Big Pup's Big Break

This is the story of how Big pup broke his arm. Aka DHS case #571124.


Saturday night (10-13-07) we were just sitting around, flipping channels, watching Elliott Sadler lose on ABC and watching Arkansas lose on ESPN. The pups weren't interested in either one. They wanted to wrestle. So WD obliged. As WD and Little pup wrestled on the floor, Big pup decided to jump over WD. 1st jump? No problem. 2nd, 3rd, 4th jump? Still no problem. 5th jump? Big problem. Big pup didn't quite clear his daddy, tripped, fell, and landed awkwardly on his right arm. He immediately reached for his elbow and started crying. He was in a lot of pain. He held his arm close to him and had to be carried from couch to bed, bed to couch, all night. He woke up every hour and was popping grape Tylenols every 4 hours but nothing seemed to help.


Sunday morning he was still in pain and his arm was still swollen so we took him to the ER. We were hoping for just a really bad sprain but the x-rays showed a break at the elbow. More specifically, a type 2 supracondylar humerus fracture. He was actually very good. He cooperated with the nurses and didn't even cry when they wrapped his arm in a splint. I wish I could say I behaved as well as he did. I felt so lightheaded and thought I was going to be sick. The doctor had to move Big pup over so I could lie down next to him on the hospital bed. So embarrassing. The doctor turned to WD and said, "Don't you wish you had a picture of this?"


Monday morning we met with an orthopedic surgeon. He explained that because of where the break was at, 2 pins would have to be inserted to hold it in place for it to heal. Surgery was not what we were wanting to hear. It seemed like the news was getting worse and worse. We went from the orthopedic clinic to the hospital and completed the admittance paperwork and then we went to the Catholic church in that city and had the parish priest bless Big pup's arm.


Tuesday morning came quickly. We had to be there at 6 a.m. for surgery at 7:30 a.m. When we got there they put his hospital gown on, checked his temperature and heart rate, and gave him some very bad tasting medicine to relax him. And relax him it did. He was a little goofy and kept asking everyone their name. The nurses were very nice and gave him a toy monkey to take home.


At 7:30 a.m. they wheeled him into the OR, but not before I gave him about 5 kisses--he said he wanted a million (awwwww!) The procedure didn't take long at all and it wasn't long before they were wheeling him back into his room. They wanted us to go ahead and start trying to wake him up but he was out like a light. Eventually, he started coming around and they brought him some Sprite. He did get a little upset when he saw his other arm was wrapped up too and said "They gave me 2 casts?!" Actually, it was holding his IV in place. The nurse removed it and we got him dressed and said our goodbyes. He slept on the couch the rest of the day, waking late in the evening for ramen noodles, sprite, and pain medications.


Wednesday, he was up and around, playing with toys, even making a trip with WD to pick up his homework from school.


Thursday, he went back to school and everything is back to normal. Thank goodness. It was a long week!