We're Broken

Well,

not all of us

just GMan.

He fell down

at a day camp,

on his birthday.

When I went to pick him up

he told me he had fallen,

on his chest,

on a little box,

and that he cried really hard for a long time.

Sad!

I asked him how he was doing

and he said it was better but still hurt.

I checked him over,

there were no bruises,

no bumps

and he would even let me touch it.

To me that means he's fine.

Well,

over the next week he would wake up at night 

complaining of pain.

Cue more Motrin and back to bed.

(ps - he also would only sleep on his back,

he is a side sleeper,

and he couldn't sit up from laying down without support).

7 days after falling

he went for a bike ride with dad.

Where he proceeded to fall,

off his bike,

and hit his chest and head.

Perfect.

A couple nights later he not only woke up

but he was screaming.

His screaming was so violent it hurt his chest

so he wouldn't breathe

(because that also now caused pain).

I thought FINE,

first thing tomorrow we will go to the doctor.

We went,

I explained to the doctor what happened,

even he said he wasn't worried about a break

because the pain was right at the top middle of his sternum

and sternums don't break,

generally ribs break.

Just to be certain we got an x-ray.

The verdict came in,

his sternum had fractured right down the middle.

WHAT?!!?!?

So after talking to a cardio thoracic surgeon

(scary!)

we learned that this break was extremely rare,

like almost impossible to do rare,

but our G had managed it.

For now there is nothing they will do.

We keep it wrapped up in an ace bandage

and keep the motrin coming to control the pain.

He is supposed to "take it easy" 

for TWO months to let it heal.

I laughed and reminded him he was talking about a 4 year old.

I am hoping it is healed by the time he turns 5.

As long as he doesn't fall right on it again

we should be fine.

If he does fall again

we are to report to the doctor

IMMEDIATELY!

Apparently he can now do serious damage 

that can require surgery with wires and rods.

Fun times.

It's been 2 1/2 weeks

and already he is doing better.

He complains a lot less

and sleeps a lot more

but that could be because the doctor told us

that he needed twice the motrin we were giving him. 

Oops :)

Here's the wrap

Doesn't look like much

but really helps a lot.

Most people think it's a toy or dress up for him.

The look on their face when he says

"No, I need it cause I broke my bones"

is pretty classic.