So Friday around 2pm I get a call from ethan's teacher saying he fell climbing at recess and his arm doesn't look right. She wanted me to pick him up so he didn't ride the bus home in pain. I rushed from the grocery store and saw poor little bubs in tears and very scared. His elbow looked deformed. I got Jocelyn to come over and watch the girls while I took him to Urgent Care here in town. After two hours they diagnosed him with a supracondylar humerus fracture and posterior displacement. If it was just the break he could have seen the pediatric bone and joint specialist but because of the displacement we had to go up to Egleston children's hospital in Atlanta. We got to the ER around 7pm. Here he is after they unwrapped his splint, watching TV. He was so tough and brave.
He kept declining pain medicine even though he was green from pain. I told him that these nurses and doctors were just trying to help him, so the next time they came in they gave him some morphine through an IV (which he hated)
After another set of X-rays, they said they needed to do surgery with 2 pins in his elbow to set it. They ended up admitting him around 10pm. I guess there was a major accident where the kid had bone coming out of the skin that was going into surgery first, so we had to wait for morning. I was SO grateful it was just his arm, but when a child is stable, you end up waiting a very long time. He was so patient and the staff was excellent.
They finally let him eat. He had a small window from 10-midnight, so he had just chocolate milk, cheerios and a Popsicle. They told us they start surgeries at 8 am and he was 4th on the list. He hardly slept at all, he was restless and upset. Travis came around 1am and gave him a blessing, which was wonderful and he actually fell asleep during it.
I was expecting to go into surgery around noon, so my mom came to keep Ethan company. I woke up with a severe allergy attack so my eyes were red and watering with my nose dripping like a leaky faucet. I was so glad she was there. Shortly after she arrived, they started prepping him for surgery around 10am. They had given him pain meds about an hour before, and then had him drink some stuff that would make him sleepy before they put him under. The combination made him very loopy and tired. They wheeled him down to the OR and gave him this fuzzy bear. He was SO happy and would cuddle it constantly. Once the drink kicked in full force and he was talking so funny and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head, they wheeled him back to the OR. My mom and I went to the OR waiting room, where our family friend Ngan and Dad came. Unfortunately they didn't get to see Ethan, but it was so nice to see them. The surgeon came out 20 mins later saying the surgery went great!! He was only under for 15 mins. When they brought him back to his room he was very sad, upset and disoriented. It broke my heart. He wanted to rip all his wires off, get his shirt on and go home.
Thankfully my mom was there and she started reading him books and he calmed down right away falling in and out of sleep and then by the 3rd book he was reading along with her. He read the 4th one on his own. He drank 2 juices, had crackers and strawberries and was allowed to go home! He was discharged around 1pm.
I had no idea a simple fall backwards off the monkey bars would turn into this! But I'm SO grateful he is okay. He has a splint and sling for a few weeks until they take the pins out and then he'll most likely get another splint for the remaining time. The Surgeon does not like casts. I'm proud of our tough little man, he is in a lot of pain and does not like his medicine. Hopefully tonight he will get some good rest as he hasn't slept well in 2 days. Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers! It's made this whirlwind much more bearable!
