Bubba's Broken Arm, Momma's Broken Heart

Okay, so it's not broken, it's dislocated, but the 'broken' worked better in the title!

Matthew update: First, let me rewind to about a week and 1/2 ago. Matthew (being the accident-prone, heart attack giver, BOY that he is) was jumping on mommy's bed and got his foot caught in the blankets causing him to fall on his left arm. An x-ray confirmed that it was dislocated. The (not very friendly with absolutely no bedside manner) Dr. came into the room and proceeded to reduce the injured arm/elbow back into place. Over the next few days the swelling and pain continued and never completely went away. After speaking to the same Dr.'s office, I was advised that the swelling and pain following such an injury is completely normal and not to be alarmed. Oh, and of course I must mention that I specifically asked if I should follow up with his primary care Dr. and I was told that the arm was okay now and there was no need to do that. Well, eventually Matthew got to using the arm more and on MOST days had us convinced that he was getting better. I say most days because we saw that he still guarded the injured arm and favored the rt. arm more. We also tested him every now and then asking him to turn his arm this way or that way and each time he grimaced when attempting to go 'palm up.' So we did what any other parent would do and went to get a 2nd opinion. That was yesterday- and what a LONG day that was!

After a 2nd set of x-rays a (new and much nicer) Dr. confirmed that his arm was STILL dislocated and never really fixed! Can you imagine the (interior) rage that both dad and I had at that moment? Can you imagine my poor tough little guy roughing through a dislocated elbow going on 11 days now? Can you imagine the mommy guilt I had thinking I should have followed my instinct a long time ago?!

We were immediately sent to the kindest Orthopaedic Dr. who planned to do the following.... #1) try to reduce the arm again in his office aside from the extreme swelling if that didn't work then on to #2) go to the E.R. and do the same thing with a little anesthesia and/or if neither worked #3) SURGERY! I was kicked out of the room while dad and the Dr. worked on Bubba. It was one of the worst mommy moments ever! I could hear my poor sons screams and cries coming from the room. I was in tears, along with all of the nurses trying to comfort me. I did what any other helpless mother would do and I called mom and dad. My parents came down at the speed of lightning to be with us! Unlce Joseph watched the 3 older girls!

After reducing his arm (the right way) for the 2nd time, more x-rays were done. It confirmed that it was ALMOST perfect now, but not 100%. Matthew is in a splint now and on Tylenol w/ codeine. We'll go back to see the Orthopaedic Dr. on Monday. He's hoping the swelling will go down and allow the bone to fall back into the joint in a more perfect position. If so, they will cast him in an effort to keep the joint from being used so much as it gets used to being back in the normal position. So, please pray that all goes well on Monday and that no further treatment is needed, as this is my ONLY son and I do want him to have full use of all extremities because after all he's my future sports player - I'm already his #1 fan!

Yesterday I learned two things...

I have the toughest little boy ever ( I kinda already knew that)

and 'trust your mommy instincts.'

I will keep you all up to date on what happens, please pray for him!