It Was Just a Broken Finger!!!!!

I wrote in my last post about Droopy Poo's smashed and broken finger. We had the stitches removed on Monday but it still looked gross. swollen, and disfigured. The doctor sent up to the hospital to have it x-rayed again. She told us that we'd make sure it was healed so we could begin rehab to get it moving again. The hospital visit was an ordeal in and of itself. We were there nearly 2 hours for a silly x-ray (which is to be expected with all the health care issues.) The doctor called yesterday to explain that the radiologist found something else and so she was referring us to an orthopedic doctor. I was not prepared for what the other doctor had to tell.

First of all, the bone WAS CRUSHED!!!! The simple x-ray copy the x-ray didn't look that bad and the drs from the ER told us it would heal in about 10 days. NOPE!!!! It doesn't like like anything changed. It was pretty much cracked down the middle and stopped short of the growth plate. That was good news but that bone wasn't the problem. The bone below it is the problem. When the injury happened it basically shaved the top part of the bone off and rotated it 90 degrees to the left. That was why the finger dangled when I finally got it free. It cut ligaments and such as well. I was shocked. i knew he had injured it when it got crushed. I never imagined it was going to be this bad. We could do surgery but we run the risk of serious infection AND the top part that needs to be rotated is pretty much dead. Moving it now could just create more problems. There is a chance it will heal itself since he's only 4 yod. Or it could heal part of the way and then not heal anymore and he could have a slight deformed left ring finger. That idea was much better than the other alternatives. I forgot to mention. He told me that if we had found this injury 24-36 hours after this happened, they could have put a pin in it quickly and we wouldn't be in this place? Where was the ER doctor when it came time to read the x-rays?

So now what? Well, the finger is still broken. In order to keep it isolated so it can heal (takes about 4 weeks NOT 10 DAYS LIKE THEY TOLD US AT THE ER!!!!!!) we need to keep him still. LOL!!!!! Yea right, keep a 4 yod boy that climbs everything imaginable still. He smiled at me at this point and said "That is why we put them in a cast. Not just any cast. . .a full arm cast. That's right, past the elbow. If you put it lower he'll just slip the cast off and bring it to you later." So that's the solution. My 4 yod, who broke the tip of his left ring finger now has a full cast past his elbow. It's comical to me. Something so small with a big solution.

We have to wait to see what happens with the middle bone in the finger. I am just kind of following the doctor in this. He was really nice and help me to understand what was going on. I trust him. Our pediatricain had good things to say about him as well. In the meantime, I still have to convince Pee-Pooh that he can't climb trees. They wanted him to come home and sit. That's been hard enough. I thought I would have to bribe someone to read to him so I could get som things done tonight for dinner. Nope. BroncoFan remember his broken collar bone from a few years ago and stepped up to read to him. He and the little boys are reading on the couch while BroncoFan reminds his brother to keep his arm elevated and still. Oh boy, we have a huge job ahead of us. It should get even more interesting when the cast comes off and he has to keep a splint on it, no exceptions. URGH!!!! I am glad we didn't try to start school this week.