Not for the Faint of Heart!

Leaving the hospital after surgery.
I distinctly remember going for the sonogram that would tell me the sex of the twin babies I was carrying. Although I preferred if our first child was a boy, I was sure it would be two girls. Girls were easier. (Yes, I now know that is NOT true and a whole other post!) When the doctor revealed that we were most definitely having two boys, I was in shock. I walked into the waiting room and said, "Boys? What am I going to do with boys? I don't know what to do with boys!" Boys picked up creepy crawling things, they got dirty, and they broke things. Sometimes even themselves! Let me just say how thankful I am that this has not been the pattern of the last fourteen years with my boys. However, a few weeks ago . . .



The orthopedic surgeon said it was a bad break, a really bad break. When the surgery was said and done, a permanent metal screw and three temporary metal pins had been inserted into the bones of Nathanael's right arm. The surgeon indicated that the temporary metal pins needed to be removed by this week, so we were relieved to find a orthopedic specialist who could do it locally. I was in admin meetings all afternoon and was secretly relieved that I wouldn't have to accompany Robert to the doctor's office for the procedure. Robert was with Nathanael when he went for his post-op appointment a few weeks ago and had the surgical bandages removed and a cast fitted. He said it wasn't pretty and I should be glad I wasn't there to see the metal pins protruding from Nathanael's arm.



Our understanding was that removing the pins would be a fairly simple, in office procedure. The doctor sawed the cast off and they got a good look at how things healed over the past few weeks. The three inch incision from the screw placement was pronounced and pink, but healing well. The sight of the metal pins was a little much for Nathanael who became obviously bothered by the sight. When Robert showed me the pictures, I understood his reaction. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Only one of the three pins slid out easily. The other two took some twisting and tugging (gag). He was relieved to have it done and over with. The arm is still very fragile, but the doctor indicated it was best not to recast it because they were concerned he wouldn't be able to regain movement if he didn't start moving it soon. He will have to be very careful for awhile. There's a real possibility he could re-break it, and that would be a major surgery.

Let me preface this by saying that the following pics may be too much for some.

I warned you!