The Return of the Broken Arm

Broken arms should be like the chicken pox. Many can go their whole lives without getting one. And those who do usually aren’t repeat offenders.

Alas, not my Lauren.

I got the call on the afternoon of May 16th. In theory, it was supposed to be good day. We had just gotten in from camping that weekend and Monday was a field trip for Lauren to the bowling alley. After school, basketball camp kicked off. But in between field trip and basketball, there was end-of-the-day recess. With monkey bars and sweaty hands. Ooops.

Well at least it happened on school property. I mean, I think the doctor wrapped it in gold-plated cloth or something (just so you know, simply wrapping the arm was considered “surgery”) so a little help from multiple insurances was a silver lining. But poor Lauren, stuck in a clunky, hot cast right at the beginning of summer.

Not that she is a stranger to casts. When Lauren was 2, she fell off the bed (while jumping) at Grandma’s house over Thanksgiving. The kids kept it hush-hush of course; they say she only cried a little and we weren’t really even aware there had been an incident in the back room. But I when I took Lauren to the doctor a week later for being sick, I randomly asked about her arm, because she had been mildly complaining when we got her dressed each day. Turns out she had a greenstick fracture in her left forearm, requiring a cast for two months. I have to brag, though. Little Lauren never complained a single time, simply went about her 2-year-old business, proudly waving her bright blue cast.

Fast-forward 5 years. Double wrist-bone break this time, but same arm and same blue cast. And same fortitude of spirit. Bigger Lauren didn’t complain any more than her earlier version. We had tears only twice, when the truth sank in about bike-riding and swimming and playgrounds and inflatables and an itch we couldn’t reach with a bamboo skewer (I know, don’t tell, but I had to try…)

Like I told the other kids, at least it was only her arm. And if my calculations are correct, at this rate of repetition, we should only have to go through this two more times before she is out on her own. Better start saving now…

Getting the gilded wrapping

Getting casted a week later

Waiting for the cast to dry

Getting the cast cut off

Removable splint