Wednesday night, we went on quite a roller coaster ride with Lydia. The day has been perfectly normal. David had just gotten home from work and I was just getting into my car to head home. A call came in from a number I didn't recognize. I considered letting it go to voicemail, but decided to answer it.
It was the director of the after-school program (SACC), telling me that Lydia hadn't wanted her to call me because she didn't want me to worry, but Lydia had gotten hurt on the playground. (I could hear Lydia crying a little in the background.)
She told me she thought Lydia had hurt her arm and her leg, but she didn't want to move her. She had already called 911.
Whoa.
She said she'd tried to reach David but couldn't get through. I told her he was picking up Bekah and I would have him come to the school right away, since he was closer.
I called David, told him not to be alarmed, and then told him alarming information. He left Bekah at her friend's house and got to the school as quickly as possible. He pulled in right behind the paramedics.
They put her in the neck brace and put her on the body board and assessed her. David asked Lydia what she needed. And she said she just needed her daddy. He reassured her he was right there.
After an assessment, the EMT's determined that Lydia had probably broken her wrist. They said they could take her to the hospital or he could. We chose for David to drive her, after they assured us her neck and back were okay.
I was closer to the hospital than I was to the house, so I met them there.
On the way, Lydia got groggy and David kept talking to her to keep her awake. She asked to pull over so she could be sick. Poor thing vomited the Hot Cheetos she'd had for snack. Her throat was on fire.
When we got to the hospital, she still seemed a little dazed, which worried us a bit. But she seemed to be managing the pain very well. The EMT's had put a temporary splint on her arm. After triage, we got a snack, and she settled in and watched a couple of shows on the Disney channel.
Piecing the story together from Lydia, Pam (SACC Director), and David, Lydia was on the swings, and was going really high. She swung forward and then said, "Hey Jackson! Watch this!" Then she did this cool "no hands" trick as the swing swung back up. When the swing swung all the way back, Lydia went to grab hold of it again, missed, and fell face first into the mulch, landing on her arm. In this picture, you can see that under her nose and on her neck, she has some scratches. Her nose bled a little after the fall.
According to the SACC workers, she blacked out for about seven seconds and then started yelling. She rolled herself over before anyone could get to her. Pam, who was on another playground, got there in a flash and wouldn't let Lydia move. Lydia told us later she really hadn't wanted Pam to call 911 because she didn't want us to worry. We told her that Pam had totally done the right thing. Lydia fell from high up and she had to make sure she was okay.
She had mulch all over her and we were pulling it out of her hair while we waited. It was finally time for her to get to go back to be seen, and she had perked up quite a bit - not acting so stunned.
She was pretty pleased to get to ride in the wheelchair for her x-rays.
The first two x-rays didn't show anything really wrong.
But the third showed where the damage was. The EMT's thought she had broken her wrist on the underside. She actually broke her radius, right where it connects to the wrist. It's fractured in three places.
You can enlarge this photo if you click on it, but I've highlighted it in red as well. It is fractured on the left, and then another crack worked it's way up the middle, and then to the growth plate.
The orthopedist said that since her growth plates haven't competely fused yet, she should be fine and it won't affect her growth. He even said that she would only have to wear the cast for four weeks and not six, as the ER had originally told us.
The physician's assistant came in and introduced himself. He said, "You can just call me 'Bob.'" So Lydia, with a sly grin, said, "Hi Bob!" David and I just exchanged a look. Yeah, she was fine.
After we got the official news her arm was broken, Lydia voiced some concern over her birthday party. How was she going to shoot a bow and arrow at her birthday party? We reassured her it would be fine.
They put a temporary soft cast on her for the evening, giving her arm enough time for the swelling to go down. The nurse came in to give Lydia some pain medicine, and something for nausea. Then she let her choose what kind of soda she would like to wash down the medicine.
As she left the room, the nurse said, "She's cute!"
Lydia said, "I get that a lot."
That child! LOL! We definitely knew by then she was back to her normal self. I think just knowing what was going on had such a calming effect on her.
Today, we had to make an appointment with the orthopedist to get her hard cast. I stayed home with her today, helped wash her hair, and get all the mulch out of it. And we discussed what color cast she would choose.
When we got there, she asked if they had any Scottish designs. Ummm, the tech admitted that was the first time he'd heard that request.
She decided to go with light blue because it would match her Merida costume best. She'll be wearing the costume at her birthday party in a couple of weeks and it's main colors are blue and green.
She had to get a cast over her elbow to limit her ability to twist her wrist. So it might be a little challenging to shoot that bow and arrow after all! But I'm sure if anyone can conquer it, Lydia can!
After finishing up things in town, we headed down to pick up Rebekah from school. After picking her up, we stopped by the elementary school to see Mrs. Pam. Lydia had promised Mrs. Pam that she could be the first one to sign her cast, since she sat in the mulch with her for 15 minutes until the ambulence could get there.
She got quite the welcoming committee when we got to the school. The school nurse gave her a big hug, and the secretaries all asked how she was feeling. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Allen had both kept tabs on Lydia's progress last night. The principal, Dr. Allen, was there when Lydia fell. Dr. Johnson got a call from Pam, explaining what had happened. He'd even asked if he should go meet us at the hospital.
I am so thankful for the caring administrative staff at the school!
Dr. Johnson called Mrs. Pam down to the office, and she got the honor of being the first to sign Lydia's cast!!
As we walked back to our car, we ran into more of the SACC staff. Lydia got to show off her cast and we got to thank all of them for their quick actions in making sure Lydia was taken care of.
Neighbors and friends were texting us throughout the whole thing yesterday. And today, we were really thankful to get several texts asking how Lydia was feeling. The Bakers, across the street, got Lydia this little dog and "Feel Better" balloon, something Lydia was just tickled over.
And after Mrs. Pam and the fam signed her cast, Lydia went around the neighborhood collecting signatures.
I'm sure there will be more after school tomorrow as well. (David's sending her to school with a sharpie.)
So now we just have to tackle figuring out how to complete homework while she has difficulty writing. But if that's all we have to deal with, I'm so very, very thankful.
God protected my little one from something much worse happening. We are so thankful and so blessed she's okay. And we are so proud of Lydia and how she handled the whole thing! She kept her cool and has complained very little through this entire process!
So full of pride and thankfulness today.
