Deliverance Day!

Deliverance from what? Well, for some it was freedom from an itchy, rough, constricting cast. For me it was freedom from a girl in an itchy, rough, constricting cast. If nothing else this whole experience has taught me that Lauren does not deal with pain well and she takes advantage of situations. On the way home from the ER with Ben the night she broke her elbow she said, through a sleepy/codeine haze, "Daddy, will you get me lots of presents for Christmas since I broke my arm?"

A little back ground first. Lauren was standing on a small three-wheeler that rolled out from under her a week before Thanksgiving. She landed open palmed on her right arm, forcing the elbow to bend too far back. The break was just a hairline fracture across the humerus, the upper arm bone. She had two casts for a total of 4 weeks. The first week was spent elevating the arm and watching cartoons while eating popcorn. Lauren said of this experience, "This is the funnest day of my life!"

The doctor who examined her x-rays today said her bone alignment was perfect and all she needed to do was take things easy for a month and work on getting her range of motion back. Lauren's arm is quite stiff but even doing simple things like reaching with her right arm have diminished the pain and stiffness considerably in just a few hours. To the joy of all, the doctor said she could even go sledding at Christmas time provided someone rides with her. I'm sure Spencer would volunteer wholeheartedly, but I know how much help brothers are on a sled so I think we'll ask Aunt Emma or Eliza to help instead.

I was anticipating a shriveled little arm covered in dead skin, however Lauren's arm looks as healthy and plump as it did when she broke it. My cast must have been on longer than four weeks. She did have a peculiar odor from the cast that was quickly removed by a long soak in a hot bubble bath. If there is a next time, perish the thought; we will definitely try to keep the cast cleaner around the finger area.