Broken Fingers
The girls have had a great season of volleyball and soccer. Riley's volleyball team has improved so much over the past year and it's been fun to see their progression. She is doing really well with her overhand serves. I'm thankful for the friendships and skills she's learning.
Julia is now playing on the larger soccer field and there are goalies in the games. As her team has 7 players, all of them play the entire time of the game (4 quarters for 10 minutes each - 40 minutes total). It's a long time for them to run but they are crushing it. Julia has had a few goals and absolutely loves to play.
In the first quarter of last week's game, Julia had possession of the ball and was heading towards the goal. You could see the determination in her face and body. She saw a girl from the other team coming toward her so she began to go even faster. Somehow they became intertwined and Julia went up in the air and landed hard on the ground. She stood up and began walking off the field. Jeremy turned to me and said "Go get her, Mom." He knew I wasn't quite sure what to do as I didn't want to interrupt the game or cause a scene.
Julia was upset and holding her left hand. She said it really hurt. Her hand didn't look weird and while she couldn't make a fist, we thought it was likely just sore. There were only six girls who could make the game that day so they were playing against 7 girls on the other team. Julia said it hurt, but that she'd play. So she went out there and played the remaining thirty-some minutes of the game! She was a total trooper! She did have her hand bent down and wasn't at her full speed like before, but we figured she was just shaken up a bit.
When we got home, the swelling had really begun as well as the bruising. Her four fingers were turning blue/purple and the palm of her hand was also swollen and bruised. We soaked it in epsom salts and wrapped it with some bandage material that we had as well as used popsicle sticks and gauze to make it better. It was the weekend and after texting back and forth with Jeremy's sister Monica (who is a nurse) that we could see the pediatrician on Monday and go from there.
I was fortunate to have Monday off for Columbus Day and that the dr's offices were open. Win, win. We took Julia in to Dr. Stellman. They sent us to a pediatric office where x-rays could be done. We saw the X-rays of her hand and it looked amazing to me! I thought we were in the clear as I had truly no idea what I was even looking for or where the break might have been. Her hand was so swollen and bruised that we weren't sure if the break would have been at the knuckle or middle of finger, if anywhere. They gave us a disk with her X-rays on it and contacted Dr. Stellman to tell him that Julia had at least one fractured finger but that it was possibly two fractures as it was hard to see in the X-ray.
We were then sent to Scottish Rite pediatric hospital in Carrollton/Plano area where we waited for almost two hours to be seen. They were really busy! The dr looked at her X-rays and pointed out where the breaks were located on her middle and ring finger of her left hand. The breaks were above the growth plates and were just above the knuckle of both hands.
He then looked at her hand and had her try to straighten her fingers - which she couldn't. And to make a fist - which she couldn't. When she bent her fingers to try a fist, they kept collapsing onto one another and were 'cascading' towards the pinky. The dr. took some time comparing the hands and how the fingers were working. He talked to us about what her hand was doing and explained that there was more than just broken fingers here. The bones inside both fingers and turned internally. It wasn't showing up on the X-rays, but was clearly seen when she brought the fingers inward. He said that they would need to numb her nerves at the knuckles and then physically twist her bones back into place. He would do this under a live X-ray to be sure they were turned back to the right position. Then they would put a 'cobra' cast (hand looks like a snake as the fingers are straight and out and the wrist is bent slightly).
Riley was asked to sit in the hallway while the shots were administered to Julia's knuckles. They gave her a spray of some freezing numbing spray on the knuckles before putting in the needle. She had her back to me and I had my arm around her to help comfort her. It was awful. She didn't scream, but was definitely in major pain. They had to give her four shots on each side of the two fingers and in the middle - into the nerves so that she wouldn't feel them turn the bones. She cried and kept saying 'ow.' It isn't anything I'd like to see done to her again.
Riley was able to come into the room as they gave it 10 minutes to fully numb her hand/finger. Riley had tears in her eyes and asked if Julia was ok. She said she heard her from the hallway and was worried about her. She was so very sweet.
Once it was fully numb, the dr. came in to turn the bones. He said that this was one of the hardest things for him as it's just not a fun thing to do to a child. He was a strong person and gave great effort in putting her fingers back into position. Thank God for numbing!! It was really something.
We finally got the cast on and left after almost 7 hours of being at the doctor that first day. The girls were total troopers. Julia has handled this so well. She has been really positive and has managed to figure out how to do things without the use of her hand. She has no use of her fingers as they are fully wrapped which makes it difficult to hold things and near impossible to pick things up. We went back yesterday as the cast was coming loose from the swelling reducing. We go back on Tuesday for X-rays, a follow-up appointment and likely another cast. We'll know how the bones are healing and praying for good news!
Julia is now playing on the larger soccer field and there are goalies in the games. As her team has 7 players, all of them play the entire time of the game (4 quarters for 10 minutes each - 40 minutes total). It's a long time for them to run but they are crushing it. Julia has had a few goals and absolutely loves to play.
In the first quarter of last week's game, Julia had possession of the ball and was heading towards the goal. You could see the determination in her face and body. She saw a girl from the other team coming toward her so she began to go even faster. Somehow they became intertwined and Julia went up in the air and landed hard on the ground. She stood up and began walking off the field. Jeremy turned to me and said "Go get her, Mom." He knew I wasn't quite sure what to do as I didn't want to interrupt the game or cause a scene.
Julia was upset and holding her left hand. She said it really hurt. Her hand didn't look weird and while she couldn't make a fist, we thought it was likely just sore. There were only six girls who could make the game that day so they were playing against 7 girls on the other team. Julia said it hurt, but that she'd play. So she went out there and played the remaining thirty-some minutes of the game! She was a total trooper! She did have her hand bent down and wasn't at her full speed like before, but we figured she was just shaken up a bit.
When we got home, the swelling had really begun as well as the bruising. Her four fingers were turning blue/purple and the palm of her hand was also swollen and bruised. We soaked it in epsom salts and wrapped it with some bandage material that we had as well as used popsicle sticks and gauze to make it better. It was the weekend and after texting back and forth with Jeremy's sister Monica (who is a nurse) that we could see the pediatrician on Monday and go from there.
I was fortunate to have Monday off for Columbus Day and that the dr's offices were open. Win, win. We took Julia in to Dr. Stellman. They sent us to a pediatric office where x-rays could be done. We saw the X-rays of her hand and it looked amazing to me! I thought we were in the clear as I had truly no idea what I was even looking for or where the break might have been. Her hand was so swollen and bruised that we weren't sure if the break would have been at the knuckle or middle of finger, if anywhere. They gave us a disk with her X-rays on it and contacted Dr. Stellman to tell him that Julia had at least one fractured finger but that it was possibly two fractures as it was hard to see in the X-ray.
We were then sent to Scottish Rite pediatric hospital in Carrollton/Plano area where we waited for almost two hours to be seen. They were really busy! The dr looked at her X-rays and pointed out where the breaks were located on her middle and ring finger of her left hand. The breaks were above the growth plates and were just above the knuckle of both hands.
He then looked at her hand and had her try to straighten her fingers - which she couldn't. And to make a fist - which she couldn't. When she bent her fingers to try a fist, they kept collapsing onto one another and were 'cascading' towards the pinky. The dr. took some time comparing the hands and how the fingers were working. He talked to us about what her hand was doing and explained that there was more than just broken fingers here. The bones inside both fingers and turned internally. It wasn't showing up on the X-rays, but was clearly seen when she brought the fingers inward. He said that they would need to numb her nerves at the knuckles and then physically twist her bones back into place. He would do this under a live X-ray to be sure they were turned back to the right position. Then they would put a 'cobra' cast (hand looks like a snake as the fingers are straight and out and the wrist is bent slightly).
Riley was asked to sit in the hallway while the shots were administered to Julia's knuckles. They gave her a spray of some freezing numbing spray on the knuckles before putting in the needle. She had her back to me and I had my arm around her to help comfort her. It was awful. She didn't scream, but was definitely in major pain. They had to give her four shots on each side of the two fingers and in the middle - into the nerves so that she wouldn't feel them turn the bones. She cried and kept saying 'ow.' It isn't anything I'd like to see done to her again.
Riley was able to come into the room as they gave it 10 minutes to fully numb her hand/finger. Riley had tears in her eyes and asked if Julia was ok. She said she heard her from the hallway and was worried about her. She was so very sweet.
Once it was fully numb, the dr. came in to turn the bones. He said that this was one of the hardest things for him as it's just not a fun thing to do to a child. He was a strong person and gave great effort in putting her fingers back into position. Thank God for numbing!! It was really something.
We finally got the cast on and left after almost 7 hours of being at the doctor that first day. The girls were total troopers. Julia has handled this so well. She has been really positive and has managed to figure out how to do things without the use of her hand. She has no use of her fingers as they are fully wrapped which makes it difficult to hold things and near impossible to pick things up. We went back yesterday as the cast was coming loose from the swelling reducing. We go back on Tuesday for X-rays, a follow-up appointment and likely another cast. We'll know how the bones are healing and praying for good news!
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