At the Nashville Zoo there is a huge wooden play area that is just amazing and I, now at my age, enjoy chasing IzzyB around it. It is pretty darn tall at one part and it had a huge slide that has about 5 turns in it. We met mom after her pit stop, told her we were going to go to the top and slide down, so I handed off the backpack, and off IzzyB and I went. We got to the top and found mom at the bottom, we waved, laughed, got ready to go down, and never imagined what would terribly ensue.
IzzyB was in my lap as we went down the slide and about half way down her little Chuck Taylor shoes hit the brakes on the surface of the slide. The traction that the rubber of her shoe and the surface of the slide created sent her foot folding backwards and even went under my knee. As soon as I felt her foot, I lifted my leg and pulled back on her to release her leg and she let out a scream that would continue the rest of the slide down. We reached the bottom and AB knew right away his was not a normal scream and I set IzzyB down and she immediately laid down, crying, and squirming in pain. We didn't know what to expected. I knew it was her left foot, I took off her shoe, her sock, rolled up her pants, nothing seemed out of the ordinary and nothing felt out of place.
We gathered our things and headed towards the car as I held her. As we got to the car I tried to put her down to see if she would stand and she wouldn't and that was when we got a bit scared. We were already headed home and went to the hospital she was born at. We got her in right away as there was no one there, the first nurse in triage told us nothing looked wrong either, but we should get an x-ray since she won't stand on it. Got into a urgent care room where they were able to wheel in an x-ray machine and the results showed a big crack on her tibia right below her knee.
That hospital does not have a pediatric doctor so they told us they were going to transport us to Vanderbilt Children's hospital because the on-call Orthopedic Pediatrician from Vanderbilt said it needed to be aligned correctly before a cast was to be put on. The way it was told to us was as if she might need to have surgery so AB and I prepared for the worst.
I keep forgetting to mention that through all of this IzzyB is doing really well overall despite having a huge bone in her body broken. The nurse who put her splint on her to prepare for transport was a grandpa and was so sweet and gentle that it comforted all of us. The ambulance drivers that were transporting us were so nice and very sweet talking to IzzyB and AB said the ambulance ride went really well and smooth. When the ambulance came to a stop IzzyB would look up and see me behind the ambulance in our car and would smile and say "There's daddy!"
I parked in the garage and walked fast to the hospital, as soon as I reached our room there was already a team of four people huddled around IzzyB's bed assessing the situation. IzzyB's was so used to everyone checking her vitals that when they would pull out their thermometer she would automatically raise her right arm, it was so sweet.
The ortho pediatrician told us that surgery was not necessary, we were so glad, and that they would give her an oral pain med then align the leg while they were casting. After the casting we would get more x-rays and we should be good to go. We got the x-rays taken and were back in the room where the docs said we could give IzzyB something to eat, as she was starving. She had some graham crackers and a juice box when the Dr came in and said "Bad News," something you never want to hear at a hospital. Turns out they did not align her leg the best way possible and would have to do it again but would have to sedate her this time to be able to do it correctly without initial pain to her body. But because she ate we would have to wait four hours before they could start that process.
As a parent, seeing your child be sedated, is a terrifying, to say the least. After she was sedated they asked us to leave the room while they realigned her leg. AB and I headed toward the waiting area but I went outside and lost it.
After about 20 minutes they called us back into the room and IzzyB was very peacefully resting and in good condition with a new cast on. While we waited for results we had to wake IzzyB to make sure she was OK after the sedation. She finally came to and was very drowsy as I asked her how old she was, she looked around blankly before holding up two fingers and quietly saying "two." We knew our IzzyB was going to be OK. The CT scan came back and the doctors were all pleased with the results this time and we were cleared for discharge.
We had arrived at the hospital at 1:30PM and we were discharged at 2:20AM.
IzzyB's cast goes from the top of her toes to half way up her thigh. We have a follow up appointment in a week to get a more permanent cast, that will probably be pink. Our recovery time looks to be about 4 to 6 weeks
We know we had a blanket of prayers covering us and they were felt.
We thank you all who were lifting us up.
My mother told me the worst part about these situations is that we are helpless as parents to help our child. We definitely felt helpless and we realized there was nothing we could do but let God do. I also thought of God willing letting his Son suffer for so long and dying for us because He loves us. As I watched IzzyB suffer last night I would have done everything and anything possible to swap places with her. The main difference is that it was impossible for me to trade places with IzzyB but God could easily have stopped His son from dying but He didn't.
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
