Quick Update on Nolan

With pictures to follow shortly...


First things first: We had a little drama at our house on Monday.

After Brennan's Karate, I sent the boys outside to play while I finished dinner. Don was out with them but decided to come in and chat with me, leaving the boys jumping on the trampoline together. (Please don't think we're bad parents... the door was open and we could see them through the living room and kitchen windows). Brennan and Dylan were jumping on one side of the tramp while Nolan was walking around the edge away from them. The next thing I know, Nolan is SCREAMING! Now, we all know that Nolan is non-verbal and usually screams to get our attention, but this scream wasn't like anything I've ever heard... it gives me the willies just thinking about it. We ran to the trampoline, unzipped the cage, and called for Nolan to come. He stood up, but couldn't walk. His legs just gave out. Don crawled to get him and we tried for about 10 minutes to calm him down. After realizing that we couldn't get him calm, we decided I would take him to the ER.

I know that some people have horrible experiences with kids in the ER, but I have to say that our hospital is great at getting kids in and out in a timely manner. They had Nolan checked in, seen by the Dr and Nurse, x-rayed, and results within 30 minutes.

Results: Nolan had taken the energy from the bounce wrong and "buckled" his left tibia and fibula about an inch above his ankle(which is to say the the tibia had a compressed fracture while the fibula had a break). When I saw the films, I was sick. It just looked so painful. When the Dr gave us the results, he gave us an idea of what happened with breaks like this. If Nolan were an older child, they would have gone into surgery and placed pins, but since he is so little, they needed to consult a orthopedic specialist to determine what they were going to do.

It seemed like forever before the specialist called back. He looked at the films and decided that Nolan's little body could support the weight and heal without having the surgery. THANK HEAVENS! They put a splint on Nolan for the night and sent us home with children's loratab. I was left wondering "where were my drugs for the stress of all of this?"

The first night was miserable. I let Nolan sleep with me, but he just tossed and turned and cried in his sleep. It broke my heart.

We went to the orthopedic specialist yesterday morning where they replaced his splint with a cherry red cast that goes from his piggy toes up to his hip. I guess that kids casts slide off really easily, so they have to go above the knee to keep them in place.

Last night was better... no crying in his sleep, but still a lot of tossing and turning. I'm less worried today because his appetite finally came back and he even tried to stand up with it, even though he got really frustrated. I'm slowly weening him off the drugs and he even wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight, so maybe I'll get some sleep. Yeah for sanity!

Gigi came out (Thank You G) to make sure that Nolan was okay. It was really helpful to know that I didn't have to go it alone. It's hard enough taking care of 4 boys, let alone one infant and one invalid. I don't know how those of you with extra needs kids do it. I take my hats off to you.