Tuesday evening I was upstairs in my room when I heard some pretty crazy screaming. I did what I always do when I hear screaming like that and Kefford is home, I stayed put. I like to have him analize the situation before I step in because I am not good with bloody injuries and I would rather him deal with it. Once I heard that there was no blood I ventured down a little to see what was going on and I saw Avynlea standing there with her arm looking a little funny. I asked what happened and Kenedy said that she and Avynlea were jumping on the trampoline when Kenedy said Avynlea landed wrong grabbed her arm and started screaming. Kefford was trying to get her to extend it so he could compare it to the other arm to see if anything happened but she kept trying to sit down. Avynlea was pretty pale and kept saying she needed to sit down, from past experiences I knew that Avy is not good with pain or anything weird happening. She gets light headed changing out her earrings. So I stepped in because Kefford was getting impatient with her not wanting to stand and thinking she was being uncooperative. Her arm looked pretty funky to me and so Kenedy and I took her over to Primary Health.
After a little bit of a wait she was taken back to get evaluated and when we said it was a trampoline accident the Nurse asked us if it happened at "Jump Time" a trampoline play place across the street. Apparently they get a lot of business from that place.
After her x-rays the Dr came in and said it was broken and that we needed to go see an Orthopedic Surgeon. He wrapped her arm up in a temporary cast and sent us on our way.
The next day we called the Orthopedic Surgeon and after looking at her x-rays they had us go in that afternoon. When he came in he showed us the X-ray and said that part of her elbow had broken off and was imbedded in another part of her elbow and it had to have surgery to be fixed. Not having surgery was not an option since her arm would be useless without it, so she was scheduled to go in at 1:30 on May 1st. We were told that she could not have anything to eat or drink at least 8 hours before her surgery and he did give her a prescription for pain medication which is something the ER Dr did not do. Everyone at this office were really surprised no prescriptions were given for a broken elbow. She was in serious pain the night before and all that morning so it was nice to get some stronger medication.
The next day we showed up at the hospital and got all checked in.
Alison and Sara came and waited with us and me and that was really nice, I would have been so bored sitting there all by myself. Kefford could not come with us because of work and so it was really great to have the company and support.
While we were waiting a child life specialist came in to talk to Avynlea. I think they are there to explain to kids what will be happening and to help them be more comfortable with things. She brought in a breathing mask and talked to Avy about how they needed to put her to sleep for the operation. She explained the two different ways of putting kids to sleep, one with an IV and the other through a mask. She told her the pros and cons of each and then because of her age let her pick which method she would prefer. Avy picked the mask. The specialist said that sometimes kids do not like the plasticky smell of the masks and so she pulled out a couple of chapsticks and had Avynlea choose a flavor. Avynlea chose mango and then the girl rubbed it all over the inside of the mask to make it smell good.
She then let Avynlea pick some stickers to decorate her mask with. Once she left Sara helped Avynlea put cute stickers on her mask.
Sara and Alison brought Avynlea a pain pal to stay with her and keep her company and it was a cute little turtle. The hospital gave her a teddy bear to also keep her company so when the time came she was well accompanied.
After two hours of waiting they finally came to take Avy away. I gave her a kiss told her I loved her and watched them wheel her away. This was the point I was super glad to have Sara and Alison there to distract me. It is not a fun thing watching your little one be wheeled away for surgery and I was glad I didn't have time to dwell on it. The surgery lasted about an hour and then Dr Robison came out to tell us how everything went. He had taken a couple of x-rays so that I could see what he did and what it now looks like with a big huge screw holding the bone in place. Before the surgery he had come in the room to talk to us and he asked Avynlea what kind of cast she wanted, she said a pink one with black polka dots. He said OK and I spent a lot of time pondering how they did polka dots. So when he was talking to us after it was over I asked him and he said that they did the pink and then he had to hurry and cut out the black polka dots to get them on. I was so impressed that he took the time to make her polka dots so that she could have a cool cast! He is the best!
He also mentioned how swollen her arm and hand were and that her swollen hand was top five of swollen body parts that he has seen. He wanted me to make sure she kept her arm elevated for the next day to get the swelling down.
Finally we got to go in to the recovery room to see her after her surgery while she was trying to wake up. I thought she looked so little and sweet all chilled out in the bed. The nurses all loved her and kept saying what a great patient she was and they wanted to keep her.
This was a picture I took of her swollen hand before she went in for her surgery. It was even puffier after her surgery. I told her if the swelling never went down I would be forced to call her Fat Fingers Avynlea. She thought that was not amusing.
When I brought Avynlea home she laid on the couch and Rylee took good care of her. She brought over the gifts that Sara and Alison had given her and laid them all around her.
On Friday Avynlea stayed home again from school but on Sat we had to go and get Dance pictures and so she had some friends there sign her cast. Then again at church on Sunday she had her cast signed. The Dr put a split down the length of the cast in case of swelling and so we will need to go back in a week or so to get a new one put on. I wonder what design she will get next. Avynlea has been so brave and awesome during this ordeal and I am super impressed with how she has handled it all. I know that she is anxious to get back to school but I think I will miss having her here at home with me. I am glad that she is feeling better and hope she has a quick recovery.
