Saturday afternoon, DS12 calls me to come pick him up. As he gets in the minivan, he points out the ugly scrape he got on his knee and mentions "oh yeah, I hurt my thumb too." He continues to complain about how much his scrape hurts, while I inspect his blue and swollen right thumb (courtesy of a kick from his umm....."friend"). Not a doubt in my mind that it's broken. A trip to the ER and some x-rays confirm this, they apply a temporary cast, and DS starts to mourn the loss of at least half of his 7th grade football season. 
Fast forward to Monday afternoon. My cell phone rings as I'm preparing to pick up DS from school. Athetics is his final period and while he knew he couldn't participate, he chose to suit out to walk out onto the field with the other boys. Back to the phone call....it's the middle school trainer. That can't be good. As he tells me that DS slipped and fell backwards while walking to the field, my first thought is "oh no, he's done more damage to his thumb."
Trainer: we think his arm is broken.
Me: Oh no! He already has a broken thumb, now he's broken the arm too?
Trainer: No m'am........it's his left arm.
At this point I'm positive this is just a cruel joke, but I can't come up with anyone I know that would do this.
Of course the x-rays show a very clean, very distinct diagonal break of the humerus. DS now has a new splint and sling on the left to coordinate with his thumb on the right. Yesterday's visit to the orthopedic surgeon was fairly positive. No surgery needed unless the bones won't stay aligned. We'll be x-raying the arm frequently to keep an eye on things.
DS is very upset over the loss of his entire football season now...but this doesn't bother him nearly as much as his new dependence on his family and friends to do things for him. Like brushing his teeth....washing his hair...putting on his shirt (over the sling)...and the (don't tell anyone
) sponge bath.
The whole thing is just so unbelievable to me, I had to share. We're trying to help him keep his sense of humor in spite of all the difficulty and disappointment. It's either laugh or cry.
Fast forward to Monday afternoon. My cell phone rings as I'm preparing to pick up DS from school. Athetics is his final period and while he knew he couldn't participate, he chose to suit out to walk out onto the field with the other boys. Back to the phone call....it's the middle school trainer. That can't be good. As he tells me that DS slipped and fell backwards while walking to the field, my first thought is "oh no, he's done more damage to his thumb."
Trainer: we think his arm is broken.
Me: Oh no! He already has a broken thumb, now he's broken the arm too?
Trainer: No m'am........it's his left arm.
At this point I'm positive this is just a cruel joke, but I can't come up with anyone I know that would do this.
Of course the x-rays show a very clean, very distinct diagonal break of the humerus. DS now has a new splint and sling on the left to coordinate with his thumb on the right. Yesterday's visit to the orthopedic surgeon was fairly positive. No surgery needed unless the bones won't stay aligned. We'll be x-raying the arm frequently to keep an eye on things.
DS is very upset over the loss of his entire football season now...but this doesn't bother him nearly as much as his new dependence on his family and friends to do things for him. Like brushing his teeth....washing his hair...putting on his shirt (over the sling)...and the (don't tell anyone
) sponge bath.The whole thing is just so unbelievable to me, I had to share. We're trying to help him keep his sense of humor in spite of all the difficulty and disappointment. It's either laugh or cry.
Hope he's completely healed soon! 
I hope he heals quickly and his luck turns around.
