Sadie's Broken Arm

Broken arms are never convenient. One Wednesday afternoon, while Amy was caring for an extra 3 children under the age of 5, she received a phone call from Sadie's teacher, explaining that Sadie had fallen from the rings and hurt her arm and would need attention right away. Amy explained that she had a boatload of small children and wouldn't be able to come for a while. But then the teacher texted, "I think her arm is broken, but I didn't want to say that in front of Sadie." So after digging 5 little ones out of the sand box and then hunting for their shoes and then transferring 3 extra carseats into the minivan, Amy was pulling out of the driveway when one of the other moms arrived and generously offered to take the whole gaggle.

Because Sadie's PE teacher is an army medic, Amy assumed her suspicion of a broken arm was correct and didn't bother unwrapping Sadie's arm from the make-shift sling before taking her to the ER. But she had second thoughts once we arrived. When asked to rate her 1-10 pain level, Sadie replied 4. When asked to move her arm, hand, and fingers, she had full range of motion. And when the doctor showed her how to use the TV remote, Sadie was thrilled. So Amy figured the whole trip was a waste and that clearly Sadie was fine. X-rays proved her wrong, though, and despite Sadie's invincibly cheerful demeanor, the doctor diagnosed a Salter Harris type II distal radius fracture. 

After 4 weeks of wearing a cast, Sadie was plagued by two anxieties: "What if they accidentally cut off my arm when they cut off the cast?" and "Will I be able to ski over Christmas?" We'll leave our readers in suspense about the answers to those pressing questions.