Cast-Off, Cast-On

Isak got his cast removed today which revealed a very skinny left arm - and dirty! (But Isak refused to let me clean it). He felt very vulnerable and is a long way off from using it normally. He did get a nice brace to wear. And he cannot participate in sports for another three weeks! Sigh. Apparently, his arm is now more vulnerable than when it was in the cast. In 3 weeks his bone growth should be at adequate levels to where he can resume normal activity. The X-rays looked good, though, and we are certainly grateful for that.

"Awkward" (is what he says in the video)

The big reveal... of the very skinny arm

I asked to keep the cast pieces (the gross padding removed). I am thinking about wrapping the pieces up in a nice present to put under the Christmas tree. Especially in light of what happened just a few hours later. Let's just say Oct 25, 2011 will be remembered in the Fisher family...

I picked the kids up 30 minutes early from school so we could head out before the pick-up traffic got thick. Destination: Pumpkin Patch and Farm. The kids were super excited. This would include corn maze, animals, picking our pumpkins and riding ponies. I had packed a pic-nic 'dinner' and thrown the big blanket in the car. In Moore/S OKC we stopped to get some 'real food' at Crest Market (chicken tenders, in this case - love that store). Mark was due to meet us.

As I unload Julia and Anja, I hear a thump and Elina screams from behind the car! She is the kid least likely to cry in our family - at least from physical injuries. She's tough and wipes her tears quickly. But this time she just sat down next to the car, clutching her right arm and for a long time unable to tell me what happened. She'd tripped on her untied shoelaces (her mother may have mentioned something about tying them...) and taken an unbalanced fall to the unforgiving concrete, bracing her fall with her right arm. She was so shaken she wanted to ride in the grocery cart. Luckily Crest has not one, but two child seats, side-by-side, in their carts. So Anja and Julia sat in front and I lifted Elina into the cart. She cried for five minutes straight, at which point I said to Mark on the phone, "I think our outing is cancelled, because Elina may have a broken arm." She never cries more than 30 seconds for pain. Now, injustice, done to her or some innocent person/creature, can cause her tears to flow for longer, but it has undertones of rage that were not present today.

Elina kept being weepy, saying "I feel like all I want to do is sleep, or just sit and hold my guinea pig all day." "I cannot write with my hand, but I could probably ride a pony." The last utterance gave me some hope that the arm might just be very bruised. I asked her to move the arm and hand carefully in different directions and she had good range of motion, and the arm looked normal. But when Mark came we took Elina to the nearest Urgent Care and we ate our pic-nic food in the car, and Elina ate hers in the waiting room.

Sure enough. Broken arm (wrist). The radius bone right at the growth plate (which can be problematic for proper growth down the road). She has a splint now and will go in to get her cast on Thursday of all goes according to plan (same orthopedic surgeon as Isak - wonder if we can get a special family rate?). Since hers is the right arm, and she is right handed, she's in for a challenging month or so ahead.

And you know something else? In the car, on the way to Crest Market, Elina told me how a boy in her class had fallen at recess TODAY and broken his arm. What?? (The school nurse confirmed it, later.)

 Elina brushing teeth with her left hand.

Isak showing off his new brace.

A good attitude - in spite of it all.

We're officially increasing our calcium intake. 

Though looking at THIS I can see that they are hardly deficient.