In memory of our family’s first hospital visit one year ago today, I’m going to do my best to rehash our experiences when Avery broke her wrist.
On the day before Labor Day 2017, Aunt Karen offered to take Avery and Damon to the park for a picnic and some fun on the playground. Chris and I took advantage of this and went out to lunch. Just as we got our food, Karen called me. She said Avery hurt herself on the playground. She slipped off the monkey bars and tried to catch herself. Karen thought we needed to check her out, so we decided to meet at home.
When we got home, Avery was still in Karen’s car so Chris checked her arm. It was swollen and he thought it could be broken, so we went straight to the hospital. Chris and I rode with Avery, and Karen drove Damon in our car. Avery was crying, and I was on the verge of tears just because I couldn’t do anything to help her.
We are glad we live so close to the hospital because we arrived at the ER just a few minutes later. Chris went inside to get a nurse and a wheelchair. We immediately went into an exam room, and Karen and Damon waited in the waiting area. The nurse and a doc did examined Avery and gave her some pain meds. They said the next step would be an X-ray. As we waited, Chris told Karen to take Damon to our house. Then he contacted the grandparents. He asked them to hang out with Karen at home because she was quite distressed that this happened under her watch!
As we waited for the X-ray to be performed, Chris made a quick trip home to pick up a few things, including a stuffed animal companion for Avery.
The X-ray was done in the ER exam room. We were able to see the digital image on a screen as soon as the X-ray was taken. I was still being optimistic that it was just a bad sprain. But when we saw the image on the screen, we could tell Avery’s arm was broken. We had to wait a while to get confirmation from a doctor and then talk to him about the next steps. The nurses wrapped Avery’s arm as well as they could and gave her another dose of pain meds.
Finally, the doctor said Avery broke her wrist in two places. Okay, we thought. She’ll get a cast, and we’ll be able to go home. But it turned out that the breaks were so bad that they required pins, which meant surgery. By this time, it was around 5 or 6 p.m. Aunt Karen had taken Damon home to spend the night with her, and the grandparents were on the way to the hospital to sit with us during the surgery.
Next Avery was wheeled to pre-op where we completed the paperwork and met the surgeon. He explained the surgery and the recovery. It was all kind of a blur. It was difficult to see our little baby in a big hospital bed! Luckily the pain meds were working, so she wasn’t uncomfortable. We explained to Avery what was going to happen, though I’m sure she didn’t understand much. We prayed together, then she was taken to surgery. At that point, Chris broke down, which led me to start crying too! It was just hard to send her off to an unknown surgery.
We were surprised to see so many friends in the waiting room along with Mommaw and Poppaw and Grandma and Grandpa. The surgery lasted only about 45 minutes. Then we saw Avery in the recovery room. We knew we were in the clear, so we sent everyone home. Avery was taken to the pediatrics unit to be monitored for a few hours. She had the sweetest grandma-type nurse there. She gave Avery a nice note along with a balloon and a stuffed animal.
While Avery rested in the pediatrics unit, we were waiting for her discharge instructions. There was some confusion about who was responsible for discharging her – the ER doc, the surgeon, or the peds unit. Finally around 10:30 p.m., we were allowed to go home. She was still kind of groggy. We bundled her up in our bed with me, placing a few pillows under and around her cast. Then she and I fell asleep in no time.
Monday, Sept. 4
We were so grateful that the next day was Labor Day. That meant Avery could rest at home before getting back into the school routine…now with a cast. She hung out on the couch for most of the day. She seemed to feel good, just needed to rest and get used to having a heavy cast on her right arm! In the afternoon, Karen brought Damon home. Avery also had visits from Grandma and Grandpa, Mommaw and Poppaw and the Berkemeiers. Everyone brought little gifts to cheer up our patient. The Berkemeiers brought DQ Blizzards!
We talked a little bit about adjusting to things at school, like asking friends to help her write things during class and carry her lunch tray. I promised to eat lunch with her on Tuesday, and I told her I’d drive her to and from school for a few days. I sent an email to her teacher to warn her about the cast, and I notified her piano teacher that she’d be away from lessons for a few months!
Tuesday, Sept. 5
Avery survived her first day back at school. While she doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, I think she liked having a little bit of attention on her that day!
Wednesday, Sept. 6
We started the morning with an office visit with the surgeon. They covered the post-op cast with Avery’s color choice – pink, of course!
At just a few days in, I was amazed at how easily Avery adjusted to this new situation. She quickly learned how to live with a cast, both at home and at school. If I had to lose the use of one arm for a few months, I wouldn’t be able to handle it as well as Avery did!
Tuesday, Sept. 12
This was Avery’s one-week post-op appointment. She had new X-rays, just to be sure everything was on the right path to healing correctly.
Those were two nasty breaks!
The pins were in the right place and doing what they’re supposed to do!
Thursday, Sept. 28
For five months, Karen and I had been planning the trip of a lifetime – a ten-day sister trip through Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. I already was a bit stressed out as I thought about leaving Chris to deal with the kids and all that entailed. Then we threw a cast into the mix! Of course, they all did just fine without me. I had to miss this doctor appointment. They removed the pink cast and the pins then took more X-rays to check on the growth progress. Honestly, I’m a little happy that I didn’t have to watch the pin removal! Then they put Avery in a short cast.
Wednesday, Oct. 18
This was our next follow-up appointment. They removed the green cast, took new X-rays, and declared that she could move to a soft brace. We were all happy about the healing that happened!
Thursday, Nov. 2
Today was the final appointment! Avery was given the all-clear. No more brace and no more doctor’s appointments!
Avery was quite a trouper throughout this experience. She really amazed me with how well she adjusted to living with a cast. Now that we’ve had our first ER visit, surgery, and cast, we’re ready to tackle the next ones, which are sure to come with Damon!