Here's what happened: Kevin was doing something he's been told a million times NOT to do--reaching out and pressing the buttons on the fan in the living room. It's a tall fan that stands on the floor. Kevin thinks it's funny to press all the buttons (they beep) until it shuts off. Well, this time, he was kneeling on the armchair, and he leaned over to press the buttons. He lost his balance and fell. It's not a high chair, and we have carpet in the living room, so it shouldn't have caused a major injury. However, Kevin landed directly on his right elbow, and his elbow hit the base of the fan, instead of the carpet.
I was feeding Ryan, so I couldn't physically stop his fall. Also, not thinking it was a big deal, I basically told Kevin to quit fussing and come show me where it hurt. Right away, he said, "My arm." I checked him all over, and he seemed okay at first. Then, he wouldn't stop crying, and he laid down on our little Dora couch and didn't move his arm at all. I looked at the arm a few minutes later, and saw his elbow looked a bit swollen. Now I knew he needed to go to the clinic. Papa had to take him, since Rod was out of town, and I had to stay with the other kids. They came back with the result that Kevin had a fractured right elbow, he was in a temporary sling, and we had to go to the fracture clinic at Met to see a specialist early the next morning.
Meanwhile, we had planned a visit to Aunt Claire's house for that day because Grama Marty and Grampa Rick were visiting from Montana. Also, it was ridiculously hot that day, and Aunt Claire invited us over for a swim! Kevin said he still wanted to go over, so we dosed him with Advil and set off to Aunt Claire's house in the afternoon.
When we got to Aunt Claire's, they kindly set up a cooling-off area especially for Kevin, since he couldn't go swimming. They filled a ball-pit with cold water, put a plastic bag over his temporary sling and splint, and turned the hose on to a trickle for him to play with it.
He was pretty content with that set-up for a while. He liked getting drinks from the hose and having his own special chair by the little pool.
Later he got pretty mad when he realized he couldn't go in the big pool with everyone else, and he was having a tough time playing with the toys. Everyone felt so bad for the poor little guy, so they loaded him up with Popsicles and candies.
***
The next morning, we went to Met and saw Dr. McCaffrey. He said Kevin has a supercondular (sp.?) fracture in his right elbow, and needs to be in a cast for 3 weeks. He said it's a common enough fracture, and should heal cleanly. So, his assistant made a blue cast (Kevin's choice) from Kevin's wrist to upper arm, and gave him a better sling. Kevin was a bit nervous, but he behaved surprisingly well, and the process didn't hurt him at all. He was a bit sore for the first few days, though.
The hardest part for Kevin has been dealing with the sling and cast on his right arm. It makes him so frustrated because he can't play the way he usually does (he's predominantly right-handed). He has an especially hard time playing with his trains and cars, which are his favourite toys! He also has a hard time getting into a comfortable sleeping position, with the result that every night since he's gotten the cast, he's crawled into Mommy and Daddy's bed around midnight. He's also mad because he likes baths, and we'd prefer him to have showers to keep the cast dry.
We went for a follow-up x-ray and appointment, and Kevin is healing well. Dr. McCaffrey says we should get the cast off on July 28. Thank goodness he will only have to wear it for three weeks!
1 comment:
I'm nominating you for sainthood!
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