My Brave little Abigail

Murphy struck our house again this weekend....After school Abby came running in the house - she wanted to know if she could go play with a friend who was waiting outside. I reminded her that we were already going to grandma's house to help make some Valentine boxes. She hurried to go tell her friend....and tripped on the top step and flew to the bottom step - and landed on her right arm. She was screaming pretty hard - I didn't see the fall - so I didn't know if she was just embarrassed to be seen falling down the stairs by a boy, or if she was really hurt... I carefully helped her up - took her inside and looked at her arm. I was totally expecting to be able to put a band-aid on and send her on her way... Instead her arm was bent - and swelling fast! I figured it was broken - but I've never actually seen a broken arm before - so I went to Grandma Bradley's who is the expert of broken arms to have her take a look. She said - yep - you better get her to a doctor. She kept the other kids, and I was on my way.

I called our doctor to see where we should go for this. They said Primary Children's ER, or Instacare (who will send you to Primary Children's anyhow). I thought those were pretty poor choices to choose from. I really didn't want to spend 8 hours at the ER. So I called my sister and she told me of another option - to go to the sports medicine clinic here in Bountiful. I am sure glad I followed her advice. They got us in within 5 minutes of calling - and we didn't have to wait long to see the doctor.

The doctors and nurses there were so fantastic! They were so patient with Abby and helped her calm down. They took an x-ray of her arm. Definitely broken - even I could tell that! :) These aren't very clear pictures of the screen they showed me - but you can see where the bone is bent. Both bones were broken they said. Now for the gruesome part...skip to the end if you get squeamish. We again had two options - we could take Abby up to Primary Children's Hospital and they would put her under while they put the bone back in place OR we could stay at this doctor and they would numb the area and put the bone back in place. I told the doctor I needed to talk to Abby about it. so - I asked Abby what she wanted to do. She, at first, wanted to be put to sleep while it was all taken care of. But after I told her how long it would take to go up to Primary Children's, and I offered her 20$ (for saving us a bundle of money) she decided the better option was to stay put .

The doctor warned me that it would be very hard to watch. He said that Abby would probably kick, scream and be in a lot of pain. He said he would have his nurses hold her down so I wouldn't have to. I braced myself for the worst. Chris got to the doctor at this time - thank goodness. I thought I was prepared for what happened next - but I definitely wasn't expecting what really happened. Abby laid down on the bed calmly - then she started talking like she was on some kind of drug. She said some pretty hilarious things like "Can I watch you put the needle in? I have to go pee. I have to go poo really bad. You are so nice. I want to go to the pet store." I can't even remember all the things she said - but Chris and I kept looking at each other like, where in the world did that come from? She didn't kick, she didn't scream. She even watched them put the needle in. Almost instantly she said "that feels so good. Thank you so much." I think the doctor thought she was on something too. He said he'd never had a child react like that! Abby kept asking - are you done yet? that was so easy... She was just so still while he gave her the shots (and it took a good 5 minutes) then she didn't even complain when he readjusted her bone to put it back in place. She was such a good sport about it. It was one of those PROUD MOMMY MOMENTS! I know it wasn't me that taught her -but I was sure proud of her. She must have a really HIGH pain threshold.
After all of that - they put her arm in what they consider a soft cast. It's hard, and will keep her bone in place, but it will also allow the swelling to go down before they give her a more permanent cast. She will have it on for a week. When we got all done there and they did another x-ray - she kept telling the doctors thank you for helping her. She was so kind to them! It was very cute. And - remember - she was not on ANY pain killer at this point - it must have been shock that got her through it all. We didn't give her anything until we got back to Grandma's to pick up the kids.
She was such a trooper. I think she actually likes having a broken arm now - with all the attention she has been getting. She's going to milk it for all it's worth!!! So - watch out and just smile and pat her head... humor her a little - but not too much! :)

Let's hope that Murphy stays away for a few days!