A First Time for Everything

This past little bit has been pretty rough. William fell off the bed and broke his humerus bone - right above the elbow. Matthew and I took him to the hospital, thinking that it would be a minor fracture, maybe severely bruised, but the doctor came back with the x-rays saying that he needed surgery and as soon as possible. My heart stopped. It's a pretty crucial bone for little ones while they're growing, I have now found out. Since William is left handed and he broke his left arm, it was even more so needed. The doctor was saying things that would happen if we didn't get it done now. There are possibilities of his left arm being longer that his right. I don't really remember. I was still concentrating on the fact that my son needed surgery.

( William and his name tag. He was so excited to have a bracelet - made anklet- with his name on it.)

Now, I know that there are children out there with worse things happening. Parents who have children that need more care than William. But, for me, a broken arm was enough. We were transferred up to Primary Children's Hospital - without the ambulance we were offered - where we waited and waited from 1:00 am until 7:45 pm for a surgical room to be open. Those had to be some of the most difficult hours of my life.
As moms, I believe we were made to be ready to help our children. Usually first and foremost. This was the first time in my life that I felt completely helpless. My 3 year old had a broken arm, was starving, thirsty, and bored out of his mind. And I couldn't really do a thing to help. Yeah, I got him ice packs and told the nurse when he needed more Tylenol. Or tried to keep him occupied by watching movies or reading books. Mostly we just cuddled, which was my favorite part. But, I couldn't truly take the pain away.

As if that was bad enough, when it was finally our turn for Will's surgery, it hit me hard that I couldn't be there. I had no control over what happened to my son. My sleepless night and mom hormones kicked in as they wheeled him away - awake - and William realized we weren't coming with him.
On a positive note, William's surgery only took about a half hour. It went smoothly. It was all done by x-ray, so no incision was made, except for the two pins that were stuck into his arm. We were able to leave the hospital at 10:00 that night, which was a blessing!
William was such a brave boy. We are going in to get his hard cast next week! Until then, we are taking things slowly and carefully. And sometimes restlessly.