Like many of you, there hasn’t been much going on these past 52 days. It’s funny to only realize the blessing in that after your daughter comes in from playing with an injury!
She’d been bouncing on the trampoline with her sister Saturday afternoon, and had apparently neglected to zip the safety net closed. She tumbled right out through the opening and hit the ground hard with a sharp whimper that caught Josh’s attention. She got up, dusted herself off, and began to shake her arm hard because of the strange pain she was feeling. Josh stopped her and tried to gauge her reaction to her fall–she kept wincing so he brought her to me. She seemed to be calming herself enough and claimed she was fine, but then she began cradling her arm, which made me suspicious. After making her wiggle her fingers and grip my hand, and asking her where it hurt (all without tears) I decided to pull out my newly acquired Village Medical Manual (from my Medical Missionary Intensive [MMI]) to see if there was a way to know for sure whether it was broken or not. Sure enough, there was a “bone fracture test”. I administered the test and it was obvious that it was causing her pain (poor baby). So I used a triangular bandage (also something I learned at MMI) to sling her arm, and took off for the hospital.
When we got to the ER they issued us masks and asked us to use hand sanitizer. We signed in and waited for 5-10 minutes. Our nurse complimented me on the use of the triangular bandage! HA! It really did feel good to be able to help Anna and actually know that I was doing the right thing by taking her to the ER. Many factors were in my mind weighing one way or the other, like the pandemic, and just how tough she truly is (she broke her other arm at 18 months old and acted fine so I delayed taking her in for almost 24 hours – yikes!). It was helpful to have the training which emboldened me to take the right risks and avoid the wrong ones.
Within an hour they found the buckle fracture in her arm with an X-ray. But they almost didn’t X-ray it! Not through negligence, mind you, but because when the nurse asked her for her pain level on the scale, and she answered 5. She is so tough! They were starting to think she hadn’t broken it and were considering sending us home. Thankfully they reconsidered and used the X-ray, finding the buckle fracture, and getting her on the mend.
Here are some fun pictures of us killing time in the ER while they decided how to proceed. She is such a trooper, not a single tear or complaint. It’s moments like these that make me even more thankful for my kids. I am so blessed to be their mother. Which naturally leads me into Mother’s Day. Below is a picture of the kids first thing in the morning crowding around with breakfast and cards and COUPONS! Woot woot! I love me some good coupons, mm-hmm. I already used several today. The kitchen floor is now mopped, the living room is now vacuumed, and Anna has been reading books and playing games with Asher. It’s such a joy to have such great kids.
