An Unexpected Finding

Jacob's irritability has been high since last Thursday.  His stay at the respite home (Thursday to Saturday) was an adventure for the nurses, as his irritability was abnormally high.  I picked him up on Saturday, noticing that every time we moved him he would cry.  By Sunday morning I was really contemplating taking him back to emerge.  I was going to change his diaper late morning when I realized his leg was extremely swollen and hot.  An emerge trip was a definite, with an answer to his irritability.

After the x rays were taken, it was confirmed that his femur (thigh bone) was broken.  Poor guy!!  I can't imagine having a broken bone for several days and it not being in a cast.  That's one of the hardest things for me to deal with in this whole event.  This boy struggles every day, every night, to some degree or another, and then this.  It breaks my heart!!

After weighing different options, it was concluded that they would plaster cast the leg, but not set it, as setting the bone takes sedation.  What that means for him down the road, I'm not sure.  The doctors were not comfortable sedating him, taking into consideration his neurological condition.  They aligned it as much as Jacob would allow (which was A LOT more than I would have allowed!!)  I can't believe how tough that little boy can be!  What a trooper!!  

He was admitted to the paediatric floor where he was kept for observation for the night, I was so disappointed that our previous night nurse, Kim, wasn't working at the hospital.  He seemed to be OK over night, so next week Monday we go for a follow up appointment and to get the plaster cast removed and a fibreglass cast put on.  That should be way lighter, and much easier to handle.  This cast is huge!!  The next week is going to have its own challenges considering how easily it can be to break/misplace his hip with all the weight on his leg.  I don't want to think about those possibilities.  All the 'what if's' have to be put aside, but its brutally hard right now.

Through all the darkness, we are thankful that he didn't need surgery.  I was just imagining the doctor putting in a screw and shattering his fragile bone.  As much as a broken leg isn't what I was looking for, in many ways it's easier to deal with than a pneumonia!  God provides us what He seems fit.  At times, the clarity to that truth becomes quite hazy!