It all started early Friday morning. We were headed into therapy for all three little ones. I actually remember thinking how well I was doing that morning. Everyone had their braces on, everyone was dressed cute, everyone had eaten (a problem later), everyone had their separate backpacks with what they needed for that day (diapers for those who needed them, bus harnesses for those who would ride the bus home), everything was ready for our busy day. I put the wheelchair together and strapped Bella in. Then I got Joy and Alex out of the van. I am always on high alert with the three of them by myself, but especially in a parking lot! I was keeping an eye on Alex and Joy, to make sure they stayed safe, as I reached back to shut the van door. It wouldn’t fully close – weird. I glanced back at the door to see Bella's finger wedged in there. Quickly, I threw the door open and looked at her finger. The whole first joint was crushed. It looked like the nail had completely come off. I found out later, through x-rays and the hand surgeon, that the bone had snapped up out of the skin, pushing the nail and nail bed out of its way in its journey. And then the blood. Wow – blood all over her, blood all over me. At this point the mother of another patient came around the van to put her son in her car, she saw our situation and asked if she could help. Yes, please! Go get Margaret and Christie, our OT and ST. She was gone and then they were all back. I’m so grateful! Our wonderful therapists took Joy and Bella and spoke directly with the doctor at the Urgent Care. He, the NP, and the two nurses immediately helped us. Bella, by this point, was freaking out. She didn’t want anyone to touch it, and we all wanted to clean it up. The doctor said it would require a nail bed repair and she would require sedation. He sent us on to Kosair Brownsboro – a satellite children’s hospital here. Joy and Alex stayed with our therapists. I called Jason who headed out to grab the kids. At Brownsboro, they did x-rays and determined that she had broken her finger. They called the hand surgeon, but because Bella had eaten just an hour ago, they couldn’t put her under to do the surgery. They sent us downtown because at the big hospital, they can operate 24/7, instead of only during the day, like at the satellite hospital. We had to wait the full eight hours before her surgery. No one wanted her to aspirate on her breakfast, especially since aspirate pneumonia (coupled with terrible pulmonary hypertension) is what caused us to end up with a trach for four years. At 6:30 PM, she headed back for surgery. She was so brave throughout the day. She whimpered now and then, but she wasn’t hysterical. I was so proud of her. The hand surgeon showed me the x-rays and explained how she pinned the bone and did the nail bed repair. She cast her past the elbow so Bella would leave it alone while it heals. We’ll have that cast for three weeks. In recovery, her stats were low. Fortunately, no one panicked. I explained and they believed me and we got to go home. So very grateful! Twelve hours after hurting her finger, we got into the car to head home. What a day!
Jason brought me a cupcake (it was super yummy)
Waiting for surgery (good meds on board)
All done, let’s go home (Love the cute heart on her cast!)
A cute card from her class
