Silas' hospital adventure

Sunday evening after a busy day and a missed nap I decided to put Silas to bed early. Well early didn't exactly happen. He crawled out of his crib like he has been doing for the past week but that night he had his first fall. Unfortunately is was a fall bad enough that I heard the thud and the scream from the kitchen. Immediately I knew he had broken his arm so he and I headed out to the nearest small town hospital 40 km away. Turns out it was a busy night in hickville and we did a lot of waiting....about 4 hours. It was a challenge in patience to wait with a very tired, sore an bored toddler. Finally he got in for some x rays. They wouldn't let me in for some stupid reason and my phobic baby screamed for over half an hour as they tried to hold and tape him down to get the shots of his arm. By this time his arm was very swollen and misshapen. I paced outside as my baby screamed for mama. Loads of fun. We found out that he had a "significant injury" near his elbow that needed to see an orthopedic specialist in the city. We went home for what was left of the night. I swaddled him a bit so his arm wasn't dangling and we got a few hours of sleep. The next morning we had an "appointment" at 10am in the city 2 hours away. We waited in the pediatric ER for over 7 hours...not kidding. No "waiting room" , no toys, no tv...just a wooden rocking chair that didn't rock. We were surrounded by vomiting , screaming, and funky contagions all around us. I was aministering sanitizing hand gel constantly. My hubby and 5 year old came with us but they went out to do some shopping and get lunch part way through the day. No point in all of us trying to cram into our designated corner. I was glad my hubby was there to bring me a McDonalds sandwich and coffee at 2.30 or else I would have gone the entire 7 hours without food or drink...and I'm a grazer..I don't do hours without food well. I was afraid to venture out too far in case a dr actually came for us while we were out scouting nourishment. Finally they came and said we needed more x-rays, after last night I was horrified to do it again. This time was much faster and they actually let him sit on my lap while they snapped the pictures. He still screamed like they were trying to kill him of course. Even a dr. coming at him with a stethoscope causes him terror. Once back in the ER they gave him a temporary splint...pictured above. After 20 hours of his gimpy arm hanging limply by his side he finally had it splinted. We were told he needed surgery but that it couldn't be fit in that same day. We were transferred up to the pediatric ward and were admitted for the night. It was a drastic improvement from the ER.

I'm glad I had my stroller along for confinement purposes in the evening. He was drugged and both hands were out of commission so the thought of him trying to walk around was scary. He is watching "Clifford" and eating a dried mango in this photo. Its good to be able to just chill out for a while. This rocking chair had padding and it actually rocked so life was getting better. The Iv on his left hand took a few tries to put in down in the ER. It was traumatic for both of us. We had to restrain him by wrapping him like a cocoon and I held his face and head. He was bright red, sweating profusly and screaming so hard that I honestly thought he looked like he was having convulsions. He kept rolling his eyes back and jutting out his lower jaw. It was the end of the world as far as he was concerned. I had been a strong mommy and hadn't shed a tear yet, but the exhaustion and frustration of the whole day and night before started to come out as tears. We were both teary messes by the time the IV was situated. We quickly recovered though and were soon sitting upstairs watching cartoons.

Our new accomodations. Not bad ....in a Romanian orphanage sort of way. It actually appears larger than it was..the rocking chair which I was glad for didn't actually fit inside our curtains. We shared the room with six other baby beds. To take the picture I was standing in someone elses space. My lovely "bed" is the pink chair next to the crib. It did sort of fold out and it was almost glamorous sleeping on an antique chair....well I'm not sure 1960's vintage qualifies as an antique though. The crib was great , I wished I would have had one like that at home. Notice the high rails and the plastic guard all around the top. We managed to get a few more hours of sleep that night even though Silas wanted nothing to do with having to sleep in this strange place. "All done" was his mantra for the day. The rocking chair came in handy. First thing in the morning we were escorted down to the OR. I was surprised after so much waiting the day before that we were headed there so quickly. Fortunately I had slept in my clothes.
The surgery was easy for me. I know I wasn't the one with my arm getting drilled but it can be hard on a mama too. I didn't feel stressed at all this time, I was just glad it was getting done. They injected something into his IV port before they took him from me....which was a wonderful mercy. He wimpered but poor guy could barely hold up his head with in seconds of getting the wonder drug. That saved us a lot of drama and tears. Its hard enough to hand over my child to a green masked person and trust them with his life....with out him screaming and reaching back for me the whole time. I curled up on a comfy leather couch (where was this the day before?) and read a book while Silas had his arm set and pinned.

I was able to go into recovery with him and hold him while they monitered all his vitals. He was happy to see him mama come in for sure. He fell right back to sleep once I got there. Once his oxegen level was stable we were wheeled back up to our home in pediatrics. He had two "pins" put in his arm and a full cast from shoulder to hands. The break was though the bone just above his elbow.

We are back on the bottle. I had weaned him off two days before the accident but since the bottle had become his favorite "lovey" or comfort object we decided to back track for a few days. Here he is taking a little water after surgery. He protested strongly if I so much as put a blanket on him. I chose this photo because it shows the moniter on his foot. Both his hands were taken from him the day before so he had a huge problem with the red light and cord attached to his toes. He constantly complained and tried to kick it off. Of all my kids he is the most afraid of medical personel and hospitals and he is the most particular about things. He's the one who is concerned if he gets a little marker on his fingers or if a tag in his shirt is rubbing his neck . He is a mellow sweet natured boy but absolutely hates being messed with by a stranger...hair cuts, professional photos and dr. appointments are all traumatic. My other kids loved attention from strangers and being in the special chairs or up on the examining bed but Silas flips out if anyone comes near him to even look in his ear. Being with him in the hospital is certainly a different experience than it was with Roman (who had his tonsils and adnoids removed and had a hernia surgery...all by the age of 3) . Roman is such a stoic independant little fellow. I remember him just walking off with the surgeon without even a wave goodbye...talking his ear off I'm sure. Silas is a little more easily traumatized and looks at the world in a more suspicious way. I still can't beleive he was my first kid to have a broken bone. We had so many people ask us "are you sure it isn't Roman?...I had heard it was Silas but thought they must have the names wrong" We all would have lost money on that one. Roman is the risk taker and the fearless adventurer. Silas is the careful cautious one....but terribly unlucky. Its been one thing after another with poor Silas. No wonder he's afraid of stethoscopes.