from Pain to Popular

On Sunday, April 18, Ammon was in an accident.

We had just returned from our first camping trip of the year. Josh and I were cleaning out the trailer and putting things away in the house. The boys ran down to Grandma's backyard and started playing with Grandpa. Grandpa was swinging Ammon around and around on the "May Pole" (aka Giant Stride Swing). He got it swinging really fast, and Ammon knew he was starting to slip, so he yelled for Grandpa to STOP, but Grandpa couldn't stop it fast enough, and Ammon went flying through the air. He landed on his wrist and instantly felt pain.

(To give you an idea of what the swing looks like, these photos are of Josh pushing around the boys on it in Sept. 2008).

Ever since Ammon was in the rockslide accident over Labor Day weekend in 2007, he has become a bit of a hypochondriac. Ammon was crying about his wrist, and he said it really hurt. We knew it hurt, but we didn't know to what extent. We didn't want to make a bigger deal out of it, but we also didn't want to ignore it. We gave him ice to put on it, he took some ibuprofen, and he chilled out on the couch for a while. He had a big homework assignment due the next day, so he had to work on his report later that afternoon. By evening, he was still favoring his left wrist, but it didn't seem to be in excruciating pain, so we figured it was probably just sprained.

That night, he couldn't sleep. He said it ached, and he couldn't get comfortable. He was up multiple times throughout the night. My rule is if the pain is enough to keep you awake at night, then it's bad enough to see a Dr. He took more ibuprofen, took some tylenol, said some prayers, and finally fell asleep. First thing the next morning (Monday), I called the clinic to make an appointment.

He saw an NP (Nurse Practicioner) that morning because she was the only one with an open schedule. He had X-Rays taken, and she determined that it was just sprained. She wrapped it in a bandage, and sent him back to school. He went back to school and went to lunch recess. A half hour later, she called us back saying he needed to come back to the clinic and that he shouldn't play roughly outdoors in the meantime. When we went to pick him up, he was already outside playing football with his friends!!! After picking him up and taking him back to the clinic, she said the wrist bone had been chipped. She then put a splint on it, wrapped it tightly again, and made an appointment for him to see the Orthopedic Surgeon for Thursday morning (3 days away). He had pains in his wrist over the next few days, but only at bedtime. We continued to give him ibuprofen, and he seemed to be okay. The wrist wasn't swollen or looked out of place, and we had no idea what to expect for Thursday. When he saw the Orthopedic Surgeon on Thursday, the Dr. diagnosed it totally different than what the NP had told us. Ammon had broken his wrist--not sprained it, not chipped it, BROKEN it!! He broke his left wrist at the growth plate, which slightly shifted the bone. Ammon received a permanent cast, choosing the color red:

For the first week, he wore red clothes every day to match his cast! Wearing a cast in elementary school automatically makes you popular. His red cast was quickly filled with many signatures! He has to wear the cast for 5 weeks before having it removed. So far, each follow-up X-ray has showed that it hasn't shifted anymore, and it's setting properly. For having a broken bone, the wrist isn't so bad; the Pros outnumber the Cons...

PROS: He got to be done with piano lessons a month early, he's received a lot of attention, he can still write, and he can still participate in P.E. games, and he can use it as an excuse to not do things he doesn't want to do!

CONS: He can't play golf, he can't get the cast wet, and he has a hard time sleeping comfortably at night.

When I took Ammon to his last follow-up appointment, I had all four boys with me. When the Orthopedic Surgeon came into the room, he looked around the room at all the boys, looked me straight in the eye, and said "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again in the future"! And he's probably right!