Let’s start at the beginning:
It was a cold, wet, BUSY Saturday. Jason’s parents, our niece Nakia, brother Clint, and nephew Ben were in town for Nakia’s soccer tournament and our nieces Hannah and Graci’s dance recital. Our plan for the day was to attend Nakia’s soccer game at 8 am, try to score free bike helmets from Key Bank at 11 am, second soccer game at 2, then dance recital at 5:30. That’s a full day for our family of five let alone coordinating with the rest of the family! We made it to the first game and had a great time watching Kia play.
She played well, and Nathan couldn’t resist playing his own game on the sidelines. We grabbed some breakfast, some underarmor for Kia, missed out on the helmets but scored some yummy cookies : ), grabbed flowers for Hannah and Graci, and made it to the second game. By this time, it was pouring.
We talked about his new cast, explained that it would be his new friend for a while, and named it Casper. He drank some apple juice, threw up, and was released. He was given a prescription of Tylenol with Codeine, but it didn’t seem to be working. He would wake up every 5-15 minutes started and screaming in pain. I called the pharmacist in the middle of the night and he suggested I give him Motrin. That didn’t help either. I called the doctor the next day and he suggested I double his dose of Tylenol and wait to see if that helped. He still couldn’t sleep, so, we called the doctor again (by this time it was about 8 pm). He suggested that Nathan was experiencing muscle spasms and told us he’d do some research and call in a prescription for Valium. No prescription had been called in, so we paged him at 1am, still nothing. We paged him again at 3am and finally got a hold of him. He had gotten caught up in surgery and forgot to call in the prescription. Jason ran to the pharmacy (I am sooo glad there is a 24 hour pharmacy here!) After his first dose, Nathan finally was able to sleep. That seemed to correct the problem. We tapered the medication to where he wasn’t taking any by Thursday. He has done so well. We had a problem with the liner of his cast separating and urine leaking into the padding of the cast, but I think that is something we simply cannot avoid. At his follow-up appointment, his x-rays showed that he was healing as expected. At this point he had 25% displacement allowing for over-growth compensation. They cut out a portion of the back of his cast to eliminate some of the urine problem, and Nathan giggled the whole time. Then he peed on me. I’m sure he will find this very amusing some day. Although they cut out some of the stinky cast, he has since leaked in other places where the liner has separated and now he seems to have taken on a new odor. I have considered hanging a car freshener from the rod on his cast. :)
I worried how he’d do with the constraints of the cast, but he has done remarkably well. He gets frustrated at times and can be a bit bossy once in a while, but, I can be that way without a spica cast! He has started to move him self around. He can scoot across the floor and got off the couch by himself yesterday. He’s played a LOT of wii (thank God for Wii Sports!), we’ve read a lot of books, and watched a lot of cartoons. We are so grateful for the loving and helpful family and friends that have surrounded us.
We went back to the doctor's office yesterday and learned that Nathan will be in his cast until July 1st. We will definitely be counting down the days! The x-rays showed an increase of displacement from 25% to 50%. The PA assured us that it was perfectly okay and that he’d make a full recovery.
This has been a difficult experience for us, but, in the broad spectrum of things that could go wrong, we have been very lucky. He’ll be okay and we are so very grateful.
She played well, and Nathan couldn’t resist playing his own game on the sidelines. We grabbed some breakfast, some underarmor for Kia, missed out on the helmets but scored some yummy cookies : ), grabbed flowers for Hannah and Graci, and made it to the second game. By this time, it was pouring.
Poor Kia, she was soaked & freezing!!
We bundled up the kids, loaded them up in the stroller and sat on the sidelines for as long as we could manage (basically until we were soaked). Nathan didn’t want to leave. He wanted to kick his soccer ball to the car. Grandpa Huffman tried to keep him dry by chasing him with the umbrella and managed to convince him to allow Grandpa to pack him. It was WET and COLD! We got home, rested for a bit, and Makayla and I got ready for the dance recital.
Jason took Nathan and Christian over to Travis and Brandi’s to play with Clint, Ben, Nakia, Nicole, Brad, Grandpa, and Alex during the recital. During the opening of the dance recital we were asked to silence our phones, being the rule-follower that I am, I did. I put my phone in my pocket. With the grace of God, I took it out and put it on vibrate. I am so glad I did. We watched Graci perform. She did wonderful, I was so proud!
A few dances later, my phone vibrates. I heard Nathan screaming in the background and Jason’s panic-stricken voice told me they were headed to the ER. I instantly felt sick. Makayla stayed behind with Brandi and Grandma. I ran out of the auditorium toward my car, glanced behind me, and saw Travis running after me. He offered to take me to the hospital. I was a wreck. {Thank you so much Travis!} He dropped me off at the ER entrance and I met Jason at the desk. They had just arrived. Nathan had been saying, “Need Mommy!!” and I wasn’t there. That is heartbreaking. By this time, he was visibly upset but wasn’t screaming or really crying that hard. Yes, when he moved he would holler, but that is a given. He was so tough and so brave. He kept telling us that he was "done." After three doses of morphine he was finally able to relax. The nurses and staff at the hospital were very kind and explained everything to us. I kept calling our ER nurse Dan, Jason swears his name was Eric. {He didn’t mention this to me until after we left the hospital :)} They kept asking us questions, and we really didn’t know how he had gotten hurt. That was frustrating. At this point, Jason had thought Nathan got his leg caught in a chair and fell. He had been in the living room taking care of Christian when Nathan had gotten hurt in the dining room. It wasn’t until later that we understood that Nathan had been looking out the patio window, turned around and stepped on a ball that he hadn’t noticed, and fell as his leg twisted the wrong way.
After a few x-rays, we were told he had a spiral fracture of his femur.
These xrays are from yesterdays appointment, after they set the bone. Doesn't look good to me, but, the PA says that it's "perfectly okay." I really hope he's right.
I was physically ill and completely heartbroken. I have never felt so helpless. The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Nicola, arrived and explained to us that he’d put Nathan in a body (spica) cast in the operating room and would need to put him under anesthesia so that he would not move. I told Nathan that he was going to take a little nap, kissed him on the head and told him how brave I thought he was and Jason did the same. They wheeled him into the operating room and we waited. The nurses told us that he did not even cry when they took him back, only his little lip quivered.
Steve and Janet brought Christian to the hospital and waited with us. The doctor returned to tell us that he was able to set the fracture and thought he’d heal nicely. We were told to book a follow-up appointment the following week. We joined Nathan in the recovery room right as he was waking up.
Jason took Nathan and Christian over to Travis and Brandi’s to play with Clint, Ben, Nakia, Nicole, Brad, Grandpa, and Alex during the recital. During the opening of the dance recital we were asked to silence our phones, being the rule-follower that I am, I did. I put my phone in my pocket. With the grace of God, I took it out and put it on vibrate. I am so glad I did. We watched Graci perform. She did wonderful, I was so proud!
A few dances later, my phone vibrates. I heard Nathan screaming in the background and Jason’s panic-stricken voice told me they were headed to the ER. I instantly felt sick. Makayla stayed behind with Brandi and Grandma. I ran out of the auditorium toward my car, glanced behind me, and saw Travis running after me. He offered to take me to the hospital. I was a wreck. {Thank you so much Travis!} He dropped me off at the ER entrance and I met Jason at the desk. They had just arrived. Nathan had been saying, “Need Mommy!!” and I wasn’t there. That is heartbreaking. By this time, he was visibly upset but wasn’t screaming or really crying that hard. Yes, when he moved he would holler, but that is a given. He was so tough and so brave. He kept telling us that he was "done." After three doses of morphine he was finally able to relax. The nurses and staff at the hospital were very kind and explained everything to us. I kept calling our ER nurse Dan, Jason swears his name was Eric. {He didn’t mention this to me until after we left the hospital :)} They kept asking us questions, and we really didn’t know how he had gotten hurt. That was frustrating. At this point, Jason had thought Nathan got his leg caught in a chair and fell. He had been in the living room taking care of Christian when Nathan had gotten hurt in the dining room. It wasn’t until later that we understood that Nathan had been looking out the patio window, turned around and stepped on a ball that he hadn’t noticed, and fell as his leg twisted the wrong way.
After a few x-rays, we were told he had a spiral fracture of his femur.
These xrays are from yesterdays appointment, after they set the bone. Doesn't look good to me, but, the PA says that it's "perfectly okay." I really hope he's right.
I was physically ill and completely heartbroken. I have never felt so helpless. The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Nicola, arrived and explained to us that he’d put Nathan in a body (spica) cast in the operating room and would need to put him under anesthesia so that he would not move. I told Nathan that he was going to take a little nap, kissed him on the head and told him how brave I thought he was and Jason did the same. They wheeled him into the operating room and we waited. The nurses told us that he did not even cry when they took him back, only his little lip quivered.
Steve and Janet brought Christian to the hospital and waited with us. The doctor returned to tell us that he was able to set the fracture and thought he’d heal nicely. We were told to book a follow-up appointment the following week. We joined Nathan in the recovery room right as he was waking up.
We talked about his new cast, explained that it would be his new friend for a while, and named it Casper. He drank some apple juice, threw up, and was released. He was given a prescription of Tylenol with Codeine, but it didn’t seem to be working. He would wake up every 5-15 minutes started and screaming in pain. I called the pharmacist in the middle of the night and he suggested I give him Motrin. That didn’t help either. I called the doctor the next day and he suggested I double his dose of Tylenol and wait to see if that helped. He still couldn’t sleep, so, we called the doctor again (by this time it was about 8 pm). He suggested that Nathan was experiencing muscle spasms and told us he’d do some research and call in a prescription for Valium. No prescription had been called in, so we paged him at 1am, still nothing. We paged him again at 3am and finally got a hold of him. He had gotten caught up in surgery and forgot to call in the prescription. Jason ran to the pharmacy (I am sooo glad there is a 24 hour pharmacy here!) After his first dose, Nathan finally was able to sleep. That seemed to correct the problem. We tapered the medication to where he wasn’t taking any by Thursday. He has done so well. We had a problem with the liner of his cast separating and urine leaking into the padding of the cast, but I think that is something we simply cannot avoid. At his follow-up appointment, his x-rays showed that he was healing as expected. At this point he had 25% displacement allowing for over-growth compensation. They cut out a portion of the back of his cast to eliminate some of the urine problem, and Nathan giggled the whole time. Then he peed on me. I’m sure he will find this very amusing some day. Although they cut out some of the stinky cast, he has since leaked in other places where the liner has separated and now he seems to have taken on a new odor. I have considered hanging a car freshener from the rod on his cast. :)
I worried how he’d do with the constraints of the cast, but he has done remarkably well. He gets frustrated at times and can be a bit bossy once in a while, but, I can be that way without a spica cast! He has started to move him self around. He can scoot across the floor and got off the couch by himself yesterday. He’s played a LOT of wii (thank God for Wii Sports!), we’ve read a lot of books, and watched a lot of cartoons. We are so grateful for the loving and helpful family and friends that have surrounded us.
We went back to the doctor's office yesterday and learned that Nathan will be in his cast until July 1st. We will definitely be counting down the days! The x-rays showed an increase of displacement from 25% to 50%. The PA assured us that it was perfectly okay and that he’d make a full recovery.
This has been a difficult experience for us, but, in the broad spectrum of things that could go wrong, we have been very lucky. He’ll be okay and we are so very grateful.
