Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Dem bones, dem bones

I got the dreaded phone call from the school on Monday..."Mrs. Thornton, your son Nathan took a little spill at school today and it looks like he fractured his arm..." Ugh. Honestly, I thought Ellie would be our first child with a broken bone. I guess you can't predict accidents! Apparently Nate and some kids were playing "Transformers" and it got a little rough...Anyways, it was indeed broken. Both bones in the left arm just above the wrist. Unfortunately they were not able to set it using the old fashioned tug and pull method, so he had to have surgery and 3 pins to keep the bones in place. The worst part of the whole experience (as a mom) was that Nate was unable to have ANY pain medicine until actually went into surgery...6 HOURS after he broke it! I haven't ever broken a bone but it looks terribly painful! Nate was a trooper though, he did awesome and was so brave! Ellie was with us for 10 hours at the hospital and she did awesome too. Seriously she was so well behaved, I have never seen her that well behaved before or since! Nate is doing great now, the swelling has gone down so much and its much less painful now. He still has the splint on and will get his permanent cast a little later this week. My heart has been so full of gratitude this week for our friends and family that have called or stopped by with cards and gifts for Nate to cheer him up! It really made him feel so special. So thank you!!
**Just a warning...I am going to post a few pictures, so if you are a little squeamish, you might not want to scroll down.**
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Getting X-rayed


A close up


The bones *almost* went through the skin where that bruise is.


Poor guy had to sit like this for HOURS just waiting...with NO PAIN MEDS!!!


Getting prepped for surgery, after the initial attempt to set it failed.


Ellie watching a movie with Dad on his phone. Seriously what did parents do before smart phones?

Nate also lost his other front tooth that same morning he broke his arm, with all the craziness going on I forgot to get a picture of that! Of course Nate didn't exactly feel like smiling for the camera either!