Well, I am finally getting back to some normalcy around here, well that is the hope. I felt like I was getting back to somewhat of a schedule a handful of weeks ago, then....drum roll... Evan broke his right femur bone on May 8th! We are often asked, "how did this happen?" To which we reply, we have NO IDEA! Evan and Drew were playing out back as they often do while I am preparing dinner and I heard him crying. Now let me tell you, even hearing that I didn't jump to go outside because they seem to take turns crying out back for various reasons. I just happened to look up and saw Evan laying on the ground not getting up. NOW, that was not normal. I ran out and scooped him up and he was continuously crying. Being a Mom that doesn't jump to any conclusions and of course knowing nothing about broken bones, we tried to put him down and even bribe him with candy to get him to try and walk just in case he had just twisted it wrong. I just wanted to make sure before we rushed him somewhere. He couldn't put any weight on it and at one point even fell over. So, we put a call in to our Pediatricians emergency line for advice. After an hour we finally go the call to take him to urgent care.
I was in the middle of prepping for our MOPS garage sale with some ladies and I had just put Zach down for the night, so I sent David with Evan. After not long, I got the dreaded text from David saying he in fact broke his leg and not just any bone, but the hardest one to break, THE FEMUR. We had asked Drew what happened several times, especially since he was circling him like a hawk. He gave us 4 different stories, so we still don't know today what happened.
Once I got the text, my MOPS gals were so gracious and told me to go and they would hold down the fort. Drew and Zach were sleeping upstairs, so I was a bit reluctant, but these are some great ladies. I gave our friend Alyson a call and she came right over. Once I got to urgent care, they had Evan's leg in a splint and we were about ready to head to Children's Hospital in Dallas. The ladies were so nice and even helped us get him all strapped in to the van.
Once up in Dallas we had to go to the emergency room and WAIT, even though our info was already called in. I felt bad as David held him the whole time, good workout I guess. Once we got back to a room, we again WAITED for quite awhile. Let's just say the accident happened around 6:30pm, David headed to urgent care about 9:00ish (pm), and we got up to Dallas around 11pm. We got back to our first room around midnight. We were in that room for what seemed like forever. Several people came in and out and we had to answer the question over and over again as to how this happened. It is definitely a moment when you feel like an awful parent because you don't know a definite answer. Anyhow, we were told he wouldn't need surgery, but that he would be getting a "Spica" cast, which means from the waist all the way down the right leg and half down the left with just a small opening to shove a diaper into...eek! He got his IV and we were told they would give him a sedative that would be like an out of body experience for him. Although that sounds weird, we like the idea that they wouldn't have to use a tube down his throat, he would just be in a deep sleep.
We waited for a long while, then finally they moved us to the room that he would get his cast, which was about 3am. In there we were just waiting for all the parties to coordinate their schedules, so finally around 3:30am the casting began. We got to stay with him until the actual casting. It was so weird when he got the sleeping meds, he fought it as long as he could, then fell asleep with his eyes open...freaky! I might add, he had been awake the WHOLE time and for the most part in good spirits. He was such a trooper!!
The casting took about 30minutes, then we got to go back in. He looked so peaceful sleeping, poor guy. They were trying to wake him up just long enough to get a response and he wasn't having it. So, I felt so bad they brought in a bag of ice and put it on his belly, feet, neck...anything to wake him up. He finally woke up long enough to tell the nurse "STOP IT." We again waited for our room, love the waiting! We got to our room around 4:30am, and had a briefing with nurses and I was WAY over due to pump. The hospital provided me with an awesome pump and all the fixins'. I think we must have zonked around 6am and we were dead to the world until about 8. From there the morning was very fast, getting training on his harness, learning what to expect, how to work with the cast, etc... I think we must have headed out around lunchtime. So, we had a room for a whole 8 hours, maybe!
We had his first check-up a week later and discovered that his knee was in the wrong position and causing the bone to pop out of place. So, they had to cut his cast and put wedges him to get everything back in place, he did not enjoy that at all. Then we had another follow-up the week after that and everything looked great and healing was already starting to happen! All that to say in two more weeks (total of 5) he should be able to get the cast off. He has done surprisingly well, and for the most part is happy! Love that little guy, he is definitely a bright light in our family!!
1st Follow-Up Appt.
He got a cool new Orange cast, well on half of it at least! Everyone at Children's have been so wonderful. This is our casting dude Galen! Evan lights up when he sees him. Through this whole ordeal he has had everyone laughing and won the hearts of everyone in the emergency room. He is one tough cookie!
