We were preparing for Joshua’s birthday party. I had everything all ready to go- cake, games, homemade corn dogs, watermelon- and the house even looked pretty decent. Fifteen minutes before the party started, I went into the garage to close the door. A bicycle was laying by the side of the car, so I hollered to have a child pick it up. As I turned quickly to come back inside, instead of jumping over the bike in question, I landed in a quick thud right on my upper arm. I knew it was broken, or something. I could tell something wasn’t right.
I woke up my 15 year old son who was sleeping on the couch and asked him to get his dad. He would have to take me to the Emergency room while my husband ran the 8-year-old birthday party. It kind of made me laugh. At least I did the hard part. I thought. I was glad I was prepared, and the kids told me later that they were glad that I had made them help so much with the preparations. They knew all the games we were going to play.
It’s nice that the hospital is so close, but I was frustrated that we had only barely finished paying off our last trip to the emergency room.
My husband didn’t think it was broken, but probably dislocated. That sounded probably about right to me. I came into the hospital telling them my pain was at a ten, and that it was dislocated. They asked me if this happened before. Nope. This was a first for me.
I don’t deal well with pain usually, and like with my children, I was thinking I was ready for the epidural! It came in the form of some morphine through an IV. The doctor came in and confirmed that it was dislocated, but wanted to check to see if it might have a fracture as well. Great, more x-rays to pay for. I wasn’t happy about that, but I also had a previous experience taking another child in to the doctor where my husband had guessed the bone was just dislocated and was going to try to “fix” it himself. I talked him into waiting, and after x-rays, it ended up being broken and needing surgery. I was glad he hadn’t tried to fix it on his own.
As I tried to adjust and lean back into the bed, I twisted slightly and adjusted my shoulder the tiniest little bit. It popped! I felt some relief. I wondered if maybe I had just popped it back into place. It turned out I did, and the x-rays they took proved it. With no fractures.
So– I am typing this one-handed with my arm in a sling for two weeks. It doesn’t hurt, but I’ll have to be careful with it. I don’t want to have it happen again. The party went alright. My husband left gratefully to watch the BYU football game at his parents house afterwards. I was grateful for his stepping in to run the show. My son was also very sweet to drive me there (he has his permit). He shared his appreciation for all the times our roles had been reversed and I had been the driver. He was glad to be able to help me.
I’m just glad that one more birthday party is over. I can relax. It’s been a busy week. I almost feel caught up enough to start sharing some songs. I have a bunch I want to share. I’m looking forward to it. How about you?