I went on a business trip with Shawn over the weekend (Thurs-Sat) to North Idaho. The trip was lovely and relaxing, even though we had rain and most of our "quality" time was in the car. We farmed each of the girls out to stay with friends for the 2 nights that we would be gone. On our way there the car started making some funny sounds and shimmying a little at low speeds and idling. Friday night, at dinner, we got a recommendation for a shop to take it to so we could have it checked out. So, Saturday morning, instead of doing a little more exploring, we drove into Ponderay to have the car checked. Turns out some bolt had fallen off of some thing-a-ma-jig and there was low compression in something-or-another, but it would be fine to drive home in and have it fixed by our mechanic. In fact, at high speeds the compression should be just fine. Phew! We didn't want to leave the girls another night and we hadn't send any Sunday clothes with them. So we pointed the car toward home, and off we went.
On our way home Saturday, around 2:15, I suddenly got a voice mail from Felicity saying that Lydia might have broken her arm and did I know anything? Ummm, NO, I didn't know anything. (We were in an area with bad reception, so communicating with everyone from this point on was a little hit and miss.) Well, turns out it really had just happened, and Lydia was still being transferred to the ER.
Here's the long version of what happened. Evelyn was missing her sisters, so she called and arranged to meet Lydia at the park, in our neighborhood, on their bikes. While Lydia was waiting for Evelyn, she rode down a hilly part of the bike path, and from what I gather, the bike stopped and Lydia kept going - right over the handlebars. She didn't hear anything break, but felt lots of PAIN and told some boys nearby that her arm was broken and to go get our friend that she was staying with. They didn't believe her, because she wasn't screaming and crying, so she showed them her misshapen arm so they would believe her. Then they asked why they should go get Mrs. H "of all people." She explained that we were out of town and that's who she was staying with, and they went right away to get her. Mr. H was able to back their car into the park so they could load Lydia in without having to move her too much.
Mrs. went straight to Urgent Care and I got a hold of her just as she was pulling into the parking lot - maybe 15 minutes after the accident. She went in and explained the injury to make sure this was where she should be and not the E.R. From the shape of the arm, they knew it was broken, but there was also a little blood on her sleeve, so they weren't sure if that was just from a scrape or something else. They assured her they could take care of it and brought out a wheelchair to take Lydia inside. They had to cut Lydia's sweatshirt off her arm since it was far too painful to pull it off. As soon as they saw the arm, they realized the bone had punctured the skin and that she needed to go to the hospital.
The Urgent Care facility called ahead to the E.R., so by the time they got there, they had a wheelchair and room ready and the paperwork started. One of the sisters in our ward was the nurse who was helping her and warned me that with this type of fracture, they often had to do surgery. I'm not sure of everything that happened at this point, but I know they took the x-rays and an orthopedic surgeon came to look at her. He called us and said they would have to wait until 6 to operate anyway, so her stomach would be empty, and since we thought we would be there around 8, he just wanted to wait until we got there.
We made a few calls to the 2 other girls and the families they were staying with to let them know what was going on and that we would be a little late picking them up. Everyone was so supportive and understanding! We have the best friends! We managed to make up some time (while not totally exceeding the speed limit) and beat our GPS's estimated time of arrival and got to the hospital around 7:15 p.m. They had moved her to the pediatric ward, and we called our home teacher and asked him to meet us there to give Lydia a blessing. As soon as we got there, we gave her loves and she said, "I broke my arm" and burst into tears. Shawn and our wonderful home teacher gave her a blessing, we looked at the x-rays and discussed our options with the doctor, and then they got her ready for surgery.
We walked down with her and then they showed us to the waiting room. I had asked about how long it would take, and one person told us maybe an hour to an hour and a half. Shawn went to pick up the other 2 girls at this point and get them home and settled. He would be going back later that night, and we thought they might be more comfortable and comforted to be together and in their own beds. (Well, actually, they both slept in Lissy's bed.) Shawn came back, and we waited, and waited. After about 2 1/2 hours, the surgeon came in and told us everything had gone well, and gave us the x-rays that showed the plates and screws. She should be able to have those removed in about 6 months.
We then went back up to her room to wait for her. About 11:30, they brought her in, very sleepy, and we gave her more hugs and kisses and told her she had done great! She kept saying (over and over again) that they told her to count to ten and she would start to feel sleepy, but after counting to five she never got to six because she fell asleep. Shawn stayed for a few minutes, and then went home to bed and to check on the girls.I spent the night on one of the lovely fold-out chairs, and actually slept fairly well from about 2:30 am (when the frequency of check-ins decreased) until about 6:30 am (when Lydia had to get up to go to the bathroom). After breakfast, Shawn brought Lissy and Evie in to visit and they stayed through lunch. Lydia had her full-course hospital lunch, and Shawn got subways for the rest of us. Lydia's appetite was in full force as she ate all of her lunch, and then finished my Subway for me. Later in the afternoon, the doctor came to check on her (in his Sunday suit) and write up the discharge orders. Shawn took the girls home while we waited for all the prescriptions and home healthcare nurse to be arranged, and then came and got us.
It was so good to finally be home from the hospital and vacation! I couldn't relax yet though because I knew people would be coming over to visit and the nurse would be coming. So I madly tidied up and vacuumed. The nurse came that night to do her paperwork and to give Lydia an IV antibiotic. She came again on Monday evening to give her another dose of IV antibiotic and to change the dressing. This was the first time I had seen the injury at all. She has two incisions that are stitched up that are 2-4 inches long. The inside one is very neat and tidy, but the outside one is a little less precise, since that is where the arm was punctured. The wounds looked great (for incisions), but we are still trying to get the swelling in her arm and hand down. During the dressing change Lydia didn't want to watch, but I finally convinced her it wasn't too bad on the side closest to her. She took one peek and quickly turned away and said, "Oooh, gross! it looks like little lips sticking out of my arm!" Felicity read to her each time to help pass the time, although it only took about 15 minutes for each IV drip.
Lydia has had several sweet visitors, from the family she was staying with, to neighbors and friends. She has received balloons, flowers, cards, snacks, treats and her friend even brought over 2 jackets (I need to confirm this was okay with her mom). We've slept through the night for three nights now and her pain is getting better each day. In fact, she hasn't even asked me for any pain meds today! (She eventually did later in the afternoon, and the next day I just gave her a regular Tylenol). We are keeping it elevated and putting ice on it regularly to try and get the swelling down. She also has a course of oral antibiotics to take to make sure no infection sets in.
Although an experience like this always stinks, I am grateful for SO many things:
- It wasn't anything worse :)
- Mr. and Mrs. H responded so quickly and with such calm compassion! They were amazing! Jen spent hours with Lydia, calmly reassuring her, and distracting her from the big boo-boo by focusing on a small scrape on her thumb instead. She kept us updated as we were driving home, helpless to do anything for our daughter. If I'm ever in her shoes, my only hope is that I can be so calm, reassuring and functional in a crisis like that!
- Our car was in good enough condition for us to come home
- We were already on our way home when it happened
- Lydia was wearing her helmet, preventing any head injuries
- Lydia was wearing a sweatshirt, which probably protected the bone from the pavement
- Modern medicine - x-rays, painkillers, general anesthesia, surgical techniques, etc.
- The doctor and nurses were all exceptional - taking such good care of not only Lydia, but our family (the girls really liked the cranberry-grape juice and cookies the nurse brought for us)
- Completely amazing neighbors and friends who support and help our family!
- The restoration of the gospel (complete with the power of the Priesthood), faith and prayer
- A loving home teacher, who came from his restaurant, on what I'm sure was a busy Saturday night, to give Lydia a blessing
- Lydia's glasses didn't break, even though they gave her a cut, scrape and a black eye (glad we got the "indestructible" ones)
- I sent emergency contact and insurance information with each of the girls "just in case." (Even though I was trying to use Murphy's Law to my advantage, thinking nothing bad would happen if I had all our bases covered.)
I'm sure I left out some small details, but I think this accounting is probably complete enough for our family history and anyone else who reads it :)
