A First for Daniel

Last Tuesday night at soccer practice, Daniel fell on his arm. At first, not having seen his fall, I thought he was just tired and overreacting to his fall. He was crying but not hysterical or screaming, I kept telling him to shake it off and get back out there. After 10 minutes or so of him crying, we left the field for home. While in the car, he had to move his arm to get his seat belt on and started screaming. Really screaming. All the way home. And to top it off, Birdie decided she also had a boo boo and started crying and screaming too! That 6 minute drive home felt like we were going across town.

Since I couldn't get a hold of Brian, I called my dad, who was on his way into the neighborhood to have dinner with his mother. He and my mom both stopped by the house to help me determine what to do with his arm. While waiting for a call back from the pediatrician, Papa got Daniel to settle down by immobilizing his arm straight at his side. By the time Dr. D called back, Daniel had fallen asleep. We decided to wait and take him straight to an orthopedic Dr. the next day rather than rush to the ER that night. She did advise us that our description of him holding his arm straight down by his side, not bending it, sounded like a fractured elbow.

Surprisingly, Daniel slept all night without any trouble. When he woke, he seemed to be doing just fine and was able to bend his arm a little without much pain. He did try and convince me he could play Wii with one hand or go to the playground without hurting. Yeah right.

By the time we got to the specialist Wednesday afternoon, I was convinced he had just sprained it. No such luck. Dr. D was right. He has a fracture on his elbow due to hyper extending his elbow when he landed on it. The Dr. told us he was lucky and everything was lined up just right, so no surgery or pins. Even though it was swollen, they were able to cast it that day.

I think I was more heartbroken over the whole thing than Daniel was. Course, he had gotten pampered all day (stayed home from preschool, taken to McDonald's, a trip to the library and now cool x-rays.) The technician, when he heard that Daniel had broken it playing soccer, added a great strip of soccer balls to the all blue cast. Very stylish and cute.

Daniel's first two days with the cast were great. Lots of attention, lots of jealousy from his sisters and he received a few special treats, like ice cream. At one point, Ashley cried that she too wanted to break her arm and get a cast. Seriously?? Then the reality started to sink in. No more soccer (he went to Saturday's game and watched), no more sandbox at school and no more swim team.

He doesn't seem to mind the cast now that its been a week. He is slowly learning how to do more things for himself (like putting on pants). We have an appointment in 3 weeks to get it taken off and have marked his calendar with a big star. He loves the fact that his arm will stink when the cast comes off. The stinkier the better according to him. There's no question he is all boy.