To Duke Hospital We Went...

It all started Monday at 7:00 pm.  I had just put Ryan down for bed and came into the kitchen to start making dinner.  Josh and Tyler were outside with our neighbors.  Tyler was on his dirt bike (which has training wheels), and his older friend, age 9, was on his 4-wheeler.  We have woods behind our house with a trail, so they were going along the trail and then coming back up through the yard.  Tyler's done this plenty of times.  His dirt bike is set to not go fast.   But before I knew it I looked up and saw Josh carrying Tyler through the back yard.  I didn't notice Tyler's face but Josh's face first.  I could tell something was wrong.  I went to the back door still not completely convinced that something bad had happened, but when I saw them, Josh said "we have to go to the hospital."  The next few minutes were a blur.  I remember yelling "what's wrong?" and then seeing Tyler's arm hanging dead.  It was obvious his arm was broken.  He rushed into the passenger seat of our car holding Tyler as our neighbor got into the driver's seat to take them to the hospital.  Before I knew it they were gone, and I realized I had no clue what hospital they were going to or how it even happened.

Our neighbor's wife who is also Ryan's sitter called me moments later offering to come down and stay with Ryan while I went to the hospital.  Once I got a hold of Josh, I left to meet them at the hospital which is about a 40 minute drive.

I arrived at the hospital near 8:00 pm and went straight into the ER.  Tyler was in xrays, so I waited for them to be done.  Once we saw the xrays, everything changed.  Josh and I both figured this was typical broken bone that would require a cast, and then we'd come home.  We were proven wrong.  The doctor showed us the xrays which indicated that Tyler's humerus bone had broken into two.  It was a straight break.  At the time, they also thought he had dislocated his elbow. Everything was NOT where it should be.  The word surgery was immediately thrown out, and I saw Josh crumble. 

Because surgery was in our future, we had to be moved to Duke.  But before they could transport him, they had to set his arm back in place to wrap it.  I can't remember what they gave him medicine wise for this part, but it did not work.  I remember the team saying to me, "you're going to want to sit down for this."  I turned my head and cried as I listened to Tyler scream.  It was awful and felt like it lasted a century.

There were more xrays, and then the Duke Life Flight team came to get him.  We could not be in the ambulance with him, so we had to follow them in our car.  I kept praying that he would not be scared in there and would just fall asleep.  Thank God that's exactly what happened.  On the way there, we called our neighbor/sitter and asked if she would take Ryan back to her house and keep him for the night and through the next day.  This was not hard for me since she takes such great care of him anyway.  I am so blessed to have her.

We arrived at Duke shortly after 10:00 pm.  From there, we went through rounds of morphine for pain.  They determined they needed to re-set his arm again and suggested the use of Ketamine which puts him to sleep but his eyes are still open.  I felt like we signed our life away acknowledging all of the risks.  The entire team was in there through the process monitoring his oxygen level, re-setting his arm, and doing xrays all at the same time.  Instead of waking up on his own after the Ketamine wore off, he slept through most of the rest of the night including through another round of xrays, being transported to an actual room around 1:30am, and vital sign readings.  We finally turned the lights out at 2am.  I slept on the recliner, and Josh slept crunched on the side of the bed.

Tyler had not had anything to eat or drink since 3:00 pm and of course could not once this happened and they knew he would need surgery.  Josh and I finally ate dinner at midnight.  At 6:30 am, they told us that Tyler would be prepped in 15-20 minutes.  The reason we had to wait through the night for surgery is for the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon to be in.  They wanted the entire team there and felt it would be best to wait.  Got to love teaching hospitals.

We signed more papers, and at 7:30 am he went in for surgery which lasted two full hours.  They placed pins through his bones to keep them together, and then they put a cast on.  We were given a pager during this time, so we grabbed breakfast and updated family and friends.  At 9:30 am, we learned the surgery went well and we could go see him.  He was pretty uncomfortable, and there was still a lot of crying.  It seemed that no amount of pain meds were touching the pain.  And this was hard to see.

We got back up to our room after recovery and Tyler watched some TV and ate a small amount of food.  Josh and I were dying to leave and so was Tyler, so we finally made it out of the hospital around 4:00 pm. 

It's been rough for all of us.  Tyler is learning that he can still do things but just obviously with one arm.  Still, my self-sufficient five year old is not 100%.  Sleeping last night was not easy for him or Josh and I.  We had the alarm set to wake up every three hours to give meds, but he would end up getting up at around 2.5 hours complaining and crying of pain.  We are alternating Oxycodone and Tylenol for the pain.  This morning, he was really down and depressed as well as in pain.  But as the day has progressed, so has he.  He is doing so much better and has much higher spirits! 

So, what happened?  All we can figure out is that he tipped over and stuck his arm out to brace his fall, a common instinct for kids to do.  In talking to all of the doctors, this could have really happened with anything.  It could have happened on the swing set or riding his bike down the hill.  Unfortunately, it happened period.  I've heard my share of "this is what boys do" and "boys break bones" from family, friends, and even doctors.  And I'm sure they are probably spot on.  But even so, he is a five year old boy.  And that is too young for me to handle seeing!

We do not really know how long he will have this cast on.  We will be scheduled for a follow up in a week and should know more then.  We've heard a total of 4-5 weeks, but we are prepared for longer.  Regardless, we just pray it will be off and healed by July 9 when we leave for the beach!  Apparently, kids heal much faster than adults do from these things.  So, we are praying for a smooth recovery, healing process, and no nerve damage.  This has been pretty emotional for us.  It's so hard to see your child in so much pain and to know that they will be limited in activities for a while.  But the awesome part about kids is that they have such forgivable spirits and the endurance to get through most anything.  Especially Tyler!  We are so thankful that he was not hurt worse!  And I have to say we are also thankful for good insurance with me working at Duke!  This could have easily cost a fortune!  I think we will get out of this only owing $450.  Not pocket change, but it could be so much worse!

I will update as Tyler recovers.  Thank you all for your kind emails, texts, visits, and calls!