Well, according to the research I've done, there's good news and bad news about Hailey's broken wing. The good news is that it's a very common fracture in children, usually caused by the child stretching out a hand to break a fall. This supports our theory that she fell off the bed when she was supposed to be napping. (We think she was playing instead of sleeping and that's why she won't tell us what happened.) If the bone is only broken in two, and the bone fragments didn't move from where they're supposed to be, all that's required is a splint for about 3 weeks and she should be fine.
The bad news is that this kind of fracture can be very serious. If the bone fragments move, she will need surgery. The surgeon will put in a pin to hold the bones in place while they heal. The more fragments there are, the more serious the fracture. And in moving, the fragments can rupture the brachial artery, leading to permanent disformity of the hand and forearm.
Right now I don't think there's anything we can do other than make sure she doesn't make it worse. We'll be taking it easy this week, lots of quiet games and movie watching, and then go see the specialist on Friday. He will decide then whether she needs surgery or not, and she'll get a cast at that time.
It looked like it was going to be a long night last night. Rylee wouldn't settle down and poor little Hailey couldn't. Hailey and I switched beds last night, and I think it was a while before Ryan actually got to sleep because Hailey kept waking up crying every time she tried to move. She finally fell asleep and the rest of us did too, and we all slept pretty well after that, until about 5 am, when Rylee would not go back to sleep and I just couldn't hold her anymore, so I brought her into bed with Sammie and me. I did not sleep well after that.
She seems to be doing well now - she's walking around, playing on the computer and even trying to play Barbies with Sammie. She hasn't had Tylenol for about 4 hrs and isn't complaining, so that's a good sign. That's about all there is to tell now - hopefully it'll be an uneventful week as far as her arm goes and there won't be anything to tell until we go to the fracture clinic on Friday.
In other medical news, our friend with the head injury is recovering much faster than the doctors expected, which is good news. He's been moved to a different hospital to start rehab and is making great strides. My grandmother is still in hospital but is getting better. She's had a lot of fluid drained from her lungs and is having a CAT scan today. If it's all good, she'll go home today.
Continued good wishes for Chris, Hailey and my grandma would be appreciated.
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