The Cast Is On

I must say yesterday went very well. I guess it helps when you mentally prepare yourself up for a long and awful day :)

Matthew had could not eat anything after 8am. Wouldn't you know this is the morning he decided to sleep in, and with the girls sleeping over at my parents I was none to impressed that I had to get up to wake him up to have breakfast. I shouldn't complain I still got to sleep in an hour ... but two hours would have been even nicer yet :) From 8am to 10am I kept putting clear liquids in front of him and since he loves to drink he kept filling himself up with liquid. He played so nice all morning and it wasn't until about 11:30 or so that he first asked for something. I distracted him from this by telling him we were going to go say hi to Grandma before we went back to the hospital. Having to wait for a train on the way to the hospital was again a great distraction from his constant asking for a "bobby" (bottle). I think this is the first time he's seen a real moving train ... his idea of trains is Thomas, Percy, Edward, James ...etc. And then only a minute or so after we waited for the train we could see another train beside us as we were driving. This kept him chattering about trains and seeing more trains until we got to the hospital and once there he had distractions for a bit to keep his mind off food and drink and candies.

We arrived at the hospital at 1pm and as we were registering they called down to see if we had arrived as they were ready for us. So we went straight up to the Pediatric Ward and did the paper work and routine stuff and then Matthew watched TV for a bit. By 1:40 he was again asking for juice, bobby or candy. In the end it was not until 2:30 that they came to get us because some sort of emergency came up ... but regardless it wasn't that long of a wait and he survived ... he even gained a few new toys out of the deal since I had come equiped with toys and books to keep him entertained in the lovely empty ER waiting area.

Here's Matthew hanging out in the room watching TV

The nurses entertained Matthew for a few minutes when we arrived up at Same-Day Surgery. He got stickers to put on Mackie (his teddy) and then they gave him and Mackie hair nets so they could be just like the nurses. Soon as I took the picture he ripped the hat off him and Mackie ... he wanted nothing to do with them.

It was as short quick little procedure. I think I was called into the recovery room within about half an hour. He may have only received a little bit of anesthetic but he was acting just like I expected ... hashing and throwing himself around and crying, incoherent and not really awake. This was no surprise to me as James did this almost everytime and Rebecca did too when she had an anesthetic. But just like with the other kids the nurses and docs get all worked up about it. I've talked to other parents and this seems to be pretty normal ... but not according to the nurses. In the end they were insistent it was pain causing him to cry and act out and so they doped him with painkillers ...enough to put him to sleep for a few hours. I didn't argue as I really don't know how much pain he is in and this isn't a regular occurence so a bit of extra pain killer isn't such a bad thing. Once asleep he was good and asleep and eventually we moved him from recovery back up to the ward where he continued to sleep.

Shortly after 6pm we woke him as they figured he'd otherwise sleep the whole night and I really wanted to go home. So after making sure he was able to stomach some juice and popsicle we were discharged. A stop at the drug store for some codeine and then we went to Grandma's to pick up the girls.

For the first 48 hours we have to keep Matthew's arm elevated to help keep the sweelling down. They suggested sleeping with him in order to do this. I wasn't quite sure how I would do this. Rob is away but I didn't think having in our bed would help any, so in the end we ended up sleeping in the lazyboy. It was late when we got home so we were all ready to crash. I put Matthew to sleep in his bed, finished up around the house and then at midnight I moved him to the lazyboy with me and there we (or should I say he) slept for the night. Matthew loves to snuggle by laying/sleeping on my shoulder, so it was pretty easy to just have him put his arm on my shoulder while he slept. I must have gotten some sleep for the night went faster then I expected and I was surprise when he woke for his "bobby" and diaper change that it was almost 6am ... but sleep or not I feel like I didn't get any ... I think we'll be going for a good nap today as we're gonna have to do this again tonight!! :( It's that or take the chance and possibly have to have the cast removed and put back on again :( I think I can handle another sleepless night! I'm not complaining ... these nights remind me of the many continuous sleepless nights in our past, what they mostly make me think of is "how the heck did I ever manage with no sleep". But I realize that a persons body does adjust and it's hardest at first, I also know the only reason we survived then was because we were living in survival mode, eventually we would have crashed and when we did it would have been a big crash. I am so thankful we never reached that stage and were able to be there completely and always for James.

Matthew is a true trooper. I gave him one dose of codeine last night just because and with the hope it would help him to get a good sleep. I haven't given him any sort of painkiller yet today since he seems perfectly fine. He plays without a complaint, doesn't seem the list bit frustrated by the lack of one arm. He's happy and energetic. The only thing that makes me realize that it still hurts is that he will say throughout the day "Matthew Ian fall down the stairs, Matthew Ian oweees" Sometime he'll include mommy in the sentence also.

Playing this morning. He adjusted to the mouse in his left hand just like that.

Don't you just love the brilliant expression when they're watching TV.

The cast goes up his whole arm to just below his shoulder. They need to immobilize the elbow also otherwise he can still twist his arm and this will effect the bone. We go back next week Friday to have it x-rayed and talk about whether we will put a smaller cast on. The problem with the smaller casts is that kids are able to get there hand out of them ... so although much nicer for him, not so good for long-term healing. Currently he has a heavy plaster cast. They explained that fiber-glass casts are not as giving when it comes to swelling, but that if they put another cast on it might be a fiber-glass. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what next Friday brings.