Radial Head Subluxation

That is what Miss Thing is suffering recovering from. And I caused it.

Here is how it went down.

Sunday afternoon I was in desperate need of a nap. So we put Little Miss down, David took The Boy and I had Miss Thing on our bed. She got down to get a drink. When she came back I gave her my hand to help her up on the bed. Usually when we do this the kids pull themselves up at the same time. She did do her part and I did mine. Immediately she started crying. I held her and moved her arm around a bit. The crying continued. David came upstairs and finally got her to sleep for a little while. Afterwards, though, the crying continued.

She was somewhere between "beside herself" and "near hysterics" when we thought maybe she needed to be seen by a doctor. Somehow the lot fell on me. All this time I had thought that taking kids to the emergency room was the dad's job. Given the out of body experience she was having and the strong preferences she has toward me David thought it would be ever so slightly less traumatizing if I took her. So away we went.

Once we got to the emergency room we went to the triage room. I felt bad for the poor guy who was trying to get her temperature, weight and oxygen level. She about bit his head off. Oh the drama. The nurse said it could be something called "nurse maids elbow," and that they might do an x-ray so they could have a closer look. She told me the doctor there today was really good with "little ones." I told her that this particular "little one" was going to give him a run for his money. She didn't disappoint.

After that all we had to do was wait. And wait. And wait. As long as I distracted her with my sweet conversation skills she was alright. But when conversations died she remembered the pain she was in and the crying began again. Sometime during the beginning of the waiting she saw a couple of wheelchairs folded up by the entrance and asked about them. That comes into play later.

Finally it was her turn. The doctor came right in and asked again about what happened. He was quite sure it was this thing called radial head subluxation. And then spent a good amount of time explaining it. An x-ray wouldn't help in this situation because it is more of an issue with cartilage than bone. I was grateful to not have to fight that battle. Essentially all it is is a minor dislocation of the elbow. Very common in children under 4. It has a few other names that I love (aside from "nurse maids elbow"), "pulled elbow", "supermarket elbow", "babysitter's elbow" or my personal favorite "temper tantrum elbow." The treatment for such an elbow is to get it popped back into place. While holding her down, with the aid of the nurse, the doctor took her arm and moved it around. Crying would not even begin to convey what she was doing at this point. Screaming is closer to it. As he moved it he didn't feel any sort of "click" which lead him to believe that it had already popped back into place (like when I was moving it around right after it happened.)

There wasn't much else they could do for us. But they wanted to see her move her arm around a bit before they let us go. It was around this time that Granny showed up. She proved to be a nice distraction for the girl and provide a little more sympathy (not my strong suit.) Of course the first thing Miss Thing told her, "mama did it." Thanks.

When the doctor told us how some mothers come in just as upset as the children at the thought of the hurt they've caused their child, I laughed. Inside of course. I'm not that mother, so much.

With a lot of coaxing, and a full bladder, we finally saw enough movement in her arm that they felt good about letting us go.

My favorite parts of the evening was the multiple times she started crying out for a wheelchair. She did it a couple of times in the waiting room. But the best was when she was all worked up in the exam room crying and carrying on and then, "I need a wheelchair!" It was great. Of course when I started laughing she got even more mad.

For her final act we made her walk out of the emergency room. She was crying more going out than going in. I'm telling you this will be her Oscar winning performance. Best Actress in a Dramatic Role. I've already been contacted by The Academy for this.

Fortunately we did make it home where she could continue to rest her arm. And, David is hoping, I finally learn a little sympathy. Today started a little rough. She struggles with me having to take care of not just one other sibling but two, can you imagine? As the day has gone on she has done a little better. We may just live through this.

And I'm still waiting for my nap.

Be a little sympathetic