"Arm. Hurts."

Bardo toppled a chair over at a restaurant this weekend. He came up with his arm looking slightly bent. The Warlock was sure he was fine, and told me that it was normal for arms to look different from one another. The on-call pediatrician assured me (0ver the phone) that the injury was not serious and could wait until Monday after asking me a variety of questions. "Are all of his fingernails nice and pink?" "Is he using the arm?""Is he crying more than usual?""Does it hurt when you put pressure on it?" At the Ward Chili cook-off, an orthopedic PA friends declared Bardo free of acute injury after gently squeezing and moving his arm around.

I was still concerned Monday because Bardo, would cry when his arm was moved in certain ways. He also looked me in the eye and said, "Arm. Hurts." So I took him to the pediatrician who sent me to the hospital. I then waited at home for the doctor's phone call to tell me it was a buckle fracture. The pediatrician than sent me to the orthopedist the next morning. He decided to put a "precautionary" cast on Bardo's arm.


Anyway, the cast is "precautionary" because the bone would have healed fine without it. The cast is placed on him to protect the bone during the healing time so that the bone doesn't break all the way through if Bardo were to fall and catch himself. And if you're worried about the dark marks on his face and hands, just keep in mind that he's pressed against the kitchen door. Note the puppy nose prints on the door.

Anyway with all the running around I've done and will do with this arm thing, I wonder if just taking him to the ER on Friday or Saturday might have been easier.

Bardo has been more than cooperative through the whole ordeal. When they put the cast on him this morning, he sat on the table, watching the nurse's every turn with the tape. I didn't even have to hold him. And when she finished, he held up his other arm to get a cast on it, too.