This post is a little different than most of my others. I saw a youtube video a few days ago and showed it to Drew, hoping for him to think it was as cool as I did. After I first viewed it I thought, "This guy is pretty talented, why is he not already in the NFL?" Here is the video:
Well, after Drew saw the video, his reaction was a little different than mine. He responded with, "That can't be real--I'm sure that was edited by computer. You can't throw a football like that from the stands into a basketball rim and swish it." Now, I agree that the quarterback looks as skilled as he does primarily because of editing, but I think he really did make the shots. Perhaps it took 50 tries to make each shot, but I do think he has some talent. That brings me to the poll.
Well, we made it through Luke's procedure. Luke did awesome! I know our little guy had to be in so much pain though. He needed pain meds all day long on Wednesday, but when he wasn't in pain, he was his normal energetic, happy self.
The doc's report:
The doctor had to actually break both the radius and the ulna in order to straighten out the arm. The procedure was called a "closed reduction of the radius and ulna." This is most commonly done immediately after the fracture happens and less commonly 4.5 weeks after it happens. It just makes me ache to think about the doctor physically having to break Luke's forearm bones with his bare hands. After the procedure, while Luke was in recovery, the doctor spoke with us about the procedure in a consultation room. He showed us the X-ray of the arm, and stated it was the best he could do to get it straight and that the angulation was within "acceptable range". My initial thoughts were "by whose terms was this acceptable?" I didn't feel this seemed acceptable, as the bones didn't even look completely lined up to me. I don't like the term, "acceptable range," without full explanation of what that means. Since the procedure, I have done some research about it. Based on my findings, I wish he would have said, "The angulation was within acceptable range for his age in order for the bones to heal back in alignment and without functional loss of motion." Residual angulation of < 10 degrees does not result in functional loss of motion at any age. Children < 9 years of age can remodel up to 15 degrees of angulation. Therefore, with my recent education I am going to ask the doctor at our next appointment how many degrees of angulation resulted in the reduction.
To be honest, I was so concerned about seeing and holding my baby that I didn't ask many questions of the doctor following the procedure. Apparently children react completely different that adults do following anesthesia. When adults come out of anesthesia, they are sleepy. However, babies scream and cry. Poor things--it is scary for them because they don't understand where they are, or how they got to sleep. So, we spent quite a bit of time consoling our little guy following his procedure. Because of this reaction in children, and because the health care practitioners would need to take Luke back to his procedure without us present, the anesthesiologist recommended we give Luke a little Versed prior to the procedure. It was so weird seeing Luke's behavior on that medication, but the nurse was able to take him back to his procedure without a peep. Luke was so loopy.
Before the procedure--Luke was playing with his Thomas the Train.
Anyway, I am just so glad this part is behind us. Thank you God for allowing this to go as smoothly as it did. Now, we are praying for complete recovery, allowing Luke full range of motion of his arm.
Thank you everyone for your prayers--I know they helped as we felt a sense of peace the day of the procedure.
Luke is now in a splint and sling. I practically hover over him all day now in order to support him if he tries to push off with that arm, or to prevent him from slipping and falling onto that arm. The doctor told us it is very important that he doesn't put any pressure on that arm. These are easy instructions to follow as an adult--but a 16-month old--not so easy! We will keep everyone updated--our next appointment is in a week. We'll get some more X-rays to make sure it is healing properly.
Yesterday was a very traumatic afternoon for us. We were all very excited to finally get Luke's cast off. We were thinking of all of the things we would be able to do once it was removed. When we got back to the exam room, the medical assistant brought back this very scary looking cast cutting machine. Luke had to wear ear protection because the machine made such loud noises. It had a rotating blade on the end of what looked like a vacuum hose that the assistant use to slice the cast open. Luke was so scared.
Then, once the cast was removed, mommy and daddy were scared. His arm was bent. They took X-rays, which showed the arm was healing bent.
Because of the angle this picture was taken, it is really hard to tell from this picture just how bent his radius is. (The radius is the forearm bone that is farthest away from you when you have your arms by your side) So, now we are going to have to take him to the surgery center at 6am tomorrow morning to have a procedure at 7am. The procedure will involve the doctor "unbending" the arm while Luke is under anesthesia. Luke will then be in a splint or cast for another 3-4 weeks.
Drew and I went through a process of many emotions yesterday.
Emotion 1--Sadness. I was so sad for my little baby. Why does someone so young have to go through all this? Poor little guy.
Emotion 2-- Anger. First, we were upset with the physician who cared for Luke. Why didn't they set it properly when putting him in the cast? I asked if they were going to take new X-rays at our first appointment there, and they said it wasn't necessary. I asked about his arm looking bent when they put him in the cast, but the doctor said it would straighten up fine.
Emotion 3-- Fear. How would Luke do under anesthesia? What is the doctor is unable to bend the arm back into place--will he then need a full surgery?
Emotion 4--Guilt. Once we got back home, I began re-hashing all of the events of the day the accident happened. What if I carried Luke with me into the kitchen when I was putting his sippy cup together? Then he wouldn't have climbed on that chair and fallen.
Finally, after a lot of prayer (in fact so much that I only slept a few hours), I again succumbed to the fact that none of this matters any longer, because what has happened has happened and God is in control. Here is an encouraging song by Stephen Curtis Chapman that really says it all.
So, today Luke is his normal rambunctious self, and I am busy chasing after him. He is only in a splint, so he has to be very careful. I just put him down for an early morning nap and I am already exhausted!
Let's pray that today is the last day as a "casted Luke." The doctor is going to take some X-rays at 4:20p today. Drew and I have been praying that Luke's arm healed properly and we can get this cast off. If things go as we hope, I am sure we will head straight for the bathtub when we get home if his arm smells anything like the preview we get when we sniff really hard near his right fingers. Pew weee!
pic taken this morning with my phone
You take your arm for granted until you're unable to use it.
From Luke:
Top Ten Things I am going to do when my cast comes off..
Splash in the bathtub with both hands!
Wear my clothes normally
Play with my T-ball set (there's a story on this one. In one of my brilliant moments I decided this would be a great time to break out the T-ball set he got for his birthday. Poor little guy was trying to hit the ball off the Tee with one arm. :-( )
Play with my golf set
Finger paint and do some handprint crafts
Eat with both hands again
Straighten my arm out high to the sky
Tackle daddy without giving him a serious head injury (that cast hurts)
Hop into my car seat really easily.
And last, but certainly not least, give mommy and daddy a great big hug without whacking them hard in the head with my cast arm. I love hugs!
Luke has owned trains since the day he was born. In fact, when he was still in my womb, one of Oklahoma's most famous train connoisseurs, my nephew, Brody (4 years old), gave Luke his first train. However, for some reason, it was not until Luke turned 15 months old that it started clicking that they were pretty cool toys. AND NOW, all day, every day, we hear ALL about Choo Choos from Luke. Luke ADORES trains!
Because I made the mistake and showed him some trains that I recorded on DVR on television (Thomas and Chuggington), now Luke locates the remote, points it at the TV and exclaims loudly, "Choo Choo! Choo Choo!"
When we go to Walmart, Target or Toy Stores, somehow, Luke has this special super-power vision, that enables him to see Choo-Choo trains from 3000 feet away. He points and exclaims, "choo choo.....choo choo....choo choo" until I also see them and we go right up to them so he can touch them.
I decided to take Luke on adventure to a local toy store last week--Kaleidoscope toys. It looked like an extremely fun toy store and, based on what I read online, they have some unique toys and some excellent learning tools. Well, I didn't really get to look through the store since Luke noticed an awesome train display. And that was it. It's almost as if I heard angels singing----wait---that was Luke making his famous sound of excitement---"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee." We were done looking at that toy store, because I knew we would be stationed by the train display for the rest of our time there.
Thank you nice toy store employee lady for letting us come and play with your trains. We really did have plans to look at the rest of your store.
So, Luke is now at the stage where I want to start to try to begin crafting with him. I have been browsing through some crafting blogs over the past couple of weeks, and I have found some really neat ones. A couple were actually passed on to me by my friend, Natalie, who is so extremely creative.
1. For those of you who like IKEA, this is such a cool website. This is not necessarily a blog that contains crafts for kids to do, but it does have some great ideas of ways to transform IKEA furniture into something really cool--a lot of these transformations are to childrens' furniture: http://www.ikeahackers.net/ This kids' train table hack is pretty cool: http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/11/dreaded-kids-train-table-with-new-twist.html
2. http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ This is a great crafting website, and is sure to bring me, as well as Luke, hours of fun. :-)
She actually borrowed the idea from a friend. Her friend took all the Christmas cards her family received this year and turned them into a book for her kids to look at when praying for those families.
Ashley Ann is actually based out of the Tulsa, OK area and not only does she post some excellent craft ideas, but she also has some great photography tips. Not only do I think she has an excellent blog, but others must as well. Her blog was named this year's winner for Best Kids Design Blog by "The Homies."
As I try some of the crafts, I will try to post my attempts. :-)
So, we didn't get the weather that my Tulsa family got. I feel so badly that they were not able to leave the house for days. In fact, my parents were planning on visiting us this weekend, but instead were trapped at home. To be honest, I was a little envious that they got snow---but definitely not envious of all of the trouble it caused families. There have been a lot of tragic stories as a result of this wintery weather.
Well, we finally got our snow overnight last night. It wasn't much---maybe 1 inch-but it was still a new experience for Luke. All area schools and most employers closed for the day, so there were kids outside playing in the snow at 6am!!!!
As far as taking advantage of the winter weather goes, I cooked a stew yesterday. Also, I have been really into cinnamon apples lately--what a great cold-weather side dish. They taste similar to the cinnamon apples at Cracker Barrel:
This simple spiced apples recipe is great for breakfast, a warm and yummy side, or served atop pork. If you can't find McIntosh apples, substitute another baking apple such as Rome or Gala, or try a crisp, tart green apple such as Granny Smith. Prep: 10 min., Cook: 10 min.
Yield: Makes 6 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)
Ingredients
* 4 McIntosh apples, peeled and sliced (about 2 lb.)
* 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (I would try honey next time to make eliminate the processed sugar)
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1 tablespoon butter
Preparation
1. Toss together first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat apples.
2. Cook apple mixture, 2 Tbsp. water, and 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender.
Finally, I thought I would share a funny video I saw online. It is about the winter storm and specifically is about the Houston area; however, it may as well be about Austin. Our meteorologists get a bit overly excited and the city practically shut down today.
