The Cook's Recipe for Life: Our Monkey Fell Off The Monkey Bars

THE BROKEN ARM

Boy has it been one of those weeks or what? It started off nicely with Lily falling off the monkey bars on Sunday night and breaking her arm. The adults were in the dining room at the table, and the cousins were all outside playing together. We had the dining room french door open to the deck and could hear and see them playing. We heard Lily start crying (nothing new; she hurts herself all the time), but what made me nervous was hearing Crystal say, "I'll go get Mom and Dad, okay?" That was pretty unusual. I told Ty he'd better go check on her (yes I sent him just in case it was really bad... I'm awful I know). He went out there, and I could see him bent over the ground. I could hear Lily also. She wasn't screaming, just saying "No it hurts! It hurts!" and then she'd cry a little. At first I thought she must be okay because she wasn't crying much, but Ty was still hovering over her and not really saying much. I (still at the table) hollered out asking if it was broken (no I didn't know what hurt, but its Lily and we all felt like it was only a matter of time before something ended up broken...) and he didn't really respond. I thought, 'oh crap she really is hurt.' Ty picked her up and brought her inside. She was holding her arm just as she is in the first picture. She refused to let go, refused to move any part of it, and just kept saying it hurt. We finally got her to point with her other hand to what 'it' was. She pointed to the inside of her elbow. My dad got her to grip his finger and tried looking at it. I was sitting next to Ty and as he shifted his weight, I noticed her arm above/at the elbow didn't look quite right. My mom and sister in law agreed something looked just a little off. But it was hard to tell if it was just her elbow or something else. By now it had only been 5 minutes, but she still wouldn't move it which is not like her at all. We decided we'd better take her in to get xrays. I really just thought it was dislocated or badly sprained... at least I was hoping it was. As it turns out, there is only one place in Idaho Falls that's open after 8 besides the ER, and it was of course 8:20 pm.

After managing to buckle her into her car seat, we headed to Redicare. She fell asleep within minutes of leaving. I would have been more worried, but my dad had just mentioned that children tend to sleep when their body suffers a trauma. When we walked in, there were 4 people ahead of us in the waiting room two of them with crutches waiting for an xray (two more ankle inuries came in after us). Normally if you need xrays they'll take you right back and get it done so its ready when the doctor is ready to see you, but since just about everyone there needed the xray it wasn't really working out that way. We spent an hour and a half waiting. Lily slept through almost all of it.

In the waiting room.

One of the patients that came in after us went back for xrays before we did which we thought was strange. Then Lily woke up crying because of the pain again. A nurse, who had helped us when we first came in, came out and gave her some tylenol (we had given her motrin before we left the house) and put us in a room with a recliner and bed in it so she could be more comfortable while she waited. Fifteen minutes later the doctor came in to see us. Turns out her chart didn't say why we were here (though everyone out front knew since Lily was crying when we came in!). So we finally got in to get xrays done. Ty went in with her and I could hear her crying from the room I was waiting in. I wanted to cry too. I felt so bad for her. The nurse showed us the xray. It was broken clear through and displaced just above the elbow. The doctor said with this type of break it usually requires surgery, so they referred us to an orthopedic surgeon and put a temporary cast on it. Just the cast took about an hour to get on and secured. Lily cried that it hurt every time the nurse would touch it to get molds for the splint. The nurse said, "I usually use suckers to distract them while I do this, but its so late I didn't want to. She's doing really well without so I think we're okay." Three minutes later I told her I didn't mind if she had a sucker. Haha. She deserved it after all she'd been through no matter what time it was (it was 11:15 at this point). I couldn't believe how a little Dum Dum perked her up! She was smiling and saying silly things. It still hurt and she'd say so but there were no more tears! When we finally got out of there, I gave her another one for the car ride home! Haha.

I even got her to smile after midnight on the way to get brother and sister from Grandma's house.

The next day we talked to a few people about what surgeon to go see and we decided to call Dr. Andary. He's done surgery on members of my and Ty's family and also some friends who recommended him as well. He got us in THAT DAY. So Monday afternoon I spent 2 hrs at the Dr office with Lily. My mom came to be supportive thank goodness, so I wasn't there alone. And Ty's mom took the other 2 kids all afternoon so they didn't have to wait in the office with us (Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to be near family again?)! The doctor came in the room, said the xray showed that the bone was very displaced (later we learned that it was also near a nerve and a major artery that if damaged could give her a claw hand the rest of her life ... the surgeon kindly left that part out during our visit) and to fix it he needed to put her under, push the arm back into place and then push pins into her arm to stabilize it and allow it to heal. He said, "I'm at Mountain View Hospital tomorrow. I think we should do it then. I already have a full day, but the sooner the better. And she's only 3, and we don't want her to be hungry, so we'll do her surgery first thing."

Lily got a balloon from the Dr Office and treats from Grandma which she kindly shared with everyone. Crystal was so sweet with her.

Mountain View called an hour later and told us to be there at 4:45 AM. He wasn't joking when he said 'first thing.' Lol. Crystal and Jay slept at Grandma Cook's and we got Lily up in the middle of the night (yes 430 am is the middle of the night... like right in the middle. lol) and took her to the hospital for surgery.

4:45 AM Surgery Day

We were literally the first surgery that day. I guess the other doctors wanted to sleep in a little longer. ;) Lily handled it all really well. The OR Nurse and the Nurse Anesthetist were absolutely WONDERFUL with her. Lily wasn't nervous at all when they wheeled her to the OR. She was in surgery for about 45 minutes, and 20 minutes later they let us go back and sit with her in recovery. The doctor came out and showed us pictures of the bone before and after he put pins in. Everything went just as planned and she'll go back in on the 27th so he can look at the pins and then put on a hard cast. He said she'll have the hard cast for at least 3 weeks. I think it depends on how things look at the next appointment.

Nurse getting her temp and blood pressure

All ready for surgery!

Just waiting for the doctor to show up

After her surgery. Sleeping angel.

She got to ride in a wagon to the car!

When we got home both Lily and I slept for a few hours. Then Grandma Cook dropped Crystal and Jay off, so Lily had company again. She still slept a good portion of the day, but Crystal being home perked her up quite a bit. Those two really are good friends .... most of the time at least. lol.

The rest of the week was spent mostly at home. Although I found early on that Lily was much less whiney and needy when we were out and about than when we were home and she had nothing else to think about. By Friday she was feeling so much better that she refused to wear the sling. I can't imagine hauling that huge cast around is very comfortable but she insists that its just fine. Saturday in the car she yelled up to me, "Mom! Mom! Guess what!?!?! I can play on the monkey bars now!" Ty and I both busted out laughing. She goes, "No mom! I can! I can do it with one arm!" Oh dear, this child just never learns. Haha. She has fallen on it at least once a day all week which brings tears to her eyes again because it hurts so much. I feel awful every time she does it, but we just can't seem to get her to slow down!

Crystal sat on the floor and played with her all afternoon.

By Friday she was back to her old self again. Wouldn't even wear the sling anymore!

We were a pretty sad bunch this week all together. I woke up one morning and couldn't turn my head because my neck hurt so much. I think it was from having to carry Lily in awkward positions to avoid hurting her arm. Its mostly back to normal now so I'm glad it healed quickly at least. On the same day, Jay followed me up the deck stairs (he usually does stairs pretty well and I don't worry much about it), and when he got to the top he stood up too close to the edge and fell backwards. He somehow managed to turn around during the fall and landed on his forehead. I had already made it into the house so I didn't see him fall. When I found him he was standing at the bottom of the stairs crying with just a tiny bit of blood in his mouth. I was looking in his mouth for injuries when I noticed a MASSIVE goose egg on his head. It was the size of a ping pong ball. Ty got home from work just a few minutes later and gave him a blessing. I knew he didn't have a concussion, but I was worried about how fast it was swelling. Thank goodness the swelling stopped, and by the next day there was barely a bump left... though there was a good sized bruise to show for it still.

Jay's goose egg! And see? Suckers really do make everything better!

Twice this week I've questioned whether I could ever handle a 4th child. I suddenly feel like I need to stand next to all 3 of them 24/7 to prevent them from ever getting hurt again. I know it isn't realistic. There is no way I can protect them from everything that comes their way, but its so hard seeing them this way. I want to be able to protect them from any and all types of pain and sorrow. I was holding Jay after his accident and thoughts were running through my head of ways I could protect them better and be a better mother (obviously I'm doing something wrong if they are all getting hurt like this). In the end, the only thing I could come up with was locking them in their rooms forever... since that's not going to happen, I'm going to have to relax and remind myself I can't prevent everything.

I decided at this point this just wasn't our week (not just for injuries... other unexpected issues seemed to pop up A LOT this week). But can I just say how grateful I am for the Priesthood and for a husband who continues to live in such a way that allows us to have access to it at any time? When I take a step back from trials and hardships we go through, I can often see how truly blessed we are and how our Heavenly Father is watching over us.

THE NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY

Saturday Ty found a puppy for sale on KSL. The pictures were so adorable that we just had to go see him. So Saturday night we made a trip to Blackfoot and came home with a puppy! He's a Maltese Poodle (they think) and he's nine weeks old. The potty training is a major work in progress... I hope he figures it out soon because I'm not enjoying it at all. lol. The kids absolutely adore him... Jay a little too much (praying the dog survives him). Lily isn't much better than Jay since she only has one arm but insists on carrying him around occasionally... sigh.

Ty set him in this tiny box and he immediately fell asleep. He was exhausted! He stayed there all night long! I couldn't believe, he didn't even try getting out of it. (Side note: That only lasted one night. He sleeps in the bed with us and the cat... we need a bigger bed. haha.)

Both were standing at the top of the stairs waiting for someone to get them off the deck. Lol.

Jay and the dog fit comfortably in the doghouse. Lol!

RANDOM PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Jay throwing a tantrum. He's such a drama queen! Tantrums don't do a lot of good since I think its adorable and just laugh at him most of the time... he's going to need to work on that.