Zoe's broken arm

The plan was that as soon as Paul closed the store on July 2 we would all get in the car and drive all night to go to a cousin's wedding in Washington state.  I was so surprised at how everything was falling into place -- I packed early, got my house clean, with the help of Paul's dad the care was cleaned and packed and ready to go.  7:00 p.m. rolled around and we were putting last minute things away in the car when Zoe fell off the porch swing.  She wasn't being crazy or anything...just sitting on the swing and decided to get down.

 

When I heard her scream I could tell she was in pain, but I had no idea it was so serious.  I tried to calm her down by holding her, we prayed for her, we offered her a cookie, blah blah blah.. nothing was making her feel better.  Paul walked in the door and we told him what happened and we both made the decision to take her to the ER and have her arm checked out.

 

On the way there she was falling asleep, but every time Paul hit a bump or we made the slightest move she would cry out in pain.  I knew it was serious.  I prayed the whole time for my little girl.  All the while I felt sick to my stomach because I had to watch my little girl suffer.

 

 

Going to the ER is never fun.  They always take for.ev.er. to get anything done.  The time came for Zoe to get X-rays.  Paul carried her in and I followed behind.  The screams coming from my baby made me cry and, again, I felt so sick watching and feeling helpless.  I just wanted this all to be over!

 

I think we were in the ER for a total of 4 hours.  They told us that Zoe had Nursemaid's Elbow and wrapped her arm with an ace bandage, gave her the tiniest sling they had, told us to give her ibuprofen for the swelling, and gave us the clearance to drive through the night.

 

I was talking to Paul and asking her if she would feel up to the trip.  Would she even want to be the flower girl anymore?  She must have overheard me because she had the most serious look on her face and said, "Mom, I am going to the wedding and I'm going to drop the petals."  We got the rest of the family and drove through the night heading toward Seattle!

 

When we were about 2 hours away from Seattle I got a voicemail from the ER doctor saying he was going over Zoe's X-rays with the radiologist and the radiologist said Zoe DID have a fracture and there was a chance of her arm being dislocated.  I. Was. Furious.  I said, "Well what do I do now?!  You said it was ok to go and we're 2 hours out of Seattle!"  He told us to immediately go to and ER in Seattle and have them check her out.

 

We took Zoe to Children's Hospital in Seattle and they were absolutely amazing!  When I told the story I could tell they thought our ER was crazy.  Join the club!  We were only in there for 2 hours and Zoe felt so much more comfortable with them than she did with the people at our local ER!  They put a hard splint on her because she still had some swelling, and I scheduled an appointment for her to get a cast as soon as we got home.

 

After all that junk was over with we headed up to Darrington to Paul's papa's house and we stayed there till after the wedding.  While we were there my mom sent a package and it happened to have some surprises in it -- like Tangled!  My mom sent the package before Zoe broke her arm.  It's almost like God told her Zoe needed it ahead of time!  She was SO excited and told me over and over how much she loves the movie. :-)

 

On Tuesday we went to our local orthopedic surgeon and he took more X-rays of Zoe's arm (cha-ching, cha-ching, right?) and showed me the results.  Apparently the ER sent over their X-rays while we were gone and considered her break a Type 4 break which mostly involves surgery.  They did not tell me that over the phone which, again, made me furious with our local hospital.  But the doctor said that she had a very common fracture, showed me the X-rays and explained all the details with me which made me feel so much better.

 

Zoe picked her favorite color and the doctor put on the tiniest little cast ever and said we were good to go.  He was so nice in a gruff way!  It was like I was talking with my own Papa. ;-)  I immediately liked him and knew he was the best.

 

In two weeks we go back for a follow-up with more X-rays and we'll see where she's at as far as her healing!  Zoe is back to her normal self now that she has a cast on.  She definitely feels more comfortable knowing her arm doesn't hurt anymore.  I'm thankful for that!  She now is ready to help with most everything around the house...except maybe cleaning up her toys. ;-)  That is when I'm reminded with the cutest speech impediment, "But Mom...I have a bwoken awm."

 

When I think about everything we have gone through in the past week I get to feeling a little overwhelmed.  No one likes hospital bills.  Yikes!  But I know that all things work together for good to them that love God.  He has a reason behind everything that happens in our lives...whether they are good or bad.  I have peace knowing He will never fail us nor forsake us!

 

Oh, and now I am looking into plastic bubbles for each of my children.  Just kidding.  But seriously. :-)