Those Darn Monkey Bars

Over Memorial Weekend we decided to go for a walk as a family. I had the idea as we were walking by the elementary school to let the kids play on the playgrounds where they are going to go to school next year. This turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. Nathan just learned how to go across the monkey bars on his own and he was excited to show us. During his second time across, his hand slipped off of the bar and he belly flopped straight to the ground. I was worried that he had broken his ribs, but as soon as we picked him up Jon could tell that his arm was broken. So Jon went home with Jake and Max and I took Nathan to the ER.

Nathan was such a good sport in the hospital. He didn't cry at all and despite saying how boring it was there, he made the best of it.

The x-rays showed that he broke both bones in his left wrist. No one could believe how tough he was for how bad the break was. They ended up putting a splint on him and told us to go to the doctor in a few days to get his cast on.

After three hours in the ER we were ready to go. Nathan was pretty tired and fell asleep as soon we got home.

We went to the orthopedic surgeon a few days later and after looking at the x-rays the doctor told us that he had to set his bone back in place before they put the cast on. He asked if he should give Nathan a shot to numb his arm, but after explaining that it'll only hurt for a second and then will be fine, Nathan decided to just let him do it and not get the shot. Another BIG MISTAKE. The doctor popped his bone back into place and Nathan proceeded to cry for the next hour or so because it hurt so bad. I felt really bad that we didn't numb it first, but I guess I trusted the doctor that it wouldn't hurt after he did it. Nathan was going to get a Spider Man cast, but after the drama of popping the bone back into place, all he wanted to do was leave the office so we settled for an all red cast.

A week later Jon took Nathan back to the doctor's to have x-rays taken to make sure his arm was healing right. Unfortunately the x-rays showed that his radius had fallen back out of place. The doctor tried to set it again, but it just fell the other direction. So the doctor decided that he needed to have surgery and have a plate placed to hold the bone in place while it healed. They put a blue cast on in the meantime and the next week we went in for his surgery.

My dad and Jon gave Nathan a blessing the night before which helped calm his nerves a little, but he was still pretty nervous and not wanting to have surgery. The doctor had to cut his cast off which Nathan hates. He hates that machine- it is so loud and looks like a saw. Unfortunately we still have to do it 4 more times.

Once they got everything ready he was off to the operating room for the surgery. He looked at me as I was taking this picture and tried to give me a thumbs up that it was all going to be okay, but this was the best that he could do. It was so sad.

This is how he looked as they wheeled him away and this is when I lost it. I now understand how my mom felt when I got diagnosed with diabetes and she said that she would give anything for her to have it instead of me. Watching your kids suffer is the WORST feeling in the world, especially when there's nothing you can do to help them.

Jon had to leave to take Jake to school and go see a couple patients so I stayed and waited in the waiting room for over an hour. I was getting really nervous that it was taking so long, but the doctor eventually came and got me and said that everything went well. They let me go back to see him as he was waking up out of the anesthesia and he was not happy. He cried for about 20 minutes because he didn't really know what was going on. Having had nine surgeries in my lifetime, I know the feeling of waking up out of anesthesia and I hate it so I felt so bad for him.

He finally started feeling better and so we got him dressed and we were ready to go. This was the best smile he could muster up- poor kid.

He was so thirsty on the way home so he drank a ton of water and proceeded to throw it all up in the car. We then took it a little slower and eased into the food and water and he did better after that. He went home and layed on the couch for a few hours, but then he couldn't handle it any longer and he had to get up and play. You can't keep him down for very long!

Here's the x-rays showing the plate that they put in. He has to go back in three months and have another surgery to take the plate out. So not looking forward to that.

I took him in a few days after the surgery and they took some more x-rays and made sure the stitches looked good and then put yet another cast on.

The new color... Green!

(This was the best picture I could find of it.)

So here's the rest of his treatment plan:

-Go in this Thursday to get the stitches out and get another large cast on. He said he wants an orange one next.

-Go in a week later and get a short cast on. He said he wants this one to be yellow. Thankfully the short cast can be waterproof so he can actually get it wet.

-Go in two weeks later and get the short cast off.

-Go in 2 months after that to have another surgery and take the plate out.

-Get another cast on for 2 more weeks while the screw holes heal.

Wow. Who knew that falling from the monkey bars could cause so much trouble. Nathan's handling this all pretty well, but I still feel really bad for him. I'm hoping that everything goes well from here on out and he doesn't have any other unexpected problems. Poor little guy!