Birdie’s broken wing

Well, today she went to the ortho for her scheduled appointment and we learned quite a few things. This post is a bit long-winded. You have been warned. Before I get to those things let me ’splain a little summin’ I learned.

You remember how I was talking so sweetly about how good Birdie was being about following the rules of the trampoline? One rule we have is that no one is to get on the trampoline without an adult out there (or for the older three, without a sibling out there just in case). Since we moved here we’ve been a bit relaxed with that rule because the trampoline is right outside the den window where there is plain, clear view of the trampoline. Since her fall Monday afternoon I was feeling rather guilty about having relaxed that rule. I mean, there she was in plain view and SmockDaddy could see her clear as day. I was napping with Bairno and all I got was the story about what happened. Anyway, SmockDaddy either was not looking directly out there or had walked away or maybe he was in the bathroom. I don’t know, nor do I care, because I am not putting blame on him, I am just saying how it went down. Earlier in the day a different child (who is old enough to know better) had thrown a rope (where this rope came from I don’t know) over the bars of the trampoline (the bars that held up the safety net that is no longer attached). Birdie, being Birdie, decided it would be fun to pretend to be Tarzan with that rope. But Tarzan she was not. In her words: “I had a little taste of George (George of the Jungle). And dirt.” Know that with those words I can not express how hard it was for me to hold back the full blown laughter. Not at her pain, but her choice of words. Unfortunately, the ER doctor did not get the humored version. While confession is good for the soul. I hope a lesson has been learned.

Birdie is small, very small, but tall. Skinny, I should call her skinny. She’s not unhealthy, just all legs and skinny – that’s one reason I call her Birdie. And, well, she has bird legs. I could go on. I won’t for now, but it fits her quite well. So this little girl is at the ER on Monday getting fitted for a Pediatric Elastic Shoulder Immobilizer that is a temporary fix/hold until she gets to the ortho. The original plan was for her to get another x-ray today and then a hard cast followed by another x-ray to confirm the alignment. So Tuesday rolls around and she sits in pain and just starts shedding tears every now and again and twice there was a cry out of pain. Now, I can not stress enough how much of a drama queen this child id, but I can tell you that when she is truly hurt, there’s a little less noise involved than when there is a need desire/demand for attention.

The temporary splint they put on her is still way too big even though it’s for pediatric use. Today at the doctor’s office they took another x-ray. The bone was lined up quite well and looked good. This break is very uncommon for children, actually quite rare. This break is surprisingly common in adults though. The doc said that for her, this break will heal very well, so well, in fact that by the time she is grown there will be no visible account of this break on an x-ray. It is just getting to that point that is hard. Every move she makes right now hurts her arm; walking even hurts her arm. Dr. M explained that he didn’t think she needed a permanent (read: hard, fiberglass) cast. And to put that kind of cast on her arm it would need to include her shoulder and would make it immobile. It would be hard for her to move around and get dressed. BUT, what he wanted to use would allow her to use her shoulder when she felt like it, bathe, and dress more easily. It would involve a pressure sock and a hemural fracture brace like this one only much, much smaller. There is only one problem: they didn’t have one small enough. Remember, I said that this kind of break in a child is rare and is much more common in adults. Problem extended: they won’t have one until next Wednesday. So in the meantime she has to wear the too big brace and just deal. She is going to end up with a very crooked back if I don’t do something to it. Tomorrow I am going to put a stitch in the elastic body portion of the PESI to allow the Velcro around the back to actually line up (the hooks wrap way past the loops and it slides down past her hips and she ends up walking like a hunchback to keep her wrist lined up with her arm and the brace). There will probably be screaming (from Birdie) and gnashing of teeth (from me) as I make it clear that I have to take it off for a bit. She heard Dr. M. say that it was OK to take it off for a quick bath so maybe I can encourage that too. Tomorrow will be a good day to do this as everyone else but Bairno, Birdie, and me will be gone. Right now we are keeping her home and away from any crowds or anywhere that she may get bumped. CowBoy bumped into her this morning and she almost threw up with the pain. It was an accident, but I am beginning to think that a hard cast, while a bigger more constrictive cast, might be the way to go.

So tomorrow I’ll upload the picture of Birdie’s x-ray (I’m not hooked up to my scanner right now).