Update on Samuel's arm

This morning, we went to the pediatrician. The appointment was at 11:15, but it was after 12:00 before the doctor came in. After an exam, he sent us to radiology (in the same building) for Xrays of everything from his collar bone to his fingertips. He was concerned about all of it because Samuel was wincing anytime you touched ANY of that arm. When we were done, the Xray tech walked us back to the exam room in the pedi's office & went to visit w/ the doc. I heard him ask "so how does he look?" and heard her respond "well.....there's one thing...." before the exam room door closed.

When he came in, he told us that they were concerned about 1 area that looked like an indentation in the bone right at the point where the big knot/scrape is. However, you couldn't see the indentation on another Xray of the same area taken from a different angle. He wasn't sure if it was something to be concerned about because it looked like a buckle in the bone (a little break) OR if it was nothing since you couldn't see it on the 2nd Xray. He said that there was a chance it was just "hidden" because of the angle of the Xray.

He sent us to a pediatric orthopedist. They called to make an appointment w/ the doc for us & first came back to tell us that the doc was on vacation & they were going to try to get us in with a different doc. About 15 min later, they came back & said that the original doctor was there after all & that he said he could fit us in if we'd "come right over".

It was nearly 2:00 when we left his office. We were all starving at that point, but since he had said that the ortho doc was waiting for us, we went straight there. I was really hoping that if they were truely waiting for us that we'd get in & out fairly quick. I promised the kids that we'd get something to eat immediately after the ortho appointment.

There are 2 offices for this particular group of orthopedists in town & of course they sent us to the wrong office, which made me feel more rushed to have to run back to the car & drive like crazy to get to the other office. When we got there, the kids were cranky & picking at each other & driving me nuts. I apologized to the lady at the desk, telling her that we were way past lunch time & everyone was starving. She pulled out a basket of chips & crackers & pretzels & offered all of the kids something. I was so grateful! They were able to munch on those while I filled out new patient paperwork. We waited for probably 1/2 an hour before going back to the exam room where we sat for another hour.

All this time, I was trying to get Samuel to sit still b/c every time he bumped his arm, he'd scream & start crying. He was bored to tears (as were the girls) and he kept wanting to get down off the table & walk around or go back & forth from sitting to laying down -- anything to MOVE around. The girls read every book & magazine in the office & we had played every game we could come up with by this point. We'd been sitting (mostly waiting!) at various doctor offices for about 4 hours. Everyone was tired & bored & cranky. (Not to mention that I was reaching a point of starvation myself since I didn't get the crackers/chips earlier when the kids did.)

The doctor FINALLYYYYYY came in & spent all of 2 minutes in the room with us. He squeezed on Samuel's wrist, hand, shoulder, collar bone & upperarm. When he got to his elbow & forearm, he got the same response that we've been getting since last night---squealing & wincing in pain. He said "ok, let me go check that Xray". He came back in a couple minutes & said that he didn't think anything was broken but since he was in a lot of pain still, he wanted to put him in a sling & see him back in a couple weeks when we would re-evaluate & decide if we need to do new Xrays or if everything was better by then. He said it looked like he was just real bruised up & sore.

He sent the nurse in to medicate & bandage up the scraped part of his arm & then put him into a sling. She told him to wear the sling at least til the end of this week & then for Larry & I to decide if he still needs it. For now, he needs it because he can't straighten his arm out all the way & he's having to hold it up against his body so the sling will support it for a while. So for now, this is how my baby boy looks. He's still hurting quite a bit, so it looks like a TV/Motrin cocktail is in order for the next few days. :)

By the time we got home, it was 4pm. That's 5 1/2 hours since we'd left home this morning to start this crazy day. I am so proud of the kids that they didn't fall apart more than they did. Everyone was exhausted & ready to be home after it all, but it could've been so much worse!