Alli in her cast

Alli landed wrong after being tossed on the bed Sunday night and it resulted in a broken left radius. So, it has been a very long week with an ER visit, a trip to the orthopedic surgeon's office and surgery at the hospital. Yes, surgery. Apparently, the location of the break generally requires a pin to be placed in order to set right. That was a shock that caused a great deal of stress and angst for mom and dad, but she was a champ through it all...

The x-ray for those of you that are interested.

The morning after the ER visit in her temporary purple cast and hospital gown. Did you know they give those away "free"? She was pretty excited about all the "free" stuff she got from her hospital visits.Following doctor's orders and keeping that arm elevated while watching morning cartoons. She carried her own pillow in the living room and set herself up. Apparently she was listening during discharge instructions.

A few hours after surgery in her new light blue cast to match her eyes. Those little bumps are spacers to allow for swelling and will come out at her follow up appt next week. The pin itself is completely internal and will be removed in about 4mos.

We were instructed to keep her resting with her arm elevated for 48hours. Easier said than done. After about the second movie, Alli said "Kids are supposed to play! I don't want to rest anymore." Getting her to take the yucky pain medicine was another impossible task. In her defense, that stuff was awful bitter.

So, this was the best we could do most of the time. She loves her new coloring book! As you can see, she has been all smiles through just about all of this.

Some things we have learned:

-We have to be a lot more careful. Turns out, kids can break.

-Alli is hilarious under the influence of Versed, otherwise known as happy juice- wished we had that on video. Just imagine a drunk 5 yr old slurring "Those doctors are crazy. That medicine didn't work. I didn't fall asleep. HOORAY! Look at those fans falling from the ceiling..." All the while trying to sit and stand up in bed, but falling back down. At one point she got real quiet and zoned out but then her eyes lit up and she said "They should call it quiet medicine."

-There is a point at which Alli gets tired of watching TV after all.

-Most importantly, we are surrounded by God's love in the form of family and friends who prayed, visited, called, encouraged, supported, sent gifts and offered help of all kinds. We are truly blessed. Thank you all so much.