Two weeks ago, Caleb made his way home from skate-boarding holding his injured elbow. He had fallen right on it, causing his arm to temporarily feel numb and then having a lot of pain. I was not particularly sympathetic and told him it would get better and to tough it out. So in the morning when it still hurt quite a lot, he went to see his PCP, who sent him to get x-rays, and called to let him know it was broken and gave him an appointment to the orthopedic clinic. I got out of my call early in order to accompany him and document it for posterity.
He has a radial neck fracture, which is not displaced. So he only has to wear a splint, that he can remove to shower. And he wears a sling to support the arm.
At first I thought it was pretty funny, but then I realized that it makes it impossible to help with even little things (like washing the bottles) so it means a lot more work for me. He has adjusted his work schedule to try to make things easier with Little Bird and we have had some friends help out with her a couple of afternoons.
But now that it has been a couple weeks he has gotten better at using his left arm and figuring out alternative ways to do things. The biggest challenge has been taking care of Little Bird. He figured out the right way to prop the pillows to let him feed her. She has even learned to roll over onto his hand when he goes to pick her up. She learns so fast.
10/2/2012 Update: Caleb went to his 2.5 week follow up and they told him that he no longer needs to wear the splint. The fracture is not healed yet but with this kind of fracture he needs to start moving it so it doesn't get contracted. Already he cannot straighten his arm completely, but hopefully with some work, it will get better. He is not supposed to do any lifting, but he can do simple tasks. He goes back in a few more weeks to get rechecked.
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