Cold Hard Fracture

well, hello all the members of my elusive blog audience. how are you this fine afternoon? hopefully well. us wyrembelskis living in the greater walla walla area have had better days. we have been through quite the harrowing last couple weeks. 

It all started quite innocently. it was obvious linus was getting a cold so i took him in for a simple checkover at his doc's office. upon being called from the waiting room to take him back to the exam room, i quickly gathered linus and our belongings into my arms. that's when disaster struck!!! i started to trip and could feel the tumble...i reached out my arm in an attempt to grab at the doorway and catch myself to at least lighten the fall...but instead my arm was bent back as i continued falling until...SNAP! 

oh my goodness, the agony. linus was pulled quickly from my other arm. being taken from his mother in this manner, he began to hysterically scream and continuously reached for me. i was frozen and could do nothing except mutter words of comfort his way. my arm lay limp along my side. i could move my fingers and rest but every other attempt to move my arm caused no movement and excruciating pain. doctors, nurses, receptionists...all came to help and we eventually got my body into a wheelchair. the whole time linus wailed with fear of what was happening. poor guy must have been so confused. i couldn't even gather my thoughts as they asked for steve's number and told me they'd care for linus until he got there. 

with a whoosh they wheeled me through the cold drizzling rain into the other side of the clinic to urgent care. they sent me to xray. all the while the discussion over my head revolved around..."she must have dislocated her shoulder". they painfully x-rayed my shoulder and then i heard the x-ray tech say..."oh, yep, there it is"...in an oh-my-goodness tone. i finally found out i had broke my arm, but not really the full extent. we had to wait a week for an appointment with the orthopedic doctor.

in the meantime, linus had the flu for what seemed like endless days. i got an intestinal virus that attacked me for about 3 days. and steve had the flu. as well, steve's back finally gave out on him (it had been bothering him) the monday after my accident. i had to take over and with one arm, i cared for steve and linus together.

poor sicky linus

we found out at the ortho appointment i had really done a number. i had pretty much fractured my arm from  my shoulder and the ball of the ball-and-socket joint was fractured throughout. the shoulder had been obliterated. i was told to just sit and wait by a doctor who seemed uneasy about treating such a fracture. luckily, my friend urged me to look into a second opinion. with a little tenacity, we were able to get an appointment at harborview orthopedic trauma center. 

tomorrow steve and i will meet with a team of doctors at the trauma center, blue team. they will evaluate my injury and give me further insight on what can be done if anything. i'm nervous, scared, excited, sick to my stomach. i can't fully imagine the outcome right now. all i know is that i need better answers than just sit and wait. i need something more proactive. i need help and care. i want to hold my son again and hug my husband. and i need that to happen NOW!!!