Sunday, May 17, 2009

Not for the Faint of Heart...

I've decided orthopedics is not for the faint of heart.

Friday, my 11 year old daughter took a major spill at school during an obstacle course race for field day. There is nothing quite like the 11 A.M. phone call from your child's teacher letting you know the emergency squad is on it's way. When I arrived at the school she was already in an air cast and in the ambulance. When we got to the hospital the diagnosis was a complete dislocation of the left elbow and fracture of the proximal head of the radius. When the doctors put her bones back in place, the fractured part of the elbow broke off. We go to the orthopedic clinic this Wednesday. We'll find out then if they plan to put her in a hard cast or if she'll need surgery to secure the broken bone.

It's tough watching your kids go through the hard stuff. It's harder still knowing that they'll have to set aside a dream because of it. My girl is all about competitive gymnastics. She has some pretty lofty goals - a good many of which I believe were attainable. The doctor said gymnastics is probably out of the picture. When daughter visited the gym her coach told her that sometimes gymnasts with serious injuries switch to competitive diving - all the flips and fun without the impact. That seemed to brighten her day. In any case, we'll worry about that later. We have a possible surgery and a summer of physical therapy ahead of us first.

Long weekend. Expecting a long week. Summer of physical therapy... Here's hoping for waterproof casts so she can at least get in the pool this year!


Total dislocation


This piece broke off when they put the bones back in place.

12 comments:

Bish Denham said...

Oh wow, that must have really hurt. So sorry to hear about this. I hope your daughter discovers a new passion that will be even more rewarding than the last.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear about this happening. How sad! Luckily, young bodies usually heal amazingly well. I agree with Bish. I hope your daughter can find a new hobby that she loves with all her heart. Writing, maybe? *grins*

That's not nearly physical enough, LOL.

Mary said...

Hugs!
I wish you and your daughter the best with the recovery. :-)

Mary

Carrie Harris said...

Awww. I'm sending good healing vibes to your daughter. I'm so glad that the coach was able to say something that would help her to feel at least a little better!

Mary Witzl said...

Your poor daughter -- and poor you! Our daughter also broke her elbow about five years ago and she too was doing gymnastics at the time (though not so eagerly as your daughter) and could not continue with this after the bone healed.

The dislocation AND fracture is tough, though. Still, diving is a great sport and I always think it is a lot more spectacular than plain old gymnastics. Hope your daughter's elbow heals up nicely!

Anne Spollen said...

Ouch! This hurts in so many ways...

Trisha Pearson said...

That's awful! I feel so bad for both of you and wish her a speedy recovery.

Nora MacFarlane said...

Thanks, All. Daughter is feeling pretty perky today. She's decided she wants to check out competitive diving... all the flips and fun with not as much impact. Hmmm.... When do they practice? Like, 5 A.M.?????

Adrienne said...

So sorry to hear this. Best wishes for some quick healing.

C.R. Evers said...

ohh nooo! poor thing. I've had my share of broken bones and injuries, so I can feel her pain. (((hugs))) to you both.

christy

Anonymous said...

Ooh, poor girl. I'm so sorry. I had a trick knee until surgery fixed it permanently when I was 15 and all my dancing dreams went down the tubes. Hopefully your daughter does discover something that makes her heart feel full.

Martha Flynn said...

omg! She's such a trooper - and yeah, if my high school memories are intact...you're in the water by 5am which means arriving earlier and waking up even eaaaarlier! Hope everything's back to normal soon!