Five Men and a Little Lady: Surgery

On Tuesday, around 4:30 pm, the boys were outside jumping on the trampoline while I was sitting at the computer desk trying to get some things done for Primary. All of a sudden, I hear Mason frantically screaming, "Mom, Mom, I broke my arm! Mom, I broke my arm!" I went running outside telling Mason to calm down. He was laying down on the trampoline and his brothers were standing around off the trampoline. I took one look at his arm and instantly knew I needed to get him to the ER as fast as possible. I told him to hang tight and that I was going to call Montana. My neighbor, Beau, had been outside in his backyard and poked his head over the fence when he heard Mason scream. When I went to call Montana, Beau asked what he could do. I told him he could take the other kids and ran inside. I dialed Montana's number and then realized he had just pulled up. He was taking his time getting out of the car so I hollered to him and told him Mason broke his arm. He was wondering why I was freaking out so much. So he headed to the backyard and to Mason on the trampoline. By then Beau had come over and was standing next to the trampoline trying to calm Mason down. I went back inside to get everything I would need at the hospital, changed Austin's diaper, made sure the kids had their sandals on and then sent them to Beau's house. Montana and Beau gave Mason a blessing, put a splint and sling on Mason's arm, and helped him off the trampoline.

Montana and I drove Mason over to the ER and got there around 5:15 pm. They promptly got us into a room. They gave Mason some Fentanyl through his nose to help with the pain. Then they put an IV in so that they could draw blood and give him some morphine and an antibiotic. The ER doctor came in to the room, took one look at Mason's arm, and said he would need surgery. Around 6:00 pm they sent us to get an x-ray. Montana held Mason's hand while one of the employees held Mason's arm. Mason was in quite a bit of pain after that. They wheeled him back to his room and we waited for the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon to call back. When he called, he told the ER doctor that he was finishing up a surgery and that Mason would be the next case.

At 8:00 pm, we headed to the OR Holding area. Mason was quite scared about having to have surgery. He didn't know what to expect so we tried to explain everything to him. Our friend, Mike Gren, showed up to help give Mason another blessing. They prepped him for surgery and gave him some Versed. The medicine helped calm him down but he was still scared. We wheeled him down the hall, told Mason we loved him, that he would be just fine, and that we would be there when he came out of the anesthesia. We headed to the OR waiting area and Mason was wheeled to the OR. Mason said that all he remembers is them wheeling him into the room and then they were discussing whether they were gonna move him to the operating table first or give him the anesthesia first.

Surgery started about 9:00 pm and was supposed to last an hour. We spent the next little bit informing the family that Mason was taken into surgery. The surgeon came out at 10:30 pm to let us know Mason was done and how everything went. They ended up making four incisions on his left forearm. The bone had poked a whole through his skin so they fixed that up and cleaned out the wound. They made two little incisions, one on each end of his forearm, and then placed a rod into the middle of each of the broken bones to straighten them out. The surgeon couldn't get the bones to line up exactly through the two little incisions so he made another incision to help line up the bones.

Mason will be in a soft cast for at least a week. We will visit the surgeon next week. If all looks good, they will put a hard cast on. In three months, he will undergo another surgery to remove the rods.

We were able to go back to the recovery area around 11:00 pm and see Mason. He was still out of it but would open his eyes when the nurse talked to him. He got moved to the Pediatric Unit around 11:45 pm. He doesn't remember anything until he woke up at 5:50 am and needed a drink and needed to use the restroom.

After he was situated on the floor and still sleeping, Montana and I headed home. Montana stayed with the boys while I grabbed a few items and headed back to the hospital. The pediatric unit was really empty so the nurses rolled another hospital bed into the room with Mason so I didn't have to sleep in the reclining chair. It was much better than the chair but not as good as my bed.

Mason slept until 5:50 the next morning and then he only woke up to go to the bathroom and then went back to sleep. Room service woke us up at 7:30 am. The surgeon came in around 8:00 am and told us that Mason just needed one more round of antibiotics and then we could go home. He wrote up the discharge papers so we would be all ready to leave when the antibiotics were done.

Montana brought Peyton, Tanner, and Austin up to see Mason. They spent a little bit of time with me in the playroom while Montana stayed with Mason. Then Montana took the boys home and I stayed. My mom drove down to help babysit. She stopped by the hospital and brought Mason a fun little surprise then went to babysit the other boys.

Mason was discharged at 2:00 pm and was quite glad to be out of the hospital. He came home to his brothers playing the wii. He played a little bit and then talked Tanner through how to win Mario Kart. He just relaxed on the couch, took a short walk, had lots of visitors and then was so exhausted at bedtime that he was in a lot of pain. We gave him meds, got him comfortable, and then it was bedtime.

Today he has been doing a lot better. He is relaxing on the couch, watching TV, playing his tablet, eating a little bit more, playing the wii, and even took a walk down to the corner of our street. And he got a bath tonight so he smells better too!

We have some amazing friends who have been a great help. Sarah Wills brought us dinner last night, Elise Thompson took the boys for a little bit so Montana could go to work before my mom was here, Sibonet and Cameron Randall brought milk and a brownie to Mason, Calee Fessler (Mason's primary teacher) brought Mason gummy worms and a balloon, the Tippetts brought over cookies, and even Spencer and Mary Probst dropped by on their way to their next adventure in Kentucky. We have been so blessed and appreciate everybody's help and offers to help!