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May. 29, 2008
Ian's broken arm
Saturday evening we heard a scream and a cry from the library. We ran in to where the boys had all been gathered on one chair at the computer. Ian, 4 years old, had jumped off the back of the chair. It was obvious to us that he had broken his arm.
We brought him to a walk-in clinic after first calling to be sure they could do x-rays and set a broken arm. When we got there the staff was great and gently took x-rays. The x-rays showed that he had a broken elbow that would require surgery. They placed his arm in a hard splint, gave him a shot of morphine for the pain and sent us off to the ER.
The poor little guy had to have *closed reduction surgery* which means that they had to manually arrange the bones and the fragment and hold it all together with pins. His arm was put in another hard splint and he was kept overnight for observation. He had a lot of swelling the first couple of days but it is gradually looking better every day. The doctor is a little concerned about possible nerve damage. He has not been able to bend the first joint on the index finger yet. The doctor said there isn't really anything to be done but it is a little too early to tell. We are praying for full function for the entire arm, hand and fingers.
Now that he is feeling better and a little more like himself, the trick is to keep him from climbing things or hanging precariously by his good hand or getting rough with his brothers!
Observations and comments from Ian:
I asked him why he jumped off the chair and he said rather sadly, "I thought it would be cool."
We got in the car to take him in and told our two older daughters to take good care of the other kids, we didn't know how long this would take. Ian said, "Yeah, don't let them jump off of any chairs."
As I was buckling him into his booster seat in the car he said, "I hate it when I break my arm." As if this was something he did all the time! |
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Posted by joyfulmom11 
Aug. 14, 2008 - broken arm
My daughter broke her arm in May and had to have open reduction surgery. Her break has healed well and the only problem we still have is that she cant use her index finger and thumb very well and cant bend the first joint on her index finger. Did your little boy start bending his first finger after his break? We have been to the doctor but they say there is no explanation for the lack of use and it will come back but we see no improvement in it. She is only 3 so we are hoping she will be able to move it shortly! Thanks for any help.
Tracy Russell