Fractured Arm

On Friday afternoon (30th April) Eliza was getting off the trampoline and lost her balance and fell onto the ground. I was inside with Anne and we just heard Eliza scream. I went outside and saw her and Emily coming down the stairs with Eliza holding her arm. She told us what happened while we iced her elbow. She was upset and said that it hurt but also calmed when eating. I found a triangular sling to put her arm in as well which helped a bit.

Friday night was a long one. She went to sleep ok but then woke at 11:30pm with her arm hurting and then couldn't go back to sleep until 1am. That was a long night of broken sleep.

Saturday was a quiet day. James took Alexander and Daniel to a make up swimming lesson while Eliza and I stayed at home and watched Dancing with the Stars. She was mostly ok but the pain was coming and going. She could sit still with it being ok and could even dance and move around with it remaining bent, but she would then get upset and say that it hurt. It was a bit swollen but nothing too bad. Nothing like Clara's was when she fell from the trampoline. She also noticed that she could do a train movement with her arms, but again the elbow stayed bent the whole time. Panadol definitely helped her on Saturday.

Painting with her left hand, right arm in a sling

Resting her arm while watching tv

Saturday night was again quite a broken sleep. She would wake in pain so we gave her nurophen which helped this time and she soon went back to sleep (although I took a while to go back to sleep).

Sunday morning (2/5/21) we decided that we should take her to the doctors just to be on the safe side. The earliest we could get in was 11am so James took Eliza and Alexander to the doctor while I took Daniel to AFL. Our game finished at 10:30 so we got home just as Eliza had been seen. The doctor didn't think that it was broken, but was also concerned that she couldn't straighten her arm all the way and the swelling too so she suggested that we head to Emergency to get an X-Ray. James headed there with the little two while Daniel and I got home, packed a few things for Eliza and then headed to meet them. When we got there they were sitting in the corner watching some Bluey episodes while they waited to be triaged. James was on band that night so needed to head home to get ready to go to church. We worked out that James could take Daniel and Alexander with him to band, they could sit and watch the Swans game from the night before on the iPad and have some snacks while he did practice until I could pick them up. We weren't sure what time Eliza would be out. They headed off just as Eliza was called to go to triage.

As we went through the doors, Eliza was weighed and then we went into a little room with the nurse. He asked if we went to TW school, which we said yes. He then pulled down his mask and said he was Zoe's Dad, Russel. Zoe had been at Eliza's birthday party in March and he recognised us from when we gave him the party invite. Zoe was having a party the next weekend too so he said he hoped Eliza would be ok for that. He was so lovely. He checked her arm and the movement she could do and also pushed around her elbow to check where the pain was. He then sent us to be fast tracked to get an x-ray. 

We walked to the other building and sat down. 

I went and checked Eliza in and then we sat and waited. A nurse came up and asked what Eliza had done and we explained she fell from the trampoline and hurt her elbow. She ordered an x-ray for her. It wasn't a very long wait before the x-ray person called her. We went into a different room and he took a couple of X-rays of her arm. She did really well and was quite brave as he moved her arm around. She said one way hurt a lot but the other was ok. Still, she did it all with a smile on her face. We then went back into the room to sit and wait. 

It wasn't long before a doctor called us into the room. He asked Eliza what happened and how it felt. He poked and prodded around her elbow. He had her try and straighten her arm and twist it. He then said that he didn't think it was broken because the pain was more on the tendon than on the bone when he was pushing around the elbow. He was just going to wait and see the x-ray to confirm but we should be able to go soon. Sweet! That was a relief.

We went back to the waiting room and sat and read, chatted, read some more, played games, sent some text messages to people and waited some more. 

A nurse came up and asked what we were there for and I said that we were waiting to hear back from the doctor after he looked at the x-ray. She was surprised that the doctor hadn't already seen us, but I explained that he did see us but it was before he saw the x-ray.

We then waited some more and I was getting to the point of asking the desk if they had missed Eliza. Some people were leaving who had arrived well after us and it was just odd when they didn't think it was a break.

The nurse then came up to me and said that we needed to organise an outpatient appointment and that she needed a cast. Out loud I said 'So she has broken her arm?' in a pretty loud and surprised voice. The nurse said 'Didn't the doctor come and explain this to you?'. Ummm.. nope. Then the doctor walked up behind her and said 'yes you do need a cast. There is a line that could be a small fracture in the elbow so we are going to put on a temporary cast and then you will have a follow up appointment to get it checked properly.' Ok. I was a bit shocked.

They walked Eliza through to another room where she sat on the chair and then the nurse showed the doctor how they put on the plaster cast. Eliza did so well sitting there while they did it. She said that it felt really sticky and slimy. It made me think of how we paid for plaster casts at school fetes, and wondered what the appeal was for that. The cast was around her elbow and then down the outside of her arm so that she couldn't straighten it. She was so brave.

Putting on the cast

We made a follow up appointment for Wednesday and then headed to church to get Daniel and Alexander before heading home. The kids watched a couple of episodes of Bluey on the tv before we headed to church. Eliza was nervous about going but I reminded her that people will ask what happened because they care about her so it is a nice thing to be noticed and asked. We walked into church and she hid behind me until Lara saw her arm and asked what happened and then Eliza was ok to tell her and confident to walk into church. She still had Panadol at night to try and help the pain ease but otherwise she was ok. Much better than the previous nights. She did wake in the night with her arm up above her head and was unsure how it got there.

On the way to school Eliza felt a bit nervous about being there and people noticing her arm. I again reminded her that people will ask what happened because they care and that is a nice thing. I also told her that she can do everything and anything with her left arm. She can still try writing - it will be messy and some letters will be around the wrong way, but that's ok. She just needed to have a go. She felt a little bit more confident and at the end of the day, Mrs Barwell said that she was really proud of Eliza and how she gave everything a go still. 

On Wednesday (5/5/21) we had an appointment at the fracture clinic for 10:30. James decided to take carers leave so that he could be there with us for the appointment which was quite nice. When I checked in they said there would be a wait of up to an hour. That was ok. I took some books for Eliza to read but then we sat next to a lady who said they waited up to 4 hours last visit and it looked just as busy. Dear. James went home and got his iPad so that Eliza could sit and watch some things if we were there waiting for a long time. Fortunately he did because she didn't get checked until 2pm. 

Kathy Walker was the nurse who called us in (nice to have another familiar face). The doctor was very kind and said that it didn't look like there was a fracture but there was a line that could be a small one. He thinks though that it is a build up of blood at the base of her ulna bone in her arm between the bone and her growth plate and that's why she was having the pain more in the inside of her elbow, not at the back. He said that for the next 4 weeks she would need to have her arm in the sling because a bit of movement actually helps this type of injury. For 2 weeks it needed to be in the sling all the time and then 2 weeks after that it could be taken out for doing light activities, but nothing weight bearing. No dance or swimming for the next couple of weeks incase she falls on it or bumps it. That night I headed out the the pharmacy and got a proper sling because Eliza found the triangle bandage so uncomfortable. This new sling will support it much more.

Thanks to Cathy for helping me understand how it should be worn so it didn't hurt her neck too much and thanks too to Laina and Ursh for their help and advice when Eliza was complaining that her neck was quite sore. They thought it would possibly be amplified because of the impact and considering that it settled over a couple of days, they were pretty spot on. So that is where we are now. We have one more week to go until we see the doctor again and hopefully get the all clear. Eliza has been doing a lot with her arm and she can move it a lot more which is good. 

Overall, I have been proud of Eliza and how she handled all of this. Before we saw the doctor, she was dancing around and not letting it stop her. After the x-ray with the cast on she didn't complain too much, but there were moments where it all just got too much and she had a moment of frustration - one morning everything was silly and naughty. She had a go at everything at school still and would still do writing with her left hand. 

But fortunately those moments of frustration have been few and far between. Now hopefully after this week she can be sling free and able to use her arm however she wants. 

As for the trampoline, that's 2 strikes... I am thinking that 3 strikes means that it goes out. The kids aren't keen on that idea but we will see what happens. Hopefully no more injuries.

Update:

Wednesday (2nd June) came and we headed to the hospital. We were prepared for a long wait and managed to find a table to sit at (some chairs had been removed since last time we were here). 

Colouring in, reading, drawing filled our time. But it was only an hour before we were called! Amazing! We headed in to see the doctor, Eliza sat down. She straightened her arm out well, could twist and turn it and when her elbow was poked and prodded, she said it didn't hurt. That was great! The doctor said that she is fine to go without a sling, was fine to do normal activities and just to pull back if it started to hurt. Eliza was excited to hear this news, but also upset that she didn't get to watch any Bluey while waiting (I was going to do it after 30 more mins). We headed to the car and she was able to watch Bluey as we drove home before heading into school.

She can straighten her arm!

After school she was playing with Emily and Clara and doing cartwheels. Yep, cartwheels. Her arm held up fine and had no problems. I'm glad that it is all better now!