Our Two Patients

The little guy is doing well - sleeping at the moment. He's had a very long day, as have we all. Babybeast is still running a mysterious fever with no other symptoms but crabbiness. The elder beastling is currently sporting a lime green cast from shoulder to hand which covers and hold in place the pins which extend out of his skin. His stuffed doggie, Ike has a matching lime green cast on his right foreleg.

Apparently, at the hospital, "Ike fell off the chair and broke his arm just like me" which required immediate surgical treatment. Luckily we were already at the hospital, and while they normally treat little humans, the staff was amenable to treating a small stuffed dog since it was an emergency stuffed doggie medical situation.

The photo is from 3 days post-surgery.

Supracondylar Fracture

*Sigh*

That's what my baby has. It means broken elbow - he broke the bottom of his humerus. The 5 year old fell off a tree stump from a tree downed by Hurricane Ike, falling maybe three feet onto the grass. I think he inherited my natural grace, or lack thereof.

His three year old brother told his preschool teacher on Monday that the elder Beastling's arm was broken this weekend "by Hurricane Ike." She emailed me, perplexed, for clarification.

So we've been busy - all day Saturday at the ER. All morning at the orthopedist. All afternoon into evening at the pediatric orthopedist. He has had four sets of x-rays so far...I'm not keen on that. I've been learning a lot about children's fractures. The verdict is that he requires surgery this week and that will involve three pins in his elbow that stick out through the skin, which seems rather Frankensteinian, but is the proven therapy.

Because of the trouble scheduling surgery like this immediately, the pediatric orthopedist said we would need to go through the ER at the children's hospital he is affiliated with and get admitted that way. It is about an hour from home, but a very good hospital. He would be doing the surgery, but we could not be fast-tracked through the ER and so it could involve a long wait. With at least two of the children. Did I mention the three year old has a stomach bug and spent the day vomiting?

The surgery does require an overnight stay, possibly two if the ER wait is lengthy.

I'm sure you can imagine how unattractive this all sounds right now, but I realize it is all routine for them and he is in very good hands, so I am not terribly worried, just having difficulty figuring out the logistics, you know?

I will know more tomorrow.