Broken Arm Number FOUR!!!

Before her surgery...
After surgery... waiting to go home.

Friends visiting is the BEST part of a broken arm!!!

When I wrote this same blog entry last year I hoped that I would never have to write about a broken bone again. Well... sadly, not all wishes come true. Scott took Anna to soccer last night while I stayed home with Emily and Jake so that they could play with their neighborhood friends at the park. While we were sitting at the park, Scott called and said that he was on his way to the ER with Anna and that he was 100% sure she had broken her arm again. I couldn't believe it!!!! Four breaks in four years, really???? On each of her other breaks, I have always said, "At least it isn't summer." Well, sadly, this is the end to her swimming season this summer. It certainly could be much worse. It is just a broken bone. I have friends going through much more serious things with their kids right now and I feel blessed that all I am dealing with is a broken arm. It really helped me put everything into perspective last night. Things could be much worse!!!

After the phone call, I quickly bathed Jake and Emily and took them to the neighbors! Thanks, Meggan and Nathan for taking them last night. While I was getting them ready to go to the neighbors Scott called and said they wanted to admit her because it was too late for surgery and they needed to monitor her pain overnight. So... I packed a bag and off I went to the hospital for the night. Scott came home shortly after I got there so that he could get a good nights rest because he is on call today and needed to be well rested for his patients today. Anna and I settled into our room as best we could and finally got to sleep around 11:00 pm. We had nurses in and out all night long and at 4:30 we were woken by the fire alarm. There turned out to be a fire in the boiler room. Seriously, just our luck. We couldn't get back to sleep so we watched TV until they came to get her for surgery at 6:30. Scott brought Jake to me and Scott started his surgeries at the same time Anna was getting her arm realigned. She did great and the surgeon was able to realign it without needing pins, which was a relief to us. Jake and I hung out with Anna for about four hours in her room while she "woke up" and showed that she was able to eat. We were finally home around 12:30. She spent the afternoon with her arm elevated on the couch. She had MANY visitors today which made her really happy. It was nice to see her smiling even though I knew that she was in a lot of pain and only wanted to sleep. She was in bed tonight at 6:20. I'm sure the drugs will help her sleep well.

The nurses told us today that she was SOOO brave when she was wheeled down to the operating room and that they think she should be an example to some of the adults that they deal with. It is sad to think that my eight year old has had as many surgeries as many adults. We have an appointment for next Wednesday to go and get her permanent cast put on. The doctor thinks that she'll be in the cast around 6-8 weeks. We are hoping for six!!!!

Until the cast comes off... we are going to enjoy some good family bonding time with no extra activities.

We LOVE you Anna!!!!

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