A boy and his arm

Logan fell at school the other day and did something to his arm. It was very painful and he was freaking out. So, I went to get him and took him to an Urgent Care center since the dr's office was on a lunch break. The UC took one xray and then wanted him to turn his arm over...Logan started crying because it hurt so bad. they then told me that I needed to take him to childrens hospital so he could be sedated for the x-rays they needed. *eyeroll* I was SO annoyed...so I left and took him to the hospital where I was told they NEVER sedate for x-rays. (Lesson learned...when the kids get hurt just take them to Children's and be done with it) So, he got a groovy scooby doo sling and a big set of xrays..he thought it was totally cool to see the pictures of his bones. :-)

When the resident came in, she examined him and said the x-rays looked fine..no breaks. But it was evident that he was in a considerable amount of pain and could hardly bend his arm etc. So, she went back to look at the x-rays again and to get the radiologists report. Let me back up a little to say that when we first got there they dosed him up with some Motrin. When the resident came back (who was a really cute girl and super sweet) Logan could move his arm a little more, bent it without much problem and *appeared* to be better. She called it a "miracle", told us to keep the sling on as needed, and sent us on our way. At that point...my "mommy senses" tingled. ;) I just KNEW that he wasn't all of the sudden better. Once she saw that he could move his arm better..she didn't even examine him further...it was like "ok, you're better, you can go". She had left and said the nurse would bring in the discharge papers. The more I sat there and thought about it, the more I didn't feel right about leaving. I figured that the motrin had kicked in and that was allowing him to move a little better with less pain. so, I got up and took off his sling and had him move his arm some more and he cried and cried when he moved it certain ways. So, I went out to the nurses station and asked for the dr. to return. She did and was annoyed....saying that it WAS better because he could move it now and it was *probably* a sprain and that is why she said to use the sling as needed. So, at this point..I'm feeling like an over protective mom...or one of those moms you see on a Lifetime movie that WANTS her kid to be sick or injured. So, while she's telling me how "ok" he is...the attending comes in and examines him and holds Logans elbow with one hand and turns his wrist back and forth with the other. Logan FLIPPED OUT! He was in SOOOO much pain. Bless his heart. The resident went into "defense mode" and said "He wasn't doing that before...he was moving it fine!!" the attending ignored her and said it was obvious he was in considerable pain and that since there was no sign of an evident break, he thought it was severely sprained and wanted him to wear a splint for 3 days to keep it immobile and give it a chance to heal. Thank God for him.

So, we came home with a "splint" which is really like a cast on the underside of his arm and elbow wrapped with an ace bandage. he has to wear it non-stop for 3 days and if it doesn't feel better he needs to be seen again. Today is the 3rd day but I think we are going to keep it on one more day...just because it's the weekend and if we take it off and he is in pain it'll be Monday before we can get into the PED. Yes, we could take him back to the ER..but I would prefer to just see the PED if we can help it.

Overall he seems to be doing ok. Most of his complaining happens in the middle of the night. he is tired of carrying around his heavy arm though. LOL