The Tiger got his fracture rechecked yesterday in Columbus, and it was a good experience all around. They x-rayed him immediately, without any need for me to harass them into doing it. Then we finally met the doctor in charge, who’d been only a distant overseer in the hospital. He was sporting a walrus mustache and working on Basset hound jowls. He was kind and respectful. He managed not to scare my son. Best of all, he pronounced the Tiger’s humerus in good alignment.
“So,” I said, “are we out of the woods as far as surgery?”
“No. We like to follow breaks like this closely at first. You’ll need to come back again next Wednesday. Then, if all goes well, the cast can come off two weeks later.”
“So when will you know for sure about surgery?”
“By next week, the bone should sticky. There’s not much danger it could slip out of place after that.”
“If you had to give me odds of avoiding surgery, from this week to next week, what would you say? Just as a guess?”
“Oh, about 80%.”
I’m still jittery about that other 20%, but overall I think my sweet little stinker is going to be okay.
The really good news is that we learned that the break isn’t in a growth plate after all. That’s a huge relief. My niece’s fracture was complicated by its running through a growth plate, and my sister is plagued by a quiet simmering worry about proper growth in the years ahead. As an inveterate worrier myself (it runs in the family), I’ll rejoin her worry party now, knowing that the Tiger shouldn’t have any long-term issues beyond a very slight restriction in the elbow’s range of motion.
We also got rid of the ace bandage around his cast (seen above), which was looking increasingly grungy. It was replaced by another layer of the blue casting material, which means we can all sign it now. Yay!
Note that both stuffed tigers are also suffering from injuries. Daddy Tiger broke his foot. You can’t see Mama Tiger’s broken tail, but it’s being held up by the sling around her neck. Mama Tiger got her “cast” off yesterday and is feeling great, after some initial stiffness.
My apologies to anyone who was watching the calendar and realized I should have reported in yesterday already. It is true that I usually like to write a post every day. If I miss a couple of days, it means something is up, and you would be right to suppose I’m not gallivanting on a tropical beach. Most often it means that I’m overworked and underslept. (Stacks of student papers are calling to me this very moment!) Occasionally it means I have the blues. And there’s always the chance that something really awful has happened. Last night, though, I was just I was too depleted to write. I had nothing left after the trip to Columbus: rushing on the road, reassuring the Tiger, bathing in the relief. Funny how exhausting even good news can be.
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)
Hi Sungold, I was thinking about you two this week and I am really glad to see your cautious optimism. The injured stuffed animals are cute, my kids do that, too.
Thanks, Sugarmag. I think the stuffed animals are a great example of “misery loves company”! Somehow it’s a comfort if someone else is hurting, too, even if it’s just a little “person” made of fluff.
I popped across from Spilt Milk to find out about the break. Poor thing, and poor you – i’m all goosebumpy imagining it. {hugz}
I expect it will be absolutely perfect in the end. If it helps, we know a 12yo who did something dramatic to her arm in toddlerhood (before we knew her, but i think it included surgery) and always carries it a bit odd because it doesn’t fully straighten. I only know this because her parents have mentioned it at least three times, because i forgot after being told at least twice. It is easy to tell when you know, but not noticeable otherwise.
Come to that, my left arm doesn’t straighten fully after i broke the elbow ten years ago, and i forget about that too.
The horrible bit though is while it’s going on and while it’s recent, especially while they’re in pain. :0( I’m selfishly glad i didn’t know about this till it was getting better!
As for protecting them, i’ve found if you have a climber, you can’t keep him safe by trying to prevent climbing. The only way is to get him to do as much climbing as possible, so he’s really good at it. My littlest (blogname Tigger, small world!) is going to be the motorcycle stuntman of the family if he has any say. Aagh. I just tell myself, after all the speed-cycling over bumpy farm tracks, his reflexes and co-ordination are top of the range.
Good to meet you. :0)
Mand, it’s really nice of you to drop by. Yes, it absolutely does help to hear reassuring stories! He’s young enough that he will adapt, but it is still hard to think that he should have to put up with anything that requires adaptation. One moment he had no physical issues; the next, something is broken and it might never be quite the same. I do know from my own experience with breaking a pinkie finger in college that I manage fine, despite the fact that it wasn’t set properly the night of the accident – I was told to return to the clinic the next day to fix it – and then the daytime doctor refused to do so. It hurts a little all the time, but only a little, and my piano-playing career wasn’t going to take me to Carnegie Hall anyway.
The Tiger is no climber, which is maybe why he fell in the first place. It turns out he was wearing gloves and just lost his grip while he was swinging his feet up high. So instead of falling two feet, he fell five. My niece reportedly did something very similar.
Checking out your blog, I’m seeing a lot that resonates – including “cat-deprived cat-lover.” Looking forward to exploring further!
Yes – ‘still hard to think that he should have to put up with anything that requires adaptation. One moment he had no physical issues; the next, something is broken and it might never be quite the same.’ I had a hard enough time when my eldest was first prescribed glasses, thus losing his ‘physically perfect’ status, even though in this family it was a given that he’d be short-sighted sooner or later! I know exactly what you mean.
He’s the non-climber out of us, and again, when he does fall he falls interestingly… y’know the curse ‘May you live in interesting times’? Far better to have boring little bumps.
As for cat-deprived, that’s because he’s allergic. But we have a soft-hearted lurcher, the closest thing to a cat that a dog can be. ;0)
Thanks for the update. I was thinking about you guys on Wednesday and, being a worrier too, am happy to read your update.
And by now I’m worried about you guys, since I hear the latest virus is nesting in your kids! I am so counting down to spring.
The Tiger’s sidekick was hit hard for about 24 hours, but seems to have recovered except for some congestion. I had him at the rink tonight and he was fine. BTW, I was honored to sign the Tiger’s cast on Sunday!!!!
Sungold,
So glad to hear the good news about the Tiger. Hope that nasty 20% just disappears into the ether!
Will continue to send good wishes your guys way.
Thanks, Cathy. You are really kind. Every day that the Tiger doesn’t fall on his arm (or head), I figure the 20% goes down by another three points … Then again, he did say he fell on his cast in gym Thursday. And my reaction was WTF? Wasn’t he sitting out everything in gym? But I’ll just have to trust it’ll be okay.
Just a short little funny story relating to the injured stuffed animals.
When I was about 4 years old, I was out in the garage with my dad. I pick up a utility knife and tell him I’m going to cut a board with it. He explains to me that utility knives don’t cut boards, but I was a bit of a know it all back then and I said I was going to do it anyway. I proceed to hack into this board, and shortly after, my own thumb. I was screaming and crying, and Dad took me up to the house to fix it up.
Well, I got all wrapped up, and guess what’s on TV but Gremlins. And right around that time, Gizmo falls into a trash can, and the rest of the time he’s walking around with a little wrap around his head. I’ve never forgotten how we were connected all night.
Anyway, I’m glad things are looking up! : )
Oh wow. You are lucky you didn’t permanently damage that thumb! (Am I turning into a nervous nellie, or what?)
Seems like you ought to be able to exploit your Gremlin kinship one of these days in your journalism career. That’s a great story. I am actually too old – and my kids are too young – to know the Gremlins, so the mental picture I’m getting is Oscar the Grouch. But I realize that’s got to be all wrong ’cause Oscar lived in a trash can and wasn’t gonna hurt himself by falling in.
Thanks for the good thoughts!
So sorry for poor Tiger! I hope he doesn’t need surgery.
Sorry about the circumstances of his discharge. That is really unconscionable. The ER should have a dispensary as long as they’re open. I can’t imagine they didn’t have some sort of pain relief they could have given him to tide you over.
http://x6.no/images/omtaler/DVD/gremlinsII2.jpg
Gizmo the Mogwai…just so you can have a picture in your head : )