Surgery

Well, so much for the idea of an unbroken bone. We went to the orthopedic doctor yesterday for a follow up to Friday's ER visit and he confirmed that Parker's elbow was in fact broken and that he would need surgery to fix it. My response, "CRAP" and yes, I said it out loud.

He has what is called a Lateral Condyle Fracture. It's a fracture of the lower humerus bone and it crosses paths with his growth plate. The doctor said that because if it were an arm injury, it could heal crooked and it would straighten itself out on it's own, but that's not the case with an elbow injury. It needs to be pinned into place so he doesn't have a wonky elbow that doesn't work right. It also needs to be done ASAP, which is why tomorrow is surgery day.

The doctor said he thinks he'll be able to insert the pins through the skin and not have to cut open his elbow, but he won't know for sure until he get's started. Then, while Parker's still out, he'll put the cast on. We'll go back every week for xrays to make sure it's healing right, and after 3 weeks, he'll get his cast off and the pins removed.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit freaked out by it. I've never had to have surgery or had a broken bone so I have no idea what the pain and stuff will be like for him. I'm pretty sure he'll tolerate the anesthesia well since he's been there, done that with his ear tube surgery, but I'm not so sure about the pain. :(

Pray it goes well!