If I can count the innumerable times I've had to tell my 3 1/2 year old "Stop jumping on the bed/couch or you'll fall and hurt yourself!", I'd start growing grey hair!
I'm sure many of my dear mommy (or daddy) friends can identify with this well. Especially when dealing with a rambunctious toddler. They can't really grasp the fact that they are putting themselves in harms way, they only care that whatever they're doing is seriously some fun stuff. Right?
Well, while my husband and I always beamed at the fact that either one of us have never broken a bone in our lives and come from a family of strong bones, and the fact that our daughter loves her milk (and lots of it), the inevitable happened -- our little "monkey" fell and fractured a bone.
Geez! As if our poor little one deserves to go through anymore pain. Just a couple of weeks before then she caught a horrible flu with high fever. And yes, this very enervated Preggo-Mom pretty much had it too.
How did it happen? Quick! I was in the kitchen preparing her lunch and could clearly see her playing on the couch while doing so. She was playing some sort of super-girl game jumping from the couch to the floor and I've already warned her that she needs to stop and be careful or she'll fall. Little did I know I was right this time.
You see our little girl isn't your average "girl". She's far from girly-girl! She's very active, gives her boy-cousin a run for his energy and spunk, has fallen plenty of times while playing only to laugh it off (she even tumbled down a couple of steps once with nothing but a quick scared cry) -- we didn't worry too much about her while playing knowing that she was a tough cookie.
She jumped from the couch only to fall directly on her right arm and then came that awful cry. You know moms, that cry when you definitely know that there is something wrong, that this isn't an ordinary "ouchie".
I quickly ran to her side, lifted her up slowly from her neck while tears streamed down her cheeks and sobbing "Oww! Mommy, oww!"
I checked her body, her arms, everything. She didn't look bad. Didn't notice anything different.
Her arm was fine when I asked her to move it slightly. But for some reason, every time I went near her right side, specifically her upper arm/shoulder, she would start sobbing.
My husband and I iced her shoulder/collarbone as we began to see some redness in that area and assumed she just really hurt her collarbone/shoulder. We waited it out to see how she would feel and of course I contacted her family doctor *thankfully my sister works there & very closely with her family doc*.
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| She just didn't look right to me... |
As the hours passed, we constantly contemplated taking her into the emergency dept. at our local hospital but she fell asleep and seemed okay. At the same time this all happened, I had a very important ultrasound at the hospital (my anatomy scan) and had to jet off to it. I was trying to get her to come with me but she insisted she didn't want to be moved and cried to stay home and lie down. So I didn't force her, I let her rest at home (with hubby. He was off for the day; suppose to come with me to my anatomy scan to see baby).
It was such a chaotic hour. I was crying and worried on my way to my anatomy scan about Ava (which was dangerous being pregnant and driving).
Called to check up on her, hubby said she was knocked out. I thought okay she was fine.
When I got home from my scan, she awoke and seemed in good spirits, but again upon trying to touch her to check, she started crying in fear and pain.
My motherly instinct was telling me that I had to take her in and now.
That alone was so difficult and scary for us. She was in pain, she didn't want to get in the car, and she didn't want to be touched. I was a mess.
Regardless of her horrible cries, we bundled her up in a blanket and took off to Emerg.
I was so glad that they tended to us very quickly and Ava got in to get checked and X-Ray done in less than 10 minutes since we got in to register.
We were SO surprised (yet very proud) of how our little trooper handled everything (although in pain and of course a little scared).
They placed a sling on her as soon as she got checked saying it was definitely a clavicle fracture and the X-Ray confirmed it.
The doctor did say that it was a very tiny one so *phew* Thank God! And he also mentioned clavicle fractures are very common in younger children as their collar bones don't completely harden until adulthood (and of course the fact that they are so active!). She was expected to wear the sling continuously for 2-3 weeks if needed, advil for pain and to keep her mobility low and that it would heal on it' s own.
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| Fractured bones got nothin' on me! |
Everyone I knew that had gone through this have told me that the little one's heal super fast. Boy, were they bang on!
Within 3 days or so, her pain dissipated and within a week at her follow-up at the Fracture Clinic, the doctor said she was recovering very well, had her raise her right arm (which she did slowly with caution) and he said we can remove her sling now (just keep mobility low for a couple more weeks).
Ava didn't want to remove her sling. It was security for her and although we reassured her she was better without out, she wasn't having it. So we allowed her to keep it on. 2 days later, she allowed us to remove it and now she's sling-free! Woo-hoo!
Now for you all that have not experienced this yet, I thought I'd share some helpful info should you ever need it.
What are the symptoms?
If a baby/child has a broken collarbone, she probably won't want to move her arm on the side of the break. She may hold it close to the side of her body, although this may instead be a sign of nursemaid's elbow.
She'll have pain (she may cry out if you pick her up under her arms, for example) and perhaps swelling, and you may see bruising or a bump where the bone is broken. Within about a week, she'll develop a lump (called a callus) where the bone is healing. Sometimes this lump is the only sign of a fracture in a baby/child.
How is a broken collarbone treated?
The doctor will examine your child to make sure that no nerves or blood vessels were damaged when the bone was broken. He'll order an X-ray to see how bad the break is and exactly where it's located.
Many broken collarbones heal just fine without surgery, although sometimes the arm needs to be immobilized on the side of the break to allow the bone to heal. The doctor may use a sling or something called a figure-of-eight brace, which pulls your child's shoulders back and holds everything in the right position for healing.
The doctor can show you the best way to lift and position your child to keep from hurting her until she's healed. He may suggest giving your child children's acetaminophen to relieve pain and applying an ice pack for the first 48 hours (15 to 20 minutes at a time every two to three hours or so throughout the day) to reduce swelling.
How long will it take to heal?
The pain will go away in two to three weeks, but it takes eight weeks for the bone to become strong again. The callus may take about six months to disappear. Once the bone has healed, your child will most likely be perfectly fine, with no long-term effects from the break.
Ever since this event, Ava still keeps her right arm close to her body and is now a little more cautious when it comes to playing and jumping, especially on the couch and bed.
But of course, kids will be kids! Stay safe little monkeys!
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