Broken Arm, Broken Heart

August 26, 2010

I looked up to see him hanging in mid-air only to see him hit the ground a millisecond later. My heart stopped and I ran to him. Thinking he had merely knocked the wind out of himself, I helped him up. He was grabbing his right elbow and crying. Not that loud screaming cry, but a quiet hard weeping. Something was definitely different about that. I sat him down and looked to see that his arm, right above his elbow, was completely deformed. Breckin had broken his arm. I called Jere who was on his way home from work. Thankfully, he was close. He stopped as close as he could to where we were and we loaded 2 bikes, 1 stroller, 1 dog and 5 people into his car and headed home. On the way home, I arranged for care for the younger two and Jeremiah and I headed to the ER.

In the ER, Jeremiah and I were told that Breckin’s arm was broken and we would be sent downtown to have it fixed….with surgery. My heart dropped. Surgery. Again. For those counting this is the second time one of our children has had surgery in the last month. And it is the third time Breckin has needed surgery. So, downtown we went, where we waited. We waited all night long. Breckin was in agony, but he had to wait until the morning for surgery. He cried, he repeatedly said he was scared, and he was very concerned he would not be able to play the Wii with a broken arm. A dose of morphine later, he was no longer crying but saying hilarious things that, to him, were serious. He was very serious when ordering his ice water. Very specific instructions. He was appalled that the night nurses work during the night and sleep during the day. He did not want to wear a puppy gown and he did NOT like his IV. But it was all very funny.

8am yesterday morning he was wheeled back to surgery. 9:30am he was out of surgery and in recovery. By 11am we were back to his room where we stayed until about 3pm. It took him a while to come out of it but once he did, he was ready to eat and drink a root beer, something he had repeatedly asked for. He is still in a great deal of pain and hates to move his arm. He is mainly sitting and not willing/able to move around a lot. Needless to say, he is out of school at least until Monday, out of PE for the next 3 months, and not allowed to do recess for 3 months. He really did a number on himself.

As a mother, it is extremely hard to watch your child in agony and not blame yourself. To not wish you could take it all away. To not give that child anything and everything he wants. It is emotional and so very hard.

The silver lining….the generosity of those around me. I called a neighbor to come to the house and watch the little ones as we took B to the ER. She came happily and immediately without hesitation. So many friends gleefully offered to take the little ones yesterday. I actually had to choose a volunteer. Their generosity was amazing. And when I went to my friends house to pick the kids up, she had also made us brownies. Now that is friendship. Not only that, the neighbor mowed our yard today because he knew we wouldn’t be able to do it anytime soon. I love how God uses every catastrophe, no matter how small to show us His love and help us serve Him.

Today a girl from Breckin’s class came over with get well cards his class had made. They were adorable. I think my favorite was the one with a picture of Breckin falling from the monkey bars. So funny.

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