Happy 15th Birthday to Tess!

 

Happy 9th Birthday to Bree & June Happenings

 

Waterslide Accident

     I am a whole year behind on my scrapbook/blog; we have had lots of great experiences and I'll be sure to catch up on our fun extended-family Caribbean cruise in October and our family trip to Europe in December.  But until then, I want to document an experience we had this weekend.    

     Our sweet neighbors invited a few families to come enjoy their new giant inflatable waterslide in their backyard on Friday, June 5.  It is an 18 foot tall slide with a wading pool at the bottom, similar to this:     

     Bryan had some work to finish up so he was in our basement office.  I walked over with the kids and they were sliding and having a blast.  I noticed one mom in her swimsuit and asked why she wasn't sliding and she said I should get my suit on and we could go together!  So I said ok, left the kids there, and walked back home to get my suit on (I was only 2 houses away).  I changed and began walking back; when I was walking up their driveway, I saw the waterslide up in the air tumbling just like a tumbleweed across their backyard and towards me.  It seemed to be kind of folded over onto itself like a burrito.  It smashed into and over their 6 foot fence, flattened a tree, skimmed over the SUV in the driveway, and eventually landed in a heap in the vacant field next to the front driveway.  I felt terrible because it was a new slide and I was afraid it was ruined.  I saw all the other adults running toward it and heard a dad yell, "there are still kids in there!"  I hadn't seen any people at all--just the giant 700 pound slide flipping over and over.  When he said that, I was terrified; I could not imagine people being inside it!  It had landed approximately 100 feet from where it started, tumbling end-over-end at least 3 times.

     I ran over and saw both Bree and Miles on the ground near/under the slide.  Bree was screaming and Miles was really in shock.  His eyes were wide open and frozen, staring off in the distance as though he had no idea what had just happened.  I helped Bree to her feet and tried to brush off the poky grass, dirt, and weeds from the field which had clung to her wet legs and bare feet.  She was screaming that her leg hurt.  I picked her up and looked around.  It was mayhem.  The other kids, teenagers, and parents were all gathered around; the third child inside the slide was our little 5-year-old neighbor and I saw his dad taking him home.  I also noticed Bryan was there all of a sudden; he said he had seen the violent wind outside the basement window and ran over because he knew how dangerous it would be for the inflatable slide.  He helped Miles up and they walked home.  I carried Bree, and Tess was right by our sides, helping along the way.  I was looking at Bree's leg but didn't see any signs of broken bones or bad cuts or anything.  I said we should just clean her off and put on some dry clothes.  I helped her stand up in the tub and was washing off her legs but she kept crying and crying that her leg hurt.  She wasn't putting any weight on it at all.  Miles was on his bed, kind of moaning that his belly really hurt.  We knew we had to take them both to the Emergency Room. 

     On the drive to Ogden Regional, Miles kept talking and talking, saying how his belly hurt and he knew his wrist was broken.  He said it over and over; we thought he was still in shock.  Bree was being really tough but was still crying about how much her leg hurt.  At the ER, they x-rayed them both and they were both correct.  Miles's wrist was broken and Bree's femur bone was broken.

     They also did several x-rays of Miles's chest and belly to see why it was hurting so badly.  I was terrified that he had some sort of internal bleeding or cracked ribs or something.  In the end, they couldn't see evidence of any problems other than the broken wrist, so that was great news.  His legs, arms, and back were pretty scratched and battered, but luckily they didn't think any internal organs were hurt.  The unfortunate thing about his wrist break, though, is that it's a small bone that doesn't like to heal well.  It is at the base of his thumb, called the Scaphoid (the area has a nickname of "anatomical snuffbox" because apparently people used to put their tobacco on that part of their hand before they "snuffed" it.)  If it doesn't heal correctly, he might need surgery.  Since the accident happened on Friday night, we will have to wait until we see the orthopedist (hopefully Monday) to find out more.  In the meantime, he is in a hard splint and is doing quite well.   Here is his x-ray, although to my untrained eye, it's nearly impossible to see the break.  

     Bree's break was much more severe unfortunately.  The break is way up on the femoral "neck."  The femur has 3 parts--the head (which is right where it meets the hip joint and pelvis), the neck right below that, and the shaft (which is the long straight bone that you always think of when you think of the femur.)  Her break was in the neck, which is super rare in young children.  The neck is the part that breaks when elderly people break their hips.  It almost always requires surgery, but because Bree is so tiny, the doc wanted us to go to Primary Children's for the surgery.  Bree's femoral neck break was not just a little crack--it was completely separated into two pieces:  

     Bree and I rode in the ambulance to Salt Lake while Bryan took Miles and Tess home.  He packed some clothes (I was still in my swimsuit this whole time) and stuff to stay for a few days.  We were in the ER at Primary for another few hours before they finally got us in a room around 2:30 am.  Poor Bryan then drove home and tried to sleep for a few hours before coming back Saturday morning.

     Sweet Bree was in a lot of pain.  They gave her two doses of morphine at the Ogden ER.  When we got to Primary, they had to do more x-rays and a CT scan and every time they moved her or repositioned her legs to get different pictures it hurt her so much.  I felt horrible.  She was a trouper though!

     Saturday she went in for the surgery around 10:00 am.  Her doctor met with me for pre-op and told me more details about the break/surgery.  The bad news was that breaking the femoral neck or head is much more serious than breaking the femur shaft.  The good news was that the break was at the base of the neck which is the best place to break on the neck--higher up on the neck is worse.  The really scary news was next though.  She told me that there is a blood vessel which supplies blood to the femur bone and if it was damaged in the accident the bone could die.  It could take anywhere from a year to 18 months for the bone to die.  And unfortunately there is no way to fix the blood vessel if it's damaged.  If the bone ends up dying, she would need to have a total hip replacement.  That part made me so sad, thinking she might need a hip replacement at age 9 or 10, especially since we try to be an active family and we like to do physical, adventurous things.

     During the surgery, we called Bryan's sister Jennifer who is an ER physician.  We love to get her take on things.  She put our minds at ease, suggesting that even if the bone dies and Bree needs a hip replacement, it wouldn't necessarily be right away.  She may be able to walk on it and use it for years before needing a hip replacement (she said, "she would just get her hip replaced in her 40s instead of her 60s or 70s like everyone else!"  Ha!)  I hope that's what happens.  Well, of course my greatest hope is that the blood vessel wasn't damaged and the bone won't die.  The only way to know is to do x-rays every 3 months for the next 2 years to check up on it.

     After surgery, Bree's surgeon, Dr. Woiczik, met with us and said things had gone well.  I asked about the blood vessel but she said they don't go looking for it; it's pretty well hidden, so if they went searching for it, it would be more of a risk that it would damage it.  They did a small incision on the front of her hip to clean out little bone fragments, then they did a larger incision on the side of her leg to place a big pin into her bone to hold it back together.   The pin will need to stay in for about a year, but then will need to be removed so her leg can continue to grow. (So another surgery, boo.)  Here I am lifting up her blanket and gown to show the bandages.

     She is completely non-weight-bearing for at least 6 weeks.  After that she will need to continue to be super careful and cautious with it.  We are thinking tumbling might be done for her (maybe forever if the bone dies.)  We are pretty sad about it.  We haven't talked to her too much about that yet.  

     We were so happy to get home this afternoon.  G&G T have helped us so much with Tess and Miles.  Tess and Miles made the sweetest "Welcome Home Bree" sign and set up all of Bree's stuffed animals on the couch to greet her when she came in.

  

     She has a wheelchair and a walker to use.  So far she is very nervous about moving her leg at all (I don't blame her!), but the doc said she could bend it at the knee and sit up on a chair on it.  Right now she prefers laying pretty flat, but I know it will get better every day.

     I will be sure to update this when we find out more about Miles, hopefully Monday.  For now, I am just SO grateful this accident wasn't worse than it was.  It was the craziest freak accident.  Over the past 3 days, we've recounted the story over and over to different medical personnel and they are all in disbelief at how crazy it was!  Even though it was horrible and so scary, I feel really lucky with the outcome.  The little 5-year-old neighbor who was in the slide has some scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones.  The slide started out with 6 people up on it, waiting for their turn.  When the wind started moving the slide, one boy immediately went down the slide and got safely out of the pool.  As it started to tip over, Tess and her friend jumped safely off the top when it was tilted down and closer to the ground.  I am so amazed and thankful that my kids' injuries aren't worse.  I can't imagine if they broke their neck, or their spine, or had internal injuries, concussions, or brain injuries!  I am counting my blessings for sure!  I am also so very grateful for skilled nurses and doctors with the medical know-how to fix broken bones.  It is just so wonderful.  I have been overwhelmed by the love and support we have felt from family, friends, and neighbors.

UPDATE to add:
     Miles had his appointment with his orthopedist today.  (We went to the same doctor who treated his broken finger from last year.  He broke it at a baseball game on June 4 of last year, 366 days before this new accident...I sure hope we don't have another broken bone next June too!)  She said it was a tubercle fracture, near the top of his scaphoid bone, which is the best way and place to break that bone!  Yay!  So, she put him in a hard brace for 6 weeks, and she doesn't expect he'll need surgery.  Woohoo!  The brace can be removed so we can gently wash his hand.  He could even swim with it.  Good news!  Here is a pic of the x-ray from today.  Again, I really cannot see the break, but I believe the doctors that it's there!  When I told Miles I wanted a picture of his brace, he pretended to be dead on the floor.  At least he's still got his sense of humor!