Yesterday was an absolute whirlwind 😓 My goodness.
It began simply enough though. First day back at school. Laela went, but Brady took Dekker to an ophthalmologist appointment. He goes every 4-6 months, depending on how his eyes are doing. And this appointment had gone off without a hitch! He had aced his tests, his prescription was exactly the same, no turn or change in his eyes, and he had cooperated really nicely. No eye drops this visit! They decided he’d come for another visit in 8-10 months, and maybe then refer him out to an eye doctor outside of the specialists at the hospital! BOOM! I love progress!
Brady took Dekker back to school in time for lunch, and a bit of class. However, I got a call after the afternoon recess. His teacher told me he had been pushed down a slide and his collarbone looks “a liiiiittle….. ya…” I told her I’d be at the school as fast as I could. Thank goodness I had just been on the phone with my mom and actually hung up on her when the school called, so I called her back and asked if she could run over and be with the nappers. She jumped right to it and was over in minutes. I practically high fived her on the way out. I even took her car, and I booked it to school.
Aaaaand good thing. It was actually a cute sight. Dekker was propped up in a comfy chair in a cozy corner of his classroom, an ice pack on his shoulder. He had three mother hens – no – friends around him, reminiscing about his fall and how crazy it had been and how glad they were that he was ok. It was adorable. He had red eyes and nose, and he was pretty pale. As soon as the girls spotted me, they ran to get their teacher. She was very loving, having been through this a handful of times, I’m sure, as an elementary school teacher. She recounted what had happened and helped me know what to do, since I have not been through this a handful of times, or even once. He was quite crooked, so she suspected maaaybe a break, or a dislocation, etc. He needed to be seen, that was important.
He had a cry when it was time to get up. He was SO scared to move. I was relieved to have his teacher with us, who has children of her own and is warm and caring. She encouraged him to call the shots, and he ended up holding me around the neck and she helped lift him. She helped him get his boots on while I drove the car right up as close to the doors as I could, and I took him home.
Not for long though. I had to touch base with my mom. She had come so willingly to care for the kids, but now I was going to be gone longer now. Unfortunately, my mom isn’t allowed to lift more than 20 lbs, so getting Waverly up from her nap isn’t possible. I didn’t want to leave her high and dry, but I also had to get Dekker to the doctor. We made a quick plan together, and while I drove to the nearby walk-in clinic, I made some phone calls. I called Brady, filled him in, and asked him to call our neighbour and arrange with them to be able to go get Waverly out of when when the time came. Boom. That was solved. I called Health Line and confirmed that it made sense that I was going to a clinic rather than the hospital. They said it was right, as long as there was X-ray access, which there was in Warman. Once calls were made, I talked with Dekker and reassured him where we were going. The bumps and turns of the road really hurt him. But my brave boy started thinking positive about halfway to the clinic.
“Good thing I didn’t hurt my right hand,” he said. “This is better.”
And he was SO right.
Once we got to the clinic, I helped him out of the car and he went and sat very still on a chair in the waiting room while I checked him in. We waited probably a solid 20 minutes, but Dekker was a really good sport, and we had some laughs.
I think he felt a lot of relief being at the doctors office. He had had a tearful moment in the car when I kind of prepared him for the possibility of it having to hurt more before it got better, in the case of someone needing to reset something. He was scared, and cried, but was nodding the whole time. He knew the possibility already, and he understood.
Thank goodness we didn’t have to go that route!! 😓 The doctor we saw was really nice to Dekker. He asked if Dekker could take his shirt off, and when Dekker hesitated, he gave him ALL kinds of respect. Didn’t make me feel like he was uncooperative or anything. He touched Dekker’s collarbone gently and very easily found the spot that was in question. Dekker grunted and just told him “Thats the spot.” The doctor told him he could tell that spot was angry, and he wanted to take a picture of it. Xrays. We had talked about that in the car, Dekker wasn’t afraid. And I really appreciated the next thing, because the doctor had been SO warm and interactive with Dekker, but he looked over at me and quietly said “but I’m pretty sure we’re looking at a crack or a break of some kind.” I was really happy to know where he was in his thinking.
Dekker and I waited a couple of minutes in the waiting room before he was called into the X-ray room. I hung out with him while the tech set him all up in there and made sure he was comfortable, and then I was asked to step out while she took the pictures. He was brave, and was excited to tell me all about it when he got out.
We sat in the waiting room while they perused our results, and Dekker told me all about the picture and the big room, and wondered why there was a separate room for the lady taking the pictures. We discussed radiation and safety and importance. He nodded wisely, as if he knew it all the entire time 😉
Finally it was our turn to go talk to the doctor again, and he pulled up the xrays on his computer. Behold! Our first fracture!
So while it looks like a full break (to me at least) its a crack. No resetting necessary. Just rest, meds, and healing time. Boom! We talked about slings, and were advised that we didn’t need one, but that some people prefer to have it slung up on their body. I know I’d prefer to have it slung up if it were me, and I figured Dekker would be the same. The doctor could move Dekker’s arm around, but he was so hesitant to move it himself. So the doctor walked us over to the treatment room and put together a makeshift sling out of some kind of tensor bandage. He told me we could go buy a real sling at the pharmacy, but that this was basically the same thing. We’re pretty low maintenance, and I was just SO thankful to have him there with us, squatting on the floor, deciding the height of the sling, tightness, etc., and explaining it to us along the way. He was so warm to Dekker and kept engaging with him, talking to him about his classmates and siblings. It was nice, and Dekker was laughing and calm.
Leaving the walk-in looked a lot different. There was an unmistakable confidence now that he knew he didn’t have to go to the hospital, and he was happy to have that sling. Before that, his arm was just pasted to his side, and he was so scared to move it. Now, he knew where it was and didn’t have to worry as much about being bumped around or anything.
Getting home was nice. My mom had all the kids up, Cher had come by to lend a hand and visit, and she had brought some colouring for Dekker. Before I even had his jacket and backpack put away, he was at the table, colouring happily. He doesn’t look animated here, but he’s also SO tired. And pale. Oy.
He enjoyed his supper of leftover apricot chicken and rice with cucumbers beside, and then he decided to go sit in the living room for a bit. He’s so soft here. ❤️ SO himself.
Right before bedtime, my sister and her family FaceTimed Dekker and they all commiserated about their broken bones and pain and fear and how it’s SO ok to feel all the feelings. He laughed and chatted and his spirits lifted 🙂 He was happy to talk to them again. Our Christmas visit feels SO far away already. But he was also tired, and we had to call it.
Getting him ready for bed was a bit stressful. Taking off his shirt was a HUGE deal. MAN did he cry 😭 PAIN!! But it needed to happen. He had a good, tired, scared cry before he was able to relax again, and he headed to the bathroom. He had another couple of good cries, where he’d just move the wrong way and everything would hurt all over again. His pain was not fully managed at the time.
He was scared to sleep. Laying down hurt worse than sitting up. I propped his banana pillow under his shoulder, and that seemed to help. He was upset to have to lay flat on his back, as I would be too. We set up a baby monitor, and told him we would wake up if he cried in the night. He was really reassured by that, and it showed.
That being said, he was asleep within fifteen minutes.
We stayed up late so we could wake him in the middle of the night for pain medication, and when Brady went down there, Dekker was laying on his chest, sort of sideways, completely comfortable. He was able to sit up and take his meds before falling right back to sleep. And then this morning, around 6:15, he surfaced to pee without help. These sound like small things, but getting into bed was really hard in the evening! It goes to show that fear exacerbates pain. Completely. His fear and pain are both totally justified, don’t get me wrong! But when he was nice and tired and less worried, he was able to do more on his own. YAY!
I kept Dekker home today.
I’d like to give him a day or two to get his pain nice and controlled, and for him to get confident with his left arm either in its sling, or moving again. He’s allowed to move it and use it all he wants. No real rules. Every “right” is based on his pain level. When should he go to school? Depends on his pain. When can he use his arm? Depends on his pain. When when when? Depends on his pain. But that works great, because my sensitive little man is ROCKING his courage like a total champ!
This entire time, Dekker has kept a positive attitude. Only when he’s SO tired does he show discouragement. Otherwise, he’s focusing on how perfectly timed his injury is.
“Good thing its not a season for biking.”
“Good thing its probably indoor recess.”
“Good thing I can eat with only one hand.”
Over and over again, he amazes me. I’m SO proud of him. Way to break trail, Dekker!!
Aaaaand your collarbone 😳 #badjoke #toosoon