Fractured

Kate broke her first bone yesterday! I was exercising with hand weights in the morning and she wanted to join me. She picked up the three pound weights and was moving them around and then started screaming. I couldn't tell how it happened. My guess is she brought the hand weights down and slammed them both into her thumb. First thing in the morning she didn't want to go to preschool but when I advised her that we might need to go to InstaCare to see if her thumb is broken she quickly decided preschool was her out and begged to attend. I kept asking her if it hurt and she kept telling me it was okay. I let her know that the doctor wasn't scary and I explained that they would just take a picture of her hand and put some fabric on it to keep it safe and she didn't want to have anything to do with the doctor. So, I sent her off to preschool and went ahead with the day.

 Her thumb quickly swelled and within a short time was bruised. I kept feeling it and it was rock solid with swelling. I asked a few expert neighbors that I ran into serendipitously throughout the day: the nurse across the street, the pediatrician down the street, the physical therapist on the street up above. Each couldn't tell for sure without an x-ray but they all thought it would be fine and that she just jammed it pretty good. I think because Kate wasn't acting in pain, many thought it was just banged up a bit. She was so tough about it, always telling me it was "okay" any time I put pressure on it or asked if certain positions hurt. I kept checking it and feeling uneasy about it but I trusted Kate, the professionals, and Scott (note to self: never trust Scott with regards to first aid or medical needs he is 0 for 4 so far, not to mention the countless times he should have taken himself to the doctor).

When she woke up twice during the night complaining of pain, I realized her jammed thumb was worse than she was letting on. I needed to take her to InstaCare for an x-ray. I waited until later in the morning. When the nurse asked her if it hurt when she bent it, I looked at her and told her that she could tell the truth, now that we were here. She looked to the nurse and admitted that it hurt quite a bit to bend. Poor girl. Oh, she was so adorable answering questions and letting the nurses and doctors know what happened. I thought it was fun and the Doctor was truly charming with Kate. He could tell right off that it was smooshed pretty badly and guessed it was fractured even before the x-ray. I felt relieved and validated. This was an expensive way to validate myself--our insurance co-pay for InstaCare is a whopping $50 right now! The Doc showed us the x-ray and I could easily see the fracture in the upper part of her thumb.

A nurse put a splint on suggesting that Kate take it easy today and keep her right hand elevated. Kate let the nurse know that she was planning to play with a friend and didn't know if elevating her hand in front of the TV would work so well. The nurse charmingly suggested that she try to work it into her schedule. The doctor prescribed Tylenol with Codeine and recommended that Kate leave the splint on (taking it off only for baths) for a week or so.

I didn't realize until today just what a tough cookie this girl is. I know I should've caught on a few winters ago when she demonstrated her ability to frolic outside in the snow without footwear. I might've even caught on when she was walking barefoot last year through the pointy rocks at Grandma's house. But now, I guess I know for sure.