Broken Arm

This was bound to happen, in fact, I am surprised it took so long for Caroline to break a bone. She is constantly climbing, and has little fear of falling. As it happened, we were at the grocery store filling the water jug for our dispenser. Sydney and Caroline always want to go to this particular store, because the have a little carousel out front right by the water dispenser. I gave Sydney the quarters for the ride, and started to put the money in the machine for the water. Before I knew what happened, Caroline had grabbed a quarter from Sydney and put it in the carousel. The ride lurched forward and threw her to the ground. She was crying, and when I picked her up, I noticed that her forearm was bent like a banana. I was sure it was broken, and after a few hours in the E.R., my suspicions were confirmed. The radius in her right arm was snapped in half, and the ulna was bent. The doctor said that in young children, the bones are still soft enough that they sometimes bend without breaking. I guess we should be grateful it we are only dealing with one broken bone instead of two!

All ready for church--and so proud of her pink cast!Caroline was so brave waiting in the E.R.! We were there for about three hours, and she hardly whimpered at all. She just sat on my lap, occasionally commenting when she heard a doctor being paged over the speakers, or the crack she noticed in the wall. She sat still as the x-ray tech maneuvered her arm and took pictures, and she actually started to fall asleep as the doctor splinted her arm. The next day at the pediatric orthopedic office, she sceamed like I have never heard her scream before as the doctor set her arm. However, she calmed down by the time we left, and even accepted a candy bribe from the doctor.

She had mentioned earlier that next time she rode the horsies, I should put the quarters in. As we were leaving the doctors office, she saw a gumball machine in the pharmacy. She asked me if she could have one, and if I had a quarter. When I said yes, she said, "Can I put the quarter in? Because it is a gumball, not a horsie." Of course, I let her put the quarter in.

Allison, Emily and Sydney were so good to Caroline. They bought her balloons and gum on the way home from the hospital. Everyone fought over who got to sit by her, and they all wanted her to sleep with them. She is a very well cared for little patient.