And the Cast is.....

Liverpool RED!!!



And he's even started to decorate it!



This one says, "I love you Family!"



And now for the update from the Orthopedist... Well the P. A. anyway...

They took two more x-rays because the ones from the ER yesterday didn't clearly show a break. They knew there was one there, thought because of a fluid sack around the elbow that is only really ever present when there is a break.

So we went back for two more x-rays. Josh did really well. I could tell it really hurt him, but he was ever-so brave!

Sure enough, the P.A. was able to see a break at the base of the humorous. The break goes clean through the bone, so we have to make sure the bones don't become mis-aligned. Apparently, there is a very, very small chance of that happening. They want to keep an eye on the break and how it's healing. We go back in a week for more x-rays.

He's under strict orders for no jumping, falling, monkey bars, P. E. or general rough housing. In other words, he's not supposed to act like a seven year old boy!

But, she said he'd only need the cast for 3 weeks assuming all goes well.

Now It's Josh's Turn

Last year, about this time, Sam broke his leg.

Josh was at a sleep over last night at a friend's house.

I got a call at 6:00 this morning that Josh was a bit home sick and had been crying all night so I went to pick him up. As I was walking out the door, the mom told me he'd fallen down the steps in the afternoon, but appeared to be fine.

As soon as we got in the car, Josh was complaining about how he couldn't move his arm, how it hurt so badly he couldn't sleep -- or eat his pizza for dinner!

Mom's radar went off. We got home, told Daddy and went straight to the E.R.

Sure enough, Josh has a small fracture on a bone at the base of the elbow. It's on his "upper arm" not the forearm, so he's going to need a full arm cast -- hopefully we'll get that tomorrow.

Josh is most upset because he's going to miss his FIRST baseball game on Saturday -- and probably 3 more after that! When I said he could still go to the games and show some support for his team, he said, "But Mom! It's boring if you're not playing!"

So tomorrow watch this space for pictures of Josh's cast?

Any guesses on the color he'll choose?

IT'S OFF!!!

We got the cast off today! Yippee!!!

But what nobody tells you is getting the cast OFF is actually worse than having it put ON! The poor boy, as soon as the cast was off, he bent his knee and started crying.

We had to take more x-rays just to make sure it was healed (it's fine), and that was traumatic too! All he wanted was to cuddle Mommy; he did not like being put down on the x-ray table at all!

Apparently, since he hasn't used the muscles in a month, they are stiff and sore. The PA said it could be 6 weeks before he has full, normal use of his leg again! He also said Sam should be up and walking around in 1-2 days (!!!) and if he's not, to bring him back in for more x-rays and a possible re-cast! He seemed pretty confident that the leg was healing nicely though!

So, for the time being, we'll be happy that the cast is off, take it easy the rest of this week and start working on building his leg muscles up again!

"Me Walking!"

My New Blue Cast

Here's Sam, sporting his hip new blue cast!

The poor kid had quite a day. On top of the whole broken leg thing, he's got a cold that just won't go away.

As we were getting ready to leave for the orthopedists this afternoon Sam was so upset, tired and probably in pain. I put him on my bed so I could brush my teeth and make some effort to not be smelly for the appointment. Well, things don't always go as planned.

The poor kid starting throwing up all over my bed, then me, then the towel I had picked up to catch the vomit, then the rug in the bathroom. Just 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave. All I can say is, thank the good Lord for Rich! He came up and cleaned up the vomit, I rinsed off in the tub, tried to get Sam de-puked and re-dressed before we had to go.

He was so tired he fell asleep before we were at the end of the driveway!

The Orthopedic PA was really nice. He said Sam would need the cast for about 4 weeks -- our next appointment is on March 14th. If it's not healed by then it will be a couple more weeks. He seemed very confident.

Also, he opted for an above the knee cast simply because two year olds are very adept at wriggling out of a 1/2 cast. So, it's not as bad as it looks.

The technician that wrapped his cast was named Telly Savalas. Cool, huh?

He'll be out of school while he's got the cast on. So, we'll just have some Sammy-Mommy time for a while. He does seem a bit happier with the cast on. I think his leg is not being knocked about anymore and the cast keeps it in place.