Deja Vu

This was 2009 when we had just been home from China for three weeks with Elijah:

This was last night, three years and three months later.  Same arm, same scooter, same driveway:

The boys had just been up at the neighbor's helping with some yard work.  They finished up and scootered down the driveway ready for a care free evening, until Elijah wiped out in almost the exact same spot as before.  No, there is not a bump in the driveway.  The first time, Elijah hardly had any balance or scooter experience and was just going too fast.  This time, he was attempting a jump.  I kind of don't think that couple seconds of air was worth it.  :(

Unlike 2009, this time we could easily communicate in English and Elijah just kept saying, "It's the same thing, it's the same thing.  I can feel it's twisted!"  Poor kid, he was in a lot of pain, a ten on the pain scale.  I quickly took him to the ER and we were thankful that there wasn't much wait time.  Last time he had a compound fracture and the doctor had to put him out for surgery to reduce it.  This time it was a simple clean break, so they put him in a splint over night.

Number two!

This morning we checked in with the orthopedic doctor.  He agreed that the fracture was simple enough to not require surgery.  He put a cast on and gently but quickly manipulated the arm a tad, but oh, this poor kid was in a lot of pain.

We'll check back in a week for another x-ray.  Hopefully the bones will have held and they'll simply grow back together.  Elijah is young and his growth plates are way open, so this is good.  You couldn't even tell on these x-rays where the previous break had been, and his bones look otherwise strong and healthy.  This was just a case of deja vu and a boy being a boy!

Elijah will have this cast for about 5 weeks, then hopefully a short arm cast or even just a small brace.  He's been so brave.  He was rewarded with ice cream and is now enjoying his private movie session as he rests on the couch.

Another picture from 2009:

Hopefully he'll still get some swim time in at the end of the summer, but he'll definitely have to take things easier for a bit.