involves someone getting in more trouble the louder she cries (if you have kids you've seen this I'm sure). I ended up just holding her in my arms as still as could be the whole time.....we decided it was some good "Kelly time with Mommy" which she loves so much. I think it was some much needed cuddling. Good thing I've got lots of padding on my rear.
- The people in the waiting room were very interesting. I didn't need to watch tv, or read a magazine, they were entertainment enough! AND it made me rethink the "bad mom" thing ("maybe I'm not that bad afterall") ....there are some pretty strange parenting techniques out there :) Not to mention the lady who let her 9 month old play with the cigarette she was MAKING.....
- One Nurse told me I could be in the room during Kelly's procedure but then the orthopedic specialist said no and kicked me out after she went to sleep (and can I just say, I get REALLY emotional when I watch my kids' eyes close!!). I had to watch her from the hall through the tiny crack in the closed blinds on the door. The nurse out in the hall said that that was better because then I didn't have to hear it. Gross. I can't believe how brutal they had to be to get that little bone back in place!! Very surprised they didn't break anything else in the process...seriously!! You should have seen it! I'm glad they knew what they were doing though...I saw the X-ray afterward, and it looked good as new! My poor little Kelly though....that's gonna leave a mark!
- Kelly had wanted to color, but with the IV in one hand and the cast on the other, she decided that watching ME color and choosing what color everything was, would be just as good :) I colored for about 2 1/2 hours!!! Holy moly :) But I did love every minute of the time I got to spend alone with her....as crazy as that may sound (I don't wish these awful things on my kids, just enjoy them for what they're worth I guess :))
- Kelly had wanted a purple cast, so ALL of the Docs and Nurses did EVERYTHING purple :) The cloth to rest it on, any utensils that had a speck of purple was pointed out....anything they could think of, and even the popsicle afterward was purple :) They are so good at that there....makes me tear up just thinking about it!! Unfortunately they didn't have the stuff for a purple cast, so they did a pink one with a "purple (coban) overlay" :) They reassured Kelly that if she still wanted a purple one on Monday they had some in the office and she could get one then :) So cute.
- The book BAMBOOZLED (I think that's what it was called) is a REALLY fun, cute children's book. We read that one like 20 times....very fun pictures!
- Kelly was SUPER shy to everyone there. If she wasn't crying at them, she certainly wasn't talking. Poor little traumatized girl!
- The Doc that did the sedation was SO nice to answer all my silly questions and gave all of my concerns so much attention!! I was really appreciative of that. I'm such a baby when it comes to putting my kids out....I just hate it! But he made me feel really good about things.
- Amazingly, Kelly showed no sign of fear when I explained the sedation to her. She's way tougher than me.
- Even though Kelly had been sitting and waiting in pain and poked and prodded and twisted and bent and questioned all night, not once did she even mutter a word of complaint about being hungry, thirsty (she hadn't eaten or drank anything and couldn't since 2:00 that afternoon) or tired, or bored. I was very proud of her for that!
- Kelly picked a 3 for her pain level :) from the pictures of the sad and happy faces. The little sweetheart....I haven't seen her cry more about anything in her whole life, but she still said 3 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst!) "Say 8!!!" (brian reagan, sorry :))
- The not so flowery smell of Kelly's cute little feet filled the room the minute we took her shoes off and didn't go away while we were there. It was a little embarrassing for both of us :) But it does make me laugh :)
- Why can't I buy Motrin at the Pharmacy drive-thru?? I had wake up Kelly and haul her into the store to get her meds. Annoying. But we did find a Slurpee machine to make up for it :)
- The crazy-haired Pharmacist at Wallgreens was a complete jerk to me until I showed him my Alaska Driver's license (don't tell anyone I haven't gone in to get a Utah one yet, I'm bad, but the DMV isn't open on Friday and that's the only day I think about it ;)). As soon as he thought I was from Alaska we were best friends.....is that not strange? I guess it's not the first time someone's been more interested in me after finding out that I had lived there, and I know Alaska IS pretty cool...... but come on people!!! I guess it's a good thing that people are friendly to outsiders....how about I look at it that way. Kind of like how ya treat guests better than your own family......or something.....
- I'm really judgemental when I'm tired :)
- My husband is the sweetest husband....he did all the obvious feeding and getting in bed for the night with the other kids while I was gone, BUT he also waited up for us, and was there to greet us when we got home! What a sweet Dad and Husband! I just love him.
- Kelly's teacher is amazing!! Today (this is SATURDAY) her teacher came TO OUR HOUSE with a stack of letters from Kelly's class and a cute, little, stuffed, get well doggie. Can you believe that!!! What KINDERGARTEN teacher does THAT?!!! Amazing....do we love her? YES!!!
- I missed out on donating blood Thursday night, DARN IT! (sarcasm included) Crazy how things just work out sometimes :) lol
- Eventhough Charity is green with envy with all the attention Kelly has received from breaking her wrist, she has been such a big helper. She has just babied Kelly to death (almost too much), which has taught me a lot about Charity and her maturity level. I love it. But what mom wouldn't!
Kelly will go back to the Doctor on Monday for a new cast and then have that one on for another 3 weeks. She's already taught herself how to color and write her name with her left hand, so I think she will be okay :)
***Follow up- she picked a RED cast at the last minute because she wanted it to match Valentine's Day :) I was shocked :)
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12 comments:
Thats so sad for Kelly- she is such a trooper! And you are such a great mom- making the most of a tough situation. We have luckily never made the dreaded trip to the ER (knock on wood), but I do have nightmares about the process I would have to go through if I was home alone with all the kids! It sounds like you were being watched over when everything fell into place like it did!!
Sorry for such a crazy day, and poor little Kelly. Such tough kids.
What a brave little girl! How scary though! I'm so glad she's doing okay now.
By the way...I think subconciously she chose red for the Utes! I'm just saying.
Wow, that's so crazy! Poor girl and poor you! I think when our kids get hurt, it's almost worse for us. :-)
Your blog is so cute, too. Thanks for adding me!! I just loved getting to know your little family and I am sad that I didn't get to know you all better when you lived here. I did get to know Brad really well though and he is a great little kid. Sorry to hear about Kelly...what a trooper though.
Man- what a day!! I'm glad that Kelly made it through okay. And you! You crack me up, you know?? I love the "lots of padding on my rear". You kill me. And seriously- you taught me something today. I really thought that it was "Laman's" terms- but "lame man's" terms make a whole lot more sense!! But anyway- Primary's really is good (and I used to always get lost going up there, too.)
Thanks everyone....I totally didn't realize how much I talked about myself and how this affected me until I reread it and all the comments. It was hard for me and Kelly is definitely more resiliant, but this was her thing and she was SUCH a trooper!!! And we were really lucky it wasn't anything worse.
I could be wrong on the whole Lame man thing Julie....I wouldn't take anything from my blog as doctrine if I were you :) I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.
And about the whole Utes thing...there's no ifs about it, I'm SURE that played a part!! GO UTES!!
Poor little Kelly! Give her a hug for me!
Wow, fun experience! I am thinking Isabel will be the one to go to the ER first...or the one to cause the ER trip. I totally relate to the questions and looks you get. I took Sara in for an ear infection and she had a black eye at the time (Isabel, thanks) and they asked me ALL about it and wrote it all down when that had nothing to do with why we were there....grrr... your blog is so funny cuz it's just like we are chatting.
Oh how sad!! Broken bones are no fun. And I totally understand the doctors and nurses looking at you crazy when you explain what happened. Allie broke her arm at 19months and then she broke her leg at 23 months...that was fun explaining that to the doctors. :) Hope all goes well and she heals quick!!
Chris told me about her wrist after the Maynes V-day party. How sad! What a good girl though!! I have to tell you I am the same way about watching and putting my kids asleep--I can't stand it, I feel like they are dying or something. Anyhow--Good to see all is well and back to normal ("normal"--what is that anyway) Call if you need anything--Sierra still talks about visiting ya!!
Chris told me about her wrist after the Maynes V-day party. How sad! What a good girl though!! I have to tell you I am the same way about watching and putting my kids asleep--I can't stand it, I feel like they are dying or something. Anyhow--Good to see all is well and back to normal ("normal"--what is that anyway) Call if you need anything--Sierra still talks about visiting ya!!
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