Thursday, July 28, 2011

Someone get this kid to ......

036 by megan bauer
036, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

a soccer camp!!! We play this game all the time:

Henry - "Mom! Do I have soccer practice, today?"

Me - "Yeah, buddy."

Henry - "What time? 8 o'clock? "

Me - "Yeah buddy. 8 o'clock."

How bad do I feel after we have been repeating this conversation day after day for weeks and weeks and weeks??

I have to get this child to micro - soccer - a preschool beginner soccer program for 3-4 year olds. Why haven't I done this yet? Oh yeah - I have no time to start it!

Henry went to a preschool camp every day for the last 2 weeks. 2 hours a day. No big deal. But, he loved it! Despite me telling him day after day that he wouldn't be playing soccer at this camp - this is how he dressed for it. Hilarious, isn't it?

Making progress: a cast update

016 by megan bauer
016, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Last week, we visited an orthopedic surgeon in Syracuse. Great news!!They re x-rayed his arm and said it was healing beautifully. Then, they put a new and improved (read - SMALLER) cast on.
We go back again in 2 more weeks, and they will x ray it again. They said it was possible that they might be able to put a soft cast on (one that can be taken off) at that point. We are keeping our fingers crossed for that since we leave for Floriday shortly!

018 by megan bauer
018, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

020 by megan bauer
020, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Scrathing the itch

022 by megan bauer
022, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Owen had trouble falling asleep the night before this appointment, because he had an itch. So - the second he got his cast off - I was all "QUICK! Scratch that itch before they put another cast on!"

031 by megan bauer
031, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

His new cast is SO much better. Owen said he could wear it forever (when compared w/ the other one). It's waterproof - although it can only get wet for an hour a day. He can get his contacts in and out. He still CAN'T practice piano. But - and this is the best news of all - the doctor said he could play soccer with it. You've never seen such a happy boy.

007 by megan bauer
007, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Owen's arm had to be reduced - or put back into place - before they could cast it. They used conscious sedation (w/ ketamine), and brought down an anesthesia doc. Along w/ the anesthesia doc, a couple of nurses, the ER doc, and 2 orthopedic surgeons they put his wrist back together. When they brought me back in the room, he had this towel over his head. Turns out, he was kind of goofy after the surgery - coming out of anesthesia - and he kept banging his head with his cast. Poor kiddo had a bruise on his forehead, too!

005 by megan bauer
005, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

The physician on the field wrapped Owen's wrist in a makeshift splint. Pretty impressive, eh?

Friday, July 15, 2011

And so it begins....

039 by megan bauer
039, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Owen broke his wrist on Sunday in a soccer game, the semi final game, at a tournament in Pennsylvania.

It was the first 5 minutes of the game, and Owen was in the middle of a crowd of defenders heading toward the goal. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was watching, but didn't really see. Owen says that he was sliding for the ball, and went down on his wrist funny. A dad of another player on his team said that he was pushed in the back and fell forward. I don't really know....at any rate, we new immediately it was broken. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention while he was on the ground until the coach (who had run over to him) screamed for me. At that point his coach, and another adult who happened to be a physician from the other team, had his arm in the air. Running over to him, the physician said he has an obvious fracture. And, yep -while his bone wasn't through the skin, it made a v shaped formation that you could see through the skin (xrays later showed that he broke both his radius and ulna - 2 bones in the wrist).

Finally after what seemed like FOREVER - the ambulance arrived. The coaches and field medic joked that the ambulance was a horse and buggy (the tournament was in Lancaster County, Pennsylvani - AMISH country!).

If you know my Owen, you know how tough he is and so this might not surprise you. But - I was shocked that it was broken as badly as it was, because he hardly cried. The ambulance driver kept asking him what his pain level was and he never went over a 6/10. The kid is tough! Although, in the hospital they kept giving him IV antinausea medication, because he thought he was going to throw up. They said that was pretty common - and was pain related.

Owen's coach and the physician splinted his arm with shin guards. I have photos of the splint that once I download, I'll add and show you. It was beautiful.

As we were leaving the field via golf cart to meet the ambulance waiting for us in the parking lot, Owen's teammates came over one by one and hi fived his good arm and said words of encouragement. So, so sweet.

We rode in the ambulance for about 30 minutes to Hershey/ Penn State Medical Center. There was a closer hospital nearby, but we opted for the farther one that was a children's hospital.

The put in a IV and gave him a bunch of morphine. His pain was the worst when they were xraying his wrist, because of the manipulation they had to do.

(Oh - and while I was in the hospital with Owen, Eddie took Henry and Emmett back to the hotel -that we were supposed to have checked out of - to hang out and swim while they waited for us).

While we were waiting for the doctors to read the xray, the women's world cup game - Brazil vs. USA - was on. The doctors must have thought he was crazy, because WHAT A GAME. Owen and I were screaming and cheering the whole time.

After reading the xrays, the doctors said that his wrist had to be reduced (put back in place). Poor kiddo was super, super nervous. They gave him conscious sedation (ketamine), and once he was asleep, they kicked me out of the room, and reduced his arm right there in the ER room. Then, they casted it. AND - OMG! - casted him right up to his shoulder. They said because it was by his growth plate, they didn't want him to be able to move his arm at all.

We stayed in the ER about another hour after he woke up, and then with another dose of IV morphine, and a prescription for oral tylenol codeine, we started back to Syracuse.

The cast to the shoulder is a major summer bummer.

All the things he can't do w/ a cast up to your shoulder (especially because it's his right arm and he's right handed!):

Swim
Play soccer
Put his contacts in
Bathe
Wash/brush his hair
Write
Practice his piano (that's the only good thing he says!)
Brush his teeth
Go cart
Putt putt golf
Get dressed
Ride his bike
ETC ETC ETC ETC

Anyway - I'm guessing this is just the beginning of a long line of injuries with three active, athletic boys. His coach (who played professional soccer for 10 years) said he's broke his wrist 4 times...

And, as long as he doesn't injure his head or neck - no biggie....he'll heal :)!

029 by megan bauer
029, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Owen's soccer team signing his cast a few days after his break.

Friday, July 1, 2011

September 2010

024 by megan bauer
024, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Start of 4th grade..

How much has he changed???

June 2011 - Owen's last day of 4th grade

036 by megan bauer
036, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Owen has changed TONS over the course of this school year, physically and mentally. He's entering that pre-puberty phase and though, I enjoy him SO much most of the time. Other times, it's a challenge. 4th and 5th graders walk a fine line between trying to keep up w/ their friends - trying to be cool - and still wanting to be kids at times...It's intersting. And, exciting.

041 by megan bauer
041, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Walking to the bus stop..

September 2010

011 by megan bauer
011, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

Starting first grade.

It's always surprising to me how much kids grow and change in the course of one school year. I didn't think my boys had changed THAT much - until I found photos.

This is Emmett on the first day of first grade. Scroll down to see him on the last day of first grade.

Amazing. And, kind of sad....

June 2011

048 by megan bauer
048, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

He's a second grader!!!!

Yeah!!!!

045 by megan bauer
045, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

I'm a second grader!!!!

044 by megan bauer
044, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

049 by megan bauer
049, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

This is what

019 by megan bauer
019, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.

REALLY tired looks like...

020 by megan bauer
020, a photo by megan bauer on Flickr.