Lizzy's Tough Month

Elizabeth is such a do-it-yourself child. Sometimes it can be to her detriment. She tries to do everything herself, "no help", and this month she learned that it is okay to ask for help sometimes. The light was out in her room so she tried to turn on the lamp on top of her dresser. In order to reach it she used the stool for her vanity (it is very wobbly) climbed up on the stool to the vanity then turned on the light. Unfortunately Lizzy is very clumsy as well and she slipped hitting her elbow on the edge of the vanity as she fell to the ground. This was at 8 o'clock at night, when she came crying to me the she fell and bumped her elbow. At the time I was trying to get all the kids in bed and I did a quick exam. I felt her upper arm = no pain, forearm = no pain, just pain at the elbow so I figured she bumped her funny bone. I gave her some tylenol and sent her to bed.

The next morning (Sunday) she woke up and said nothing to me about her arm hurting. It wasn't until she was in the kitchen asking me for breakfast that I noticed her arm had swollen and her elbow was the size of a baseball. We placed her arm in a sling made out of a scarf and Brandon took her to urgent care. After 8 hours and a trip to the emergency room to verdict was she had a small fracture above her elbow. And due to the position of the fracture she needs to have surgery to repair it with a few small pins holding the elbow in place.

She was very brave. Scared but brave. She is a little tough to handle too because something about anesthesia makes my kids go nuts. Both Elizabeth and Jackson experienced it a little when they were given light anesthesia at the dentist. When she woke up from the surgery she was screaming that the pins were poking her and hurting and itching. She was pointing to a spot on her arm where the pins weren't even there. I had to hold her in place so she wouldn't break her cast or cause more pain. Finally the nurse gave her some drugs that made her sleepy and when she woke up she felt much better. Man the things moms do for their kids.

After the surgery she wanted to go back to school that day. Nothing gets our girl down. Thankfully she only had to have the cast on for 4 weeks, just in time for summer, swimming, and her big dance recital. It was hard for her to stay away from the water for a few weeks and not play on the playground but she made it and her arm is now as good as new.

Hopefully she learned a lesson about climbing and asking for help, but I have a feeling it won't be the last time I end up in the emergency room with this fearless, tough, adventurous, little girl.