On Saturday the 16th, John took the Zach, Quin, and Sophie skiing up at Beaver Mountain. Mom and Klara and Aunt Jen stayed home moving around and putting together new beds.
At 3:30, I got a call from John at Beaver Mountain informing that they thought Zach had a broken leg, and they were waiting for the ambulance to come and take him to the hospital. Heart breaking.
From Zach's description, he was skiing and headed toward the magic carpet when a lady crossed his path. He couldn't turn in time and they collided and she landed on top of him.
I waited at home for a short while for them to call again to tell me they were on the way, but then I just had to go and wait at the hospital. I found myself just sitting in the sunshine on the red painted curb, waiting for the ambulance to bring my boy to me. After what seemed like a very long time, 5pm arrived, and so did the ambulance. To my surprise, we knew both the driver (Jeremy Poppleton) and one of the ambulance attendants (Travis Allred)! Later, when Quin asked Zach to describe in one word what it is like to ride in an ambulance, he said "bumpy!"
The ER took good care of Zach. One shot from the portable x-ray machine left no doubt. A bad femur break! He was in a lot of pain, but is such a brave little guy!
They admitted Zach to the hospital and got him up into the pediatric unit. Dr. Finlayson was the on-call orthopedist, and was on his way into another surgery when Zach got there, so we just had to wait a while for his surgery. They took him into surgery at 10:30pm on Saturday night. They set the leg and inserted a rod into the hollow of the bone, then screwed it in place. He was done in an hour and back to his room by midnight.
Surprisingly, they don't cast the leg. They just wrap it up in an ace bandage and tell him not to walk on it! Still, way better than the way they used to have to do it, with traction and half body casts! Zach was very sleepy for that first night after surgery. They were able to manage his pain pretty well. He has been very nervous to let anyone touch him or move him because of the pain he has experienced. He has had to learn to trust people and know that they will move him as carefully as possible. I think he began to first trust me (mom) since I had to learn from the nurses how to help him, and was there with him for all of his hospital experience. He was so cute when talking with his caregivers in the hospital. He was so polite and when asked if he needed this or that, and would answer with a kind "No Thank you."
They wanted Zach moving right away, so by Sunday after lunch, they had him up and moving with the physical therapists teaching him learn to walk with a walker. He is only allowed "toe touch weight", which is not much at all. He caught on very quickly, and did very well. He is going to have big strong arms when this is over!
He was also able to manage his pain pretty well, as by Monday, he was using only Ibuprofen and ice for pain control. Zach stayed in the hospital, working with the physical therapist until Tuesday morning. He did really well, and mom learned enough to feel confident in being able to care for him at home. He was glad to finally get to leave. He said his favorite part of the hospital stay was that he got to play the Wii on his last day there.
Here at home, with the aid of his own little walker, and cute little wheelchair, he seems to be adjusting nicely, and has gained more and more trust in letting us care for him. He is our happy go lucky, brave and tough little guy. A real joy to care for him.
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