Our Little Superman Takes a Hit
Yesterday afternoon was pretty scary. Jacob, our six-year-old grandson (and part-time Superman) fell off the monkey bars at a park near his home and broke his arm. It was one of the worst compound fractures I’ve seen, broken in two places leaving his arm in a sort of “S” shape.
There was lots of blood, often the case with compound fractures, and he was in tremendous pain. The Fire Department responded quickly and Jacob was rushed by ambulance to Methodist Hospital where we waited for what seemed like an eternity for the orthopedic surgeon to arrive. Dawn took this iPhone image during the wait (click to enlarge.)
There aren’t many things that tear at your heart more than seeing your child or grandchild hurt. But Jacob is such a little soldier! His biggest concern, aside from the pain, was that the firemen, the first responders, had cut away his favorite “pirate” shirt! (Oh yeah, besides being Superman, he’s a pirate!)
The surgery took more than an hour, twice what the surgeon had originally estimated. There was difficulty realigning the bones, and an artery ruptured when the tourniquet was removed. The surgeon “capped” the artery and had to use a screw to reconnect one of the broken bones.
We all waited in a designated “lounge” for word of how the surgery had gone. The anesthesiologist joined us first to tell us how complex everything had been but that all had gone well. He said that the first thing Jacob had said when he awoke was, “They cut my pirate shirt!”
The surgeon brought X-rays and an assortment of ultrasound images showing how the fracture had looked before surgery and how the repair looked afterward. He said he had never before had to insert a screw on a child, but this was a particularly difficult situation. He left the ultrasound images with Jacob’s parents; I’m sure he’ll enjoy showing them to his friends.
When they rolled him down from surgery on the way to his room (they kept him overnight) he was in much better spirits. And when the nurse told us that Jacob had said he planned to be a fireman some day, he corrected her and said he now wants to be a doctor! We all told him we could certainly use one in the family!
Rick, Jacob’s dad, spent the night at the hospital with him and if things go as planned, they’ll be taking him home sometime this afternoon. Dawn and I will visit this evening after work.
Keep the little guy in your thoughts and prayers. I’ll try to keep you all posted on Superman’s Jacob’s recovery.
Doug
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The poor little thing! What a terrible ordeal for him to endure! But it sounds like he handled it well, like the super-hero he must be to you and the rest of your family.
We will certainly keep him in our thoughts and pray for his speedy recovery.
Thank god he's ok, Brudda!
Boy's will be boys for sure and I can sure remember a few tumbles off the "bars" when I was a kid.....
Of course, I tumbled out of a lot of "bars" when I was an adult too...but that's another story.
Glad all is well. He'll have some stories to tell!
Poor boy, we will definitely keep him in our thoughts and prayers and pray for a fast recovery. He is such a cute little boy, you must be so very proud of him and must have been scared to death when he fell! But boys do often break things and still recover nicely. I am sure everything will be fine and he can tell stories of the experience for years to come.
Kids and broken bones seem to go together. Both our boys and our daughter all had broken arms when they were younger. The oldest fell out of a tree, the middle boy playing football, and our daughter fell off a horse! All turned out just fine so you shouldn't worry too much.
But I know how you feel. Parents and grandparents can't help worry. Tell him we're all pulling for him and that he will be back on the monkeybar before he knows it!
How is he doing today? I hope he has a speedy recovery. Surgery is not fun as I had knee surgery. I don’t wish it on anyone especially young kids. My thoughts and prayers are with him and your family. Hopefully he will stick with being a doctor when he grows up. I am sure he will make a great one.
Michelle
Thanks everyone for your concern. Rick and Kim brought him late this morning. He'll have family visitors during the day, and Dawn and I hope to see him tonight after work. I'll post updates as I get them.
Doug
We are so sorry to hear about your grandson's accident. We'll keep him in our prayers.
Jack says that he broke his arm when he was 8 or 9 and had all his friends sign his cast. The worst thing, he says, was the itching! he used a coat hanger to scratch inside the cast!
Tell Jacob we send our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
T&J
Hey, my 7-year-old Billy wants to send a message to Jacob:
HI JACOB
IM SORRY YOU HURT YOUR ARM.
SO GET WELL SOON.
FROM BILLY
That's from Billy. The rest of send our good luck wishes too.
Greg, Marilyn, Lacy and Billy
Hi Doug!
Listen, my nephew is visiting and wants to give Jacob a "get well" wish. here he is:
Hello jacob, I wish you a get well quick from your brocken arm. I hope it dosent hurt much. So get well. Your friend, wesley
That was from Wesley and as you can see, I haven't "edited" it. Hope he is feeling better now that he is home.
Sara
Thank you all very much for your thoughts. Jacob is home and doing well (-: Now its our job to keep him on the couch and resting but being six and being superman I don't think it's going to be easy (-:
Jacob, a lot of people go through their whole life and never have anything more than a sprained ankle or a pulled muscle.
Not you though! You had a noteworthy crash landing and survived with a story to tell for the rest of your life about this. How cool is that? You're one awesome dude!
I KNOW you had your supersuit on underneath the Pirate shirt, but I promise not to tell a soul. Your secret identity is safe with me! Just remember, next time you fly...land FEET first, ok?
My goodness Jacob, you certainly have a lot of fans!! I don't know you but I can tell from what your grandfather says about you that you are a very special boy!!
When I was very little, I broke my arm too and I was very unhappy because I didn't like having to have a cast on for so long. I was so happy when they cut it off!!
But you must remember to rest and not play too hard. You want your arm to heal and you sure don't want to hurt it again before its healed. So take it easy Superman!!
Jacob, even super-heroes get hurt once in a while. You will be back out there in Metropolis fighting crime before you can say "jackrabbit"!
No more worries about the pirate shirt! :) Auntie Shannon to the rescue has replaced it with three new shirts - Two pirate shirts and a Spiderman shirt. Hey, they even glow in the dark!
Damn, if I broke both arms and legs I wouldn't get this much attention!!!! Must be one very special kid!!!
Get well soon, Superkid!!