Another First Part Two

So, on Monday I took Thomas to Dr. Patel for his two-week follow-up.  It was a good thing our Doc scheduled the follow-up, because the x-ray showed that not only had the fracture not progressed in healing, it was actually now a pretty significant break.  With bad angles.  Something a mother should not see an x-ray of when it involves one of her child's bones.

And, just how does one manage to break their arm when it's in a cast?  You got me.  J, our nurse friend, is an x-ray tech, and she say she sees this in her job.  The cast is put on when there is swelling, the swelling goes down, and there's wiggle room.  Enough to rebreak.  I suspect Guitar Hero is to blame.

So, here we are at the surgery center, and Thomas is being prepped for surgery to realighn the bone and pin it in place so it will heal correctly.  Another thing no mother wants to see her child go through.  But, the staff is great here, very patient, good about explaining what their doing and what to expect.  Thomas is anxious but calm.

Here's what the cast (the failure!) looked like by the time it was ready to come off.

Here's the nice nurse taking a saw to my child's arm to get the cast off.  A little nerve-wracking.

After the cast came off, it was time for a pedicure.  No, actually, since the hand had not been washed in a couple of weeks (have to keep the cast dry), a bit of gentle scrubbing was in order.

Nope, this is not what a normal wrist is supposed to look like.

All prepped and ready to go into surgery.

And, not so happy coming out of the anasthesia...

The arm was wrapped up in a fixed splint, which is to remain in place until our follow-up visit.  This is good, because it means I won't have to do any wound care (one of my least-favorite things to do).  The Doc did not need to put permanent pins in, but put two wires through the bone to hold it in place while it heals. And, yes, he did need to "remove some healed material" while he was in there, a delicate way of saying he had to rebreak it and dig out some new bone.  Bless Dr. Patel's sensitive soul.

So, the splint will remain in place for a couple of weeks, when we will get it x-rayed again to be sure the arm is healing properly.  In the meantime, a couple days of rest is in order.