What did Sophie get for Christmas?

The short answer - a cast.

She fell at the park and broke her ulna (bone from elbow to little finger).


Lisa called me from the park just as I was finalizing lunch plans. I ran down and a quick look confirmed it was broken. I carried her home and felt so bad that there was nothing I could do to make the pain go away. I put her arm in a sling and loaded her in the car for the all too familiar trip to urgent care. She was terrified the doctor was going to have to cut her to fix the bone or give her a shot.

When we got there, people were really quite nice. We had to wait for about 45 minutes, but I think she melted everyone's hearts. The nurse gave her 3 princess stickers and the man ahead of us in the waiting room begged them to take Sophie instead of him because he was "just sick" whereas she "was in pain".

We got to watch Polar Express in the waiting room and found out they even were showing it on a small TV in the examination room. So here's Sophie with all the possible forms of comfort we could offer. She's nuzzling a princess sticker, snuggling with her "helicopter" blankie, and watching TV.


I really liked the doctor. Shortly after this picture a nurse gave me some adult Tylenol for her (i.e. not candy flavored). I got it in her mouth, but that's as far as it went. She refused to swallow and spit it out just as the doctor came in the room. He quickly grabbed a pad and wiped it all off the floor. He listened to her while she told him not to cut her or give her a shot, then took a quick peek at her arm, confirmed it was a break and then sent a nurse back in with children's (i.e. grape flavored) Tylenol. Sophie had no problem drinking that.

Fortunately the first x-ray picture was clear enough so we didn't have to twist her arm to get the second. Aside from diagnosing the actual break, I was surprised by how little they could do for her though. They brought in a fancier sling, and added a fancy splint, but essentially it's what I could do for her. Thanks first aid merit badge. Either way, she was clearly in less pain as we headed to Sonic for her ice cream cone.


Sophie had been playing at the park with a neighbor. We found out that this little girl was blaming herself for Sophie's accident. When we got home, she came by with a couple balloons for Sophie. That seemed to make everyone happier.

Sophie's got an appointment tomorrow with the orthopedic surgeon and will most likely come home with a cast. We knew we should have given her a bath last night.