Katelyn's cast

Well it was a restful Sunday afternoon in the Harrison house. We had a great morning at church and was getting ready to go to our Sunday evening small group bible study. That was when it happened.

We heard the crash around the stair and the crying of Katelyn. As a parent you know the difference between the fake, whiny crying and that "I'm really hurt" cry for help. I was in the kitchen and Stephanie was in the the office. We immediately dropped what we were doing and ran in her direction. When we got to the stairs we noticed Katelyn stretched out at the bottom of the stairs and Justin's metal ammo box (airsoft gun) lying nearby. She was also in her cowgirl boots. She was trying to get some ammo for one of Justin's guns (nerf) so she could shoot it. She made it most of the way down the stairs when she tripped and fell. Stephanie started saying "she broke her arm, she broke her arm". I wasn't sure if she did or not, but I knew that if she kept saying that she was going to scare her more. We sat her on the couch and put some ice on it. The crying didn't last too long, although she said it still hurt. That's when Stephanie asked me "What should we do?". I love the fact that I have very limited medical experience, but still have to make that call. :)

We decided to wrap it up and see how she did later, hoping it was only a slight sprain. The next day she said that it still hurt, but not as bad so we sent her to school with it wrapped. That evening (Monday) it was a lot better, but still sore. We thought we were on the mend, so much so that the next day we didn't wrap it. The school called us later that day (Tuesday) saying that Katelyn tripped and fell. Guess what, she landed on the same wrist. That night we discussed what to do. We were almost going to take her to the Doc, but then we saw her cocking one of Justin's guns like her wrist was not hurt at all. By the way, the whole time Justin's been telling us "she's faking it, she's faking it". We decided to send her the next day to school with it wrapped as well (Wednesday). That day the Recreation department (where she goes for afterschool) called and said that she fell again and landed on the same wrist. Good grief are we going to teach her how to walk, either that or put her in a bubble. At this point we decided that after falling down the stairs, having the ammo box fall on her wrist (we didn't see this, but that's what she said happened), and two falls over the next few days, we were going to take the hints from God and take her to the doctor, mainly just to confirm that it was only a sprain.

We went to the Orthopedic clinic that night to see the Dr and get some x-rays. She came in and asked Katelyn what happened. Then the doctor said "Well, I don't know which fall did it, but on one of them, you broke your arm". I was shocked. It wasn't a big break, more like a bend, or bulge, still though, it was a break. We think it might have been the ammo box that landed on her wrist, but who knows for sure.

She was able to pick out a pink splint. The Dr. wanted to give the injury a few days to let the swelling stop before putting the cast on. A few days later she was able to pick out the purple cast in the picture above. She was pretty excited about having everyone sign the cast, as you can see the signatures above.

We're thankful that it was still a minor injury and that it appears that it will grow back normal. The cast comes off next Wednesday, March 16th.

We're also thankful that she hasn't figured out that her cast can be used a weapon!