Broken Elbow

Rachel broke her elbow on Monday April 17th. It was in the evening while we were getting everybody ready for bed. I was in the kitchen doing dishes and Enoch was going outside to put something in the mail box. We heard a few thud. I thought that one of the boys had fallen but they were both in the kitchen near me. When I went around the corner Rachel was in the middle of the living room floor laying down holding her elbow. She said that she missed the couch and fell on the ground. We thought that she had just hit her funny bone. I even laughed. After a while though she started crying and holding it more. We kept trying to figure out what happened too because we didn't quite understand what happened. She went to fall back on the couch and missed it completely and fell and hit her elbow. She hit it just perfectly that she broke it.

Enoch kept saying that he didn't think it was broken because she could move it. Well we looked on the Internet and the only time you can't move it when you break something is if there is nerve damage. Enoch after that took her to urgent care. When they left the house she was really crying.

They came home an hour and a half later with a broken elbow in a sling not even a splint, pain pills and then told us to call in the morning with a orthopedic surgeon to call. They didn't even splint it so she was so miserable all night.



When we called the next day for them to call an orthopedic surgeon to have it casted they took hours to call and when they got us an appointment the soonest was the next day on Wednesday. I was so mad. I told Enoch that there was no way she would make it till Wednesday. Well he took things into his own hands and called a bunch of doctors. When we called a Dr. West they said that they were booked for the day. When Enoch told them he would call somebody else they immediately said that they would have the xrays sent over and would call back. Well within 5 minutes they called and asked if we could come in right away.

When we went in Rachel was in so much pain and the pain was making her sick. She started throwing up. She was miserable. They talked to us and told us that she needed surgery on her elbow and would do it tomorrow. Wow what a shock for us. We had no idea that she would need surgery we just thought we were going in to have it casted. They said they would have to put wires and pins in her arm that would stay in 4 months. The cast would stay on for a few weeks but the pins would come out later. What a shock for us.

We were so glad that we got in to the doctor when we did. He does surgery on Wednesdays so he wanted to see her so he could do it. We were so impressed by him too. He sat down and explained everything to us and even drew pictures. They splinted her arm and instantly she felt better. She should of had it splinted the night before. Poor Rachel.

Wednesday April 20th we went to Mountain View Hospital at 8 AM for surgery. We registered her and waited and then they took her back. She had to get in her gown and surgical hat. They took her vitals and gave her an IV. The doctor was running behind so we sat and watched TV. She laid in bed but Enoch and I sat in comfy chairs in the room and watched TV, Enoch slept with Averien. We met all the nurses and anesthesiologist. Rachel was given a really nice blessing before that talked about everything would go well, that she wouldn't be nervous and that she would heal well. She would be taken care of and in good hands. I asked her a couple of times before surgery if she was nervous and she said she wasn't at all. She said she felt fine.


Surgery was an hour and then after she was awake and well enough we went back to see her. We saw Dr. West first and he said that surgery went really well and that she should heal fine without problems. When we saw Rachel she was sleeping but soon woke up and really soon was able to drink. It was 2 hours after surgery that we took her home. She slept the whole day. She actually slept for 2 days. She was so out of it. She really thought that it was the drugs knocking her out so after 2 days she wasn't on any pain killers and then seemed to get back to normal. She had a nice surprise too. On Thursday evening after her surgery Rachael Adams her best friend who moved away came and stayed for a few days. It helped Rachel feel better too. Rachel still was out of it at times and Rachael would hang out and play the wii with Jacob while Rachel was sleeping. I did feel bad for Rachael Adams at times but she didn't seem to mind. The doctor too said that she couldn't go to school till Monday so it worked out great having Rachael be here.

She was not put into a cast yet. She was splinted on both sides. They want the swelling to go down before they cast her. They wanted to see her back in a week before they casted it.

We went back April 26th for it to be casted. Her arm looked so crazy when they took the splint off. She was swollen at the elbow and had some long sutures coming out of her arm. They stitched her up internally but had a few long pieces sticking out. They removed those and then casted her arm. She got to pick what ever she wanted for her cast. She picked glow in the dark material and then a light blue to go around it. It looked so awesome. I was so impressed with the office doing her cast as cool as they did. It was the PA and med student that put her cast on for her. She has to keep her cast on for 4 weeks and then they will take it off and see how it is. If they keep the cast on too long then she won't be able to straighten her arm after a while. The pins will help it fully heal. She will have to have surgery in September to have the pins take out too. We thought that she would just get them out at the office but they have to go in and surgically remove them. So nice. That means that in one year she will have had 4 surgeries. Wow.


She is so much happier with her cast and loves everybody signing it. The cast totally glows in the dark too. It is pretty awesome. It is a pain though for showering and doing her hair. She can shower herself for the most part but I have to do her hair. She also can't play the piano and really do anything. Luckily it was her left hand that broke because if it was her right she would have been in trouble.