Joseph Broke his Arm

At work today i see the daycare we use for the kids show up on the caller I.D. I pick it to find out that instead of someone being sick, or having a fever, that Joseph broke his arm. It makes me jump a little when they tell me, then I'm out the door.

At the daycare they have Joseph in a side room, sitting and trying to talk to him. At no point do they say, 'We think the arms broken,' or 'it's swollen, so you might wanna check it out.' Very clearly the girls working there state that the arm is broken. When i take a look, there is a most definite angle to the fore-arm, about 1/3 distance from the wrist. Not enough to make me cry out, but enough for me to know that there is no other possibility other than a broken arm.

Apparently there are some tractor tires embedded vertically on the playground. Joseph was standing on top of one, and another little boy pushed him off. He only fell about 3-4 feet, we guess, but it must have been enough.

they have him resting his arm on a phone book with a small pillow on top, (which reminds me, we should donate the sling the hospital gave us to the daycare when we don't need it anymore,) so i hold it firm and we start walking to the car. He climbs up to his seat with one hand and i buckle him in, trying to be careful with the arm the entire time. The drive to the hospital was long, full of me trying to tell Joseph about the different times I hurt myself, or Tanya, or when my dad was kicked in the knee when he was on his mission, ('Do you know where that cow kicked my dad', 'in the face', 'No, not in the face,..although,....')but i must say this; The entire time i was with Joseph this afternoon, from the daycare to his bed tonight, he never cried tears. Plenty of crying and moaning, lots of looking at his arm with despair, but no tears. It's possible that he cried real tears after the accident, but he was tough after.

We walk into the ER, and the lady behind the counter takes one look and just opens the door for us. We put Joseph in a room, they give him an IV in his left wrist, (didn't even flinch hardly, but he was occupied elsewhere, mentally, ya know.) Every time some one tries to ask him what happened he replied in his sad little voice, 'My arm is broke.' How did it happen, 'Kyler did it!' Ohh, Kyle did it, 'No, KYLER.'

The ER doctor comes in with a dragon from a happy meal and offers it to Joseph, 'I have that one already,' and off he goes to find another one. They take some x-rays of his arm, and bring them in so that Joseph can see pictures of his broken bones. 'My bones look shiny.'

Once the orthopedic doctor shows up it starts to get real busy. They wheel in a mobile x-ray machine to look at his arm in-situ, while they are working on it. They give Joseph something in his IV, and he goes out. The anesthesiologist puts a respirator to his face and a few times during the procedure he moves his legs or his other arm, and i start to freak out, getting ready to shout, 'He's awake, he's awake', but that's as far as he gets. The doctor then asks if we want to step out, alot of parents don't want to remember this next part, (or give him grief while he is doing it probably.) I got one hand holding my elbow tight, the other hand holding my chin, to keep my mouth closed, and my eyes wide open and tell him that I'd rather stay if it's all the same. Tanya, of course is a nurse, and wanted to stay without the signs of squeamishness.

so the doctor takes Joseph's arm and using his leg right above the knee, starts trying to bend it back like it was a piece of metal. He stops and turns to us, 'If you hear a loud pop, it's the bones breaking away cleanly. It actually makes the setting easier and the arm straighter,' then he turns back. I am now holding myself even tighter waiting for the pop. I'm glad i haven't eaten cause my stomache is really tight. The doctor stops again, 'If you hear a crinkling sound, it's just the bones rubbing together,' and off he goes again. Now I didn't hear any of these noises, but i sure imagined i heard them. In the end the doctor and nurses all gush over how straight the bones are and set the cast.

Joseph starts to wake up, and is disoriented. One of the first things he does is look at his cast. We tell him that the doctor fixed his arm, and he starts laughing. He's happy, and a little bit giddy. He starts asking his questions, 'Whats this on my finger,' the pulse oximeter. 'What's on my leg,' the blood presure cuff. 'Why isn't my cast green, i wanted green,.....'

They let us out, and Joseph is happy and energetic. It feels good that everything turned out ok. Relief floods in and again is good in the world. Joseph throws up in the car.

Tanya takes him to get some ice cream and i pick up the rest of the kids. Ben and Emma tell me how they haven't broken their arms, see? see, daddy, see?

After everyone is squared away and in bed, James come up to me and says that next time Josephs breaks his arm, and i take him to the hospital, and the doctor wraps up his arm, that i should bring him with me so he can see.