Blonde Moments and Ortho Appointments

Blonde Moments and Ortho Appointments

Posted by Candace

Today was Kate's one week ortho check up to make sure that her bone was still in the correct position for healing.  David was super swamped at work, so he took the boys to the office and let me drive his car to Atlanta...brave man!  I must say that it was much easier to get Kate in and out of his little car than it is my big van.  Since she can't sit up, she has to lay across a seat in a harness in the car.  This presents a difficult entry and exit in the van as I have to climb in, shove my way to the back seat, lay her down, strap her in, and climb out.  So David's sacrifice was a big one :).

I rushed out of the house this morning forgetting Kate's stroller and her diaper bag and breakfast.  I seriously do not think I was completely awake because I haven't been so thoughtless in a long time.  As I was pulling out of the driveway, the light bulb came on, but then I realized that I had also forgotten my house key...so that was that. 

Kate's ortho is in Atlanta, so my drive would be around an hour.  I sent up a little prayer for no poop, and weaved my way down I-20 and 285 in complete peace and quiet.  The car was so serene without the boys arguing, fighting, and basically trying to kill each other.  I should have known I was in trouble when I missed my exit off 285 and added 10 minutes to my drive according to my GPS.  When I got on 85, Kate started to have a meltdown...and I do mean MELTDOWN.  She kept repeating through adamant screams that she wanted to get out.  So here I am in 85 traffic trying to keep my cool and avoid all the professional commuters, all the while trying to explain to a screaming child that getting her way would definitely not make her happier at the moment.  The exit I got off on was packed and of course, I was in the wrong lane to make the righthand turn directly off of it, so once again my GPS was rerouting me...and the screams were not stopping.  I glanced back at Kate who had somehow wiggled out of her harness and was now up on all fours in the backseat.  Traffic was bad on the reroute and I knew it would be 10 more extra minutes before we arrived.  All I could do was pray "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... HELP ME!"  (Obviously I don't do well in high pressure Atlanta traffic situations.)

I contemplated stopping at a drive thru because it was now after 10am and I had yet to eat or drink, but I thought it would probably a total disaster since they couldn't hear my order anyway.  I finally arrived at the Ortho office after a few more U turns and a misstep into an abandoned building parking lot and pulled Kate out of the car...of course, her screams ceased immediately.  But I had another problem...no stroller... so I had no choice but to carry Kate everywhere in the cast that weighs as much as she does.  I also had to go to the bathroom, which was an Olympic feat in itself with a 2 year old in one arm.  I learned today how to pull up and button my pants with one hand!!

The doctor appointment itself went very smoothly.  Kate got a couple of xrays and then her ortho showed us that she is healing very nicely.  He scheduled the cast to come off in 5 weeks, which is Sept. 26th.  Nice to have a set in stone countdown.  I am very comfortable with this new ortho and we would have never met him had not Kate broken her leg, so I know that there has been purpose in all of this...remind me of that over the next 5 weeks, K?

After we finished at the doctor, we decided to have lunch at Boston Market right up the street and I only had to make one U-turn to get there!  It was yummy, especially after the breakfast of tic tacs that I had in the waiting room.  After eating, we stopped by QT right next door and got a pack of diapers because I wasn't taking any chances.  I changed Kate in the parking lot and we headed home.  All of this required a lot of muscle, so I was exhausted on the drive home.  Kate got the nap in the back seat and I struggled to keep myself uncomfortable enough to not let my eyes close.  After the hour drive home, I was ready to crash, but remembered as I pulled into the driveway that I didn't have a house key...and that someone had removed the spare and not put it back where is belongs (not naming any names...DAVID!).  This meant I had to drive to Loganville and get my keys from David...which means I would have to get the rest of the kids from David...which means no nap for Candace.

I promise I have a brain... I just need to go find out where I misplaced it.  It is probably somewhere back in dreamland wondering how my body is functioning without enough sleep.  Maybe I'll catch up with it tonight and it will be well rested!

Drama, Drama, Drama...

Drama, Drama, Drama...

Posted by Candace

Saturday began with nothing on the schedule.  I was cooking breakfast and hoping to get a little bit of work caught up that I was behind on.  Nathan and Kate were playing in the kitchen.  Nathan wanted so badly to pick Kate up and she, as usual, wanted nothing of the sort.  So he tried to lift her and she kicked him hard in response.  The result was a boom and Kate on the floor crying.  I turned around and went to comfort her.  This scenario is not unusual at our house.  The boys are boys and Kate is a unsteady, spitfire toddler.  She often ends up sprawled on the floor somewhere laughing or smiling or even sometimes whining and needing a little hug from mommy, but this time was different.  When I picked her up, her body went stiff and she had a hard time catching her breath from the sobs.  She clung to my shirt desperately and her eyes were terrified. 

At first I thought that maybe she had hurt her head, because it had also hit the floor, but when she could finally tell me what was wrong, she was pointing to her leg... the leg that had already broken once in China and had healed the wrong way...the leg that is already shorter... the leg that haunts me every now and then with the taunting thought that I was not there when she broke it and couldn't make sure someone fixed it.  When she wouldn't stop crying or let me move it at all, I knew it was time for xrays.  I called David, who was on the golf course, and headed for Newton ER.  Thank goodness I had sense enough to take the bacon out of the oven and turn off the stove.  I KNOW for a fact that the Holy Spirit helped me to keep calm because Kate was screaming her head off,  breakfast was still going on in the kitchen, the boys were doing there own thing, and I was still in my pj's.  Somehow we all ended up in the car ready to go in less than 5 minutes.  Despite my misgivings, I strapped Kate into her car seat suffering through her screams of pain and headed to the ER.

Once there, we were taken back quickly even though the waiting room was pretty full.  David arrived to find us already back in a room.  They took xrays and quickly discovered that Kate had broken her femur again.  Not in the same place, but right below the original break.  I was asked several times "now how did this happen again?"  I explained the situation to each nurse and the xray technicians and the doctor until I was tired of saying "China...previously broken leg...fibrous dysplasia...weak bones...special needs...etc. etc."  I know by the end I sounded rehearsed, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

Newton was kind enough not to try to repair Kate's leg, but transferred her to Egleston, so that pediatric specialists could determine the best course of action.  I was relieved and grateful, as I did not really feel comfortable with the local ER doctor in this case.  They let us drive Kate ourselves up to the hospital, so we stopped home and picked up clothes for everyone.  They were admitting us directly to the surgical floor so we did not think we would be going home that night.

We finally arrived at Egleston and were again impressed (we have been there before with Nathan) at the caliber of this Children's hospital.  Kate received such great care from the nurses who had to poke and prod her at every turn.  They loved on her and even tried their best not to mess with her leg until they had to.  Since we were told we would not have orders for surgery until the morning, we called my sister to come pick up our boys.  Love my awesome sisters who love my children so much.  The boys were actually stoked that they got to spend the night with their Aunts, so no trauma there.  David and I took turns keeping Kate company in the bed.  She was not in a lot of pain and barely had to take any medicine (one TOUGH cookie), but she was very scared and by night time was begging to go "bye bye".  I explained that the doctor was going to fix her boo boo, and though she was not very happy with the prospect of spending the night, she seemed to understand the necessity of all we were doing.  My heart rejoiced as I realized that she is learning to trust us, even in times of great pain and perceived danger.  As long as Mommy or Daddy was there to protect her, she would be okay.  We did, however, have to endure a visit from child protective services because of the femur fracture.  Evidently this is policy at this hospital, which greatly saddened David and I as we thought of all the cases of abuse they must see.  I won't lie... my heart about stopped when they told us that we would be visited and asked questions.  I have just heard so many stories about misunderstandings and jumping to conclusions and the like.  You can imagine how hard I prayed that Jesus would protect our family.  We had nothing to worry about as they all quickly assessed the situation and made notes in our file that we were clear from any suspicion.  I did, however, ask my pediatrician this morning to give us an official letter explaining Kate's diagnosis and prognosis for any future situations.  They woulda had to remove me from that room dead if they had accused us of anything :).

The night was pretty much devoid of sleep... I mean, at least for Mommy.  When Kate wasn't awake and crying, the nurses were in waking her up to take vitals or blood or mess with the equipment.  I am a light sleeper so hospital visits equal little to no sleep for this worried Momma.  At one point Kate's sugar was very high and the anesthesiologist suspected diabetes, but the next bloodwork came back normal, so we are pretty sure she does not have diabetes.  Finally it was morning and they came to take her down to surgery.  They gave her some loopy meds and we took some hilarious video in the OR preop room as she was pretty much out of it.  When the ortho was ready for her, she was not loopy enough to realize that she was being taken from Mommy and cried for me until we were out of earshot.  The only thing that kept me walking forward to the family waiting room was knowing that if I rescued her now, I would only be prolonging the miserable.  Separation was a must.

The "surgery", which was actually just the cast being put on, only took about 45 minutes from start to finish.  The orthopedic who treated her was a keeper and the blessing in disguise in all of this is that we were still looking for a good long term ortho.  We found him.  He came in when he was done and talked with us for about 30 minutes, answering all of our questions and offering his advice on Kate's condition.  We will follow up with him in about a week to make sure Kate's leg has not shifted in her cast.  The ortho's technician has also put Kate's "sock puppy" stuffed animal in a cast just like hers which we thought was so cool.  I cannot say enough about Children's.

After surgery, Kate was DONE.  As she was being rolled back in, still drowsy, she was frantically waving her arms and saying "bye bye".  She was ready to GO!  She wanted me to hold her, but when I did, she slapped me hard across the face and continued to thrash around.  After I got bit and gouged with fingernails, it was Daddy's turn.  Finally they brought some Loritab and that combined with a wheelchair ride around the 4th floor seemed to do the trick as our Kate with the twinkle in her eye returned.

She did really well after surgery, despite the large cast that goes from her chest to her ankle on the left side.  They cleared us to leave within 2 or 3 hours.  We strapped her into the car with a safety harness made particularly for the spica cast because you are unable to sit in it.  We grabbed the boys and some Krispy Kreme (which somehow made up for the lost sleep...love those things) and headed home.

Since then, things have once again been in an uproar around here. David and I are both fighting head colds.  The boys are bored without their friends who are at school.  Kate is tired of "laying" around.  We found that the umbrella stroller works great for keeping her propped up, but as any normal 2 year old, day after day of being tied down is torture.  Thank goodness for Nathan, who often gives her rides around the house when she is particularly cranky.  This works like a charm.  Despite being warned about getting the cast wet, we woke up to a pee pee soaked Kate this morning.  What do you do??  She's 2.  Yes, I will limit drinks at night from now on and change her in the middle of the night, but the damage has been done and the cast is no longer in pristine condition...after 1 day!!  Whew!  Only 41 to go.  I really can't even think about it or I will cry, so I will just continue to take one day at a time.

So no, not ideal conditions, but we never expected the ideal.  We knew the choice of Kate would be riddled with difficulties...mountains to climb, oceans to cross, casts to blow dry.  We have heard many "bless your hearts" and "we are so sorry you have to go through this".  Funny thing is, we are not sorry at all.  We are so completely blessed to have been chosen to parent Kate, and we are treasuring even the hard things.  In those hardest of moments in the hospital, all my heart could sing was how happy I was to be right there by my baby's side this time...to not ever again have to wonder how something happened or what she had been through...to be able to sing to her and kiss her and dry her tears and reassure her that all would be okay.  I will scream it to the hilltops WORTH IT ALL!  Forget competing in the Olympics or climbing Mt. Everest or skydiving or running a marathon or traveling the world... you want a rush?  Go get the children that God has waiting for you and then watch Him working LIVE.  Yes, girls are drama and we have lots of it here, but don't you think life is really pretty boring without the drama?