I thought for sure it was broken...

Picture the forearm balanced like a seesaw on the back of the sofa. One kid, the owner of said forearm is on the backside of the sofa, while the other being exhorted to pull while holding the wrist of the other is on the front. When the owner of the leveraged forearm (my eldest son of 5 years) let loose his entire weight (massive though it is not) something "gave way."

I've never seen my boy in so much pain. He would not stop crying, he refused to be moved or touched, the arm especially could not be moved. He began sucking his thumb - something he NEVER does, then shivering and yawning...inconsolable. And though there did not appear to be any swelling, there was also very little swelling (initially) when my daughter broke her wrist.

Anyway, off he went to the ER. X-Rays showed no break, and thus - despite being unusual in his age, they suggested nursemaid's elbow...sure enough. Within a few minutes you would never know any of it happened - despite the obvious trauma of it for the boy.

Amazingly, my wife related to me that during the X-Ray, the boy claimed he could hear his Guardian Angel singing. When I asked him what the angel sounded like, he said it sounded like "Mama."

It is comforting to know, that Moms and Dads aren't the only ones looking out for our children.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh MAN. Poor Nico. That sounds awful. Seriously, the things kids do will never cease to amaze me. Take a look at this post: http://momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com/mom_to_the_screaming_mass/2006/03/dance_class_par.html

(sorry I have *no* html skillz).

Did you know baby Hazel Anna Castor recently got nursemaid's elbow? They got one of those great doctor's that can simultaneously distract the PARENTS (who are far more freaked out) and pop it back into place and everyone's good to go.
fdj said…
Yep, in fact when Herr Castor left the lab I told him that I bet it's nursemaid's elbow.

Bitterly ironic is that when Kelsey had it as an infant we learned how to fix it from a doc - it's rather simple and we had to employ it with her again. Apparently my kids are prone to it.

But we were seriously convinced it was a break here...I understand it's harder to get and more painful the older you are.
Anonymous said…
Youch! Poor baby! Glad everything's popped back into place :-)

Liz
Wow, James. I'm so glad Nicholas is okay. My wife told me Sue was taking him to the hospital today...

Well, you can tell Nicholas (and Sue) if it is any consolation: Xenia spent an afternoon at Children's Hospital a few years ago for the same problem. I guess it is fairly common, although my wife felt like a criminal for several days for pulling Xenia's arm out of the socket.

Regards!
Basil
Mimi said…
Yikes! I'm glad he's ok.

And, so sweet about the Guardian Angel.
grammafaithie said…
how special to Mama to know that in the eyes of her little boy his Guardian Angel sounds like her.

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