Addison's Big Fall

Monday, December 28, 2009, started out great. The kids and I decided to put away the Christmas decorations, and then because we worked so hard to clean the house, we treated ourselves to McDonalds chicken nuggets. Because bedtime has been a bit of a challenge lately, Mom decided that we would skip nap time today, and get good and tired for an early bedtime. I was on the computer and let the kids play..they were in Addison's room when she started crying.. I thought "What did Kristian do this time." as her cry was normal as any other day. Addison is my tough one, she takes a hug and a kiss then wants to be let down and get back to business. She didn't this time...she wanted mommy to hold her. We have recently moved Addison to the "big girl bed" but we hadn't yet taken the crib down. Our mistake!! Addison fell out of the crib.

I decided, upon more evaluation, to take her to KidsCare. The fall happened about 4:30pm. So, about 5:30 pm.. the kids and I arrived and waited at KidsCare. Addison wasn't using her arm, and cried if you touched it. The swelling had started and I could tell it was her elbow. They took 3 x-ray's of her arm (This was hard because I had to hold her, and stretch out her arm in 3 different positions) so sad.. but Addie is tough!
Kristian took this picture of us as we were waiting in the room for the x-ray results.

Results are in: "Yep! Your daughter has fractured her elbow, but she did it in a 'unique' way so we need to you go up to Primary Children's Hospital, through the ER, and see the Orthopedic Specialist." They put a splint on her and sent us on our way.

I dropped Kristian off at Grandma's, called Jon, and luckily he was able to get off work and meet me. Here is Daddy and Addison in the waiting room at PCMC. We got here about 8:00 and I was glad that we didn't have to wait very long. The staff was amazing and so great with Addison. We are very very appreciative!!

Here is Addison and Mommy. I believe she had just gotten her first dose of Morphine. This was about 8:30-9:00.. (so she had been 4-5 hours without pain meds).. She was so funny on the Morphine! She was acting so silly, as she just jabbered and jumped topics going through all the family members, dad's hat, the picture on the wall, moms hat, family, dads hat... then she would nibble at the IV port dangling from her arm. We were laughing at how silly the drugs had made her (but hey, at least she wasn't in pain..)

Doctors reviewed the results. Almost 99% of the time elbow fractures have to be fixed surgically as it is important that they heal correctly for future development. This was the case for us. They told us we would have surgery about 12:30am. So in the mean time they moved us to the room we would stay in after surgery.

At 2:30am, they came and said they were ready for us. We watched as they pushed our little girl, looking so tiny in the big hospital bed, down the hall.. we met with the anesthesiologist and the orthopedic surgeon and nurse who would be taking care of her. It was sad and very hard to watch as they took Addison down the hall in one direction, and we walked in the opposite direction to the waiting room.
Surgery took less time than I though. The doctor came in about 3:30 to tell us the surgery was done and was a success. (see pics below) We waited until the nurse came and got us to go see Addie. She looked good, but looked very small and exhausted as she lay in the bed. We finally made it back to our room about 4:30am..
What a long night! This is Addie the next morning, well, I guess just a few hours after surgery. She wasn't happy that I took this picture!! By 9:00 am they wanted to see if she would eat or drink anything.. had her last dose of antibiotics at 11:00 and by noon we were finally in the car ready to go home.

Here are the pictures that the doctor gave us directly following her surgery. Addison had fractured the head of the humerus bone. It had basically broken the head of the bone off and sort of slid to the side, and therefore just needed to be put back in place with 2 pins. As seen here. (I hope I explained that correctly..)
"Left type 2 supracondylar humerus fracture"

Addie is now in a splint and will wear this for the next 10 days. She see's her doctor on Jan. 8th at which point she'll get a cast which she'll wear for an additional 3-4 weeks.
I am so proud of my little Addison. She was so tough and so brave and handled this whole situation wonderfully! Today she is feeling back to normal. She is busy trying to still keep up with Kristian, despite her limitations. Addison is getting pampered with sponge baths and additional love and attention. She really is my tough one and has proved herself the last few days. We love you Addison!! We are so sorry for this accident and we hope you get feeling better soon!!

**THANKS to all the friends and family who lent their love, concern, and support to us in dealing with this minor family tragedy. We appreciate you all so very much!**