Ah, Friday night. A long week, trip to Mexico through a monsoon season delay ridden Houston, but it’s finally FRIDAY!
So, let’s spend Friday Night at …. The Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital’s Operating Room!
A spot opened up at the OR, so once we had everything processed, we moved up to the OR’s prep area on the Third floor. This time, I got to be pushed about in the wheelchair, as William had taken a permanent station on my shoulder, pressing deep into the side of my neck. The attendant undoubtably wished that Jeff had been holding the child.
Cool thing at Vanderbilt that William missed the first time through: The Patient transport elevators have a LARGE hand crafted and painted Duck on the ceiling, surrounded by fishes and stars. It’s a great touch.
PACU
Staging area for the OR, we answered the same questions over and over.
“No, he’s not allergic” “They tell us he fell down” “Yup, Broken Femur” “No, I’m not comfortable, but he is”
Vanderbilt really does pay attention, and given the number of people involved, and checks to make sure that the information is correct. From verifying that the parent knows what the treatment is (and making sure there aren’t any mixups), to doublechecking anything that may be fuzzy, there is a lot of repetition.
William’s anesthesia was administered by Resident Jesse James. I thought that was a great name for someone who puts people under. 
William had shifted several times by now, resulting finally in me bent over backwards, him laying across my chest, head on the opposite shoulder. Before we sedated him, it had gotten to the point that I was staring at ceiling, barely supporting my head on the crib with a pillow folded several times.
We were shown into the Sub-waiting room while William went into OR. Now then, the actual procedure has been done before in Trauma, and really isn’t that complex. William was not operated on, there were no incisions. He was put under so that he wouldn’t suffer during the reseting of the bone, and the subsequent application of the SPICA cast. Once the bone was reset, they took Xrays of the area to make sure the alignment was good, and started the casting.
I took Jeff down to the 2nd floor and picked up a couple of subs for dinner. We then took the bounty back to the waiting room. About an hour later, we talked to the doctor.
- William will be fine.
- He’s in the cast for 6 weeks, and we have to return to Vanderbilt every week for the first 3 weeks minimum to make sure the bone is healing correctly.
- If it’s not, they can do significant adjustments with the cast alone, otherwise, they’ll put him under again and reset.
- It’s likely the bone will ‘shorten’ due to the fracture, but the increased blood flow in the area due to the injury will encourage the bone to grow more rapidly and lengthen.
- When the cast is removed, it’s quite unlikely that William will walk immediately. This is normal, due to the length of time he won’t be walking. He’ll walk when he feels comfortable doing so.
- The Injury itself: “It’s not uncommon.” The doctor’s are trained to look for abuse, and I have to take the opinion of the Pediatric Orthopedic doctor for Vanderbilt pretty seriously. For an adult, this bone is almost impossible to break. In a child Williams age, it’s still growing, and this type of fracture can happen.
- Simply put, 6 months from now, and there will likely be zero ramifications on William from this.
Back to PACU, and we see William and the cast.
It takes a while, but he finally wakes up again (They wake him after operating to make sure he comes out of the anesthesia alright). “Dink!” “Dink!”
He’s coming back to normal, ordering us to get a sippy cup for him.
2 containers of apple juice down, and they put him on a fluid restriction to make sure that he doesn’t get sick. Popsicles are ok.
Actually, that’s the BEST popsicle in the world. William devoured that sucker once he realized he wasn’t getting anything else. And he got MOST upset with the Nurse who took us to our room when she decided that it would be good to take the remains away. She quickly got him another. She didn’t have a choice.
William finally got to see the Duck on the ceiling this time, as we went up to the 8th floor for observation. “DUCK!” Point! Point! The elevator beeps with each floor, and William starts pointing at the buttons…. He wants to push buttons. He’s feeling better already (The Morphine helps, I’m sure).
We arrive in the room, and start trying to get settled down. More repetition to the Nurses on this level, but after some examinations, William falls asleep… With the popsicle stick still in his hand. Several times in the night, Jeff and I are amused to see him open his mouth, raise his hand, and try to lick the popsicle that has long since gone away, never waking in the process.