Buckle Fracture of the Distal Radius and Distal Ulna

Whatever that means??  All I know is it is a bad break, but Lowery is making it fine.  The culprit?  Cartwheels.  Thought she was getting to be a pro, but her brief but bright gymnastics career has been cut short due to a nasty injury.  She first hurt her arm on this past Friday while we were in El Dorado, but it did not swell nor did she act like anything was wrong.  But on Sunday night, we heard screaming and crying and she said she had tried another cartwheel and hurt it again.  Then it began swelling and she was favoring it - wouldn't use it to do anything.  I contemplated taking her to the ER on Sunday night, but with the swine flu and all here I decided against it (wrong move, in hindsight).  

On Monday morning, she couldn't even get out of bed by herself or use it at all.  Then the fun began - trying to find a pediatrician who would see us since were not yet established patients.  Finally I found a great clinic that was so nice and agreed to see her (Thank you, Lord)  - I am still thinking it's a sprain at this point.  Even after we saw the pediatrician who told me to expect a fracture, I still wasn't sure.  We went to an imaging center yesterday afternoon for the X-Rays.  They gave us the films, which of course we tried to review in the parking lot - and we immediately saw two breaks.  Turns out the one we saw was just one of them, there was another in the bone up closer to her wrist.

Anyway, we got the formal news from the doc late yesterday that is was fractured and that we needed to see an orthopedist.  They had hoped to get us in last night because it needed to be stabilized, but they couldn't get her in.  So, the doctor gave us orders on how to make a homemade splint.  We found a box and cut sections of cardboard out, wrapped them in wash cloths and wrapped her arm in an ace bandage (last pic).  We actually got props on it from the orthopedist people this morning - ha!  She slept fine and we went to the orthopedist this morning.

He explained her breaks really well, but I can't remember all of what he said.  The bad news is that her bone "slipped" and they are not certain the cast will stop the slipping.  They gave her a cast that goes above her elbow and we will find out in a week if we need surgery (small chance) to set the bone back straight.  Let's hope not!  

So, for the first time in our lives when we have a pool, Lowery is out of commission.  She will have the large cast on for 3 weeks, then get recast in a smaller one for several weeks.  There goes the month of June!  Worst part, the doctor gave a NO to her dancing in her recital this Saturday :(  No yellow polka dot bikini performance for her.  Other than being upset about the recital, she is doing good and not in much pain.  Say a prayer for us for the long weeks to come with this cast and that we won't need surgery!  Also, she was very brave - did not cry once while they were bending the cast while they set it.  The doctor and nurse kept looking at us with amazement and said she was really tough, that she did better than most adults.  But, you can see by the look on her face in the pictures, it wasn't exactly fun!   I am proud of our little girl, eve if professional gymnastics is not in her future.

Six Flags & Family

What a great weekend!  Rain or shine, we had a lot of fun.  My cousins Brandi and Kandi and their families joined us for a Dallas weekend.  There were 10 of us all together so it was a house full!  Lowery looked at me at one point and said, "There sure are a lot of people in our house - and I love it!"  She always loves to have her "cousins" around - and with Jansen, Isbabel, Abbi & Tyler all here for the weekend she was in heaven.

The rain and storms ruined our original plan of Six Flags on Saturday, but we did what all girls do when it rains and headed to the mall.  We had a good time at Stonebriar - complete with Build A Bear (a bunny, bear and puppy to be exact) - and a great dinner at Cheesecake Factory (our favorite).  We were crazy and let the kids swim in the pool that night even though it was 60 degrees outside - and even with the water heated in the pool it was still cold.  But they had a ball and threw fits when we made them get out.  The rain on Saturday gave way to an absolutely beautiful day on Sunday - sunny and warm, in the mid-70's.  It was gorgeous, a prime day to head to the park.  No crowds and just enough sun to add a little heat made it near perfect.

My favorite highlights - us all screaming at each other on the Conquistador (the large pirate ship that swings back and forth), the never-ending search for the open log-flume line, the unexpected soak on AquaMan and the Rapids.  My lowlight - the Texas Chute Out, where I hung by only a flimsy parachute that was full of holes 20 stories above the park.  Kandi and I were about to have heart attacks, but Lowery and Abbi loved it.

Here are pics - granted our kids had NO idea who Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and friends were, but anywhere there's a character Lowery has a smile and a hug for them (even if it's not Disney). We hated to see the family go on Sunday - the evening without them was lonely.  And, things got worse after they left with an unexpected "twist" - more like two fractures in both of the bones in Lowery's lower arm, but that is another post.  More to come soon. . . 

Back Home. . .Kind Of

We arrived back at Plano last night after a lovely day of driving in rain and storms.  Can I say that I hate Oklahoma roads - for those of you from Oklahoma, I don't mean to insult you because it is a beautiful and lovely state.  But PLEASE write your government and tell them to help Highway 69!  I swear we felt like we had been on some gyration machine, like the ones that are supposed to help get rid of cellulite.  And I drank three large cups of water with lemon with lunch before we left NW Arkansas so that just added to the misery.

Anyhow, we made it fine and it felt good to be back here.  Always a little bizarre because it feels like home, although maybe not my home.  But it was nice to be back again - and I remembered to bring the silverware this time so we don't have to eat our breakfast cereal with measuring spoons this week.  It is stormy here today so I don't know that we will get any swimming in, but I am planning on heading to Central Market soon to see what I am going to "cook" for dinner this week.  

We will be here until Saturday and then we are going to visit El Dorado for a few days and visit my grandmother and family for Mother's Day.  I'm sure Lowery will have another white-girl moment any time now so I will post something a little more interesting with pics or video very soon. . .

"White Girl" Bubble Fun

Watch the video. . .We obviously need to work on the "break down" moves before the upcoming dance recital. 

Our "Confident" Love Bug

Lowery's K-4 Spring Program was Thursday - the "love bug" program.  It was so cute and they all were precious.  All of the kids did great and we loved the little songs and motions.  It was a great performance by everyone.  Also, each child in K-4 was assigned a character trait award - a trait that best describes their gift they have used to God's will the past year.  Lowery's award was "Self-Confident."

UPDATE:  Some of you know that I was a little worried about Lowery's award at first, thinking that maybe it was code for "over-confident."  But I have talked it over with friends and her teacher and am feeling very good about this award.  I am very proud of her and am so glad that she has self-confidence (Lord knows I did not - let's only hope she can keep it through the 5th grade phase where she'll have rabbit teeth, bad hair and beginner's makeup syndrome.)   Of course I made a mountain out of a mole hill, us Moms are good at doing that, and am very proud and pleased (as I always am with our little love bug).  Thanks for all of you who talked sense into me!  

Ft. Worth Zoo

For ALL of you that are going to visit us in Dallas, let me just say that if you're bringing the kids the Ft. Worth Zoo is something to consider visiting!  We went last weekend and had a wonderful time.  I am shocked that Lowery chose that as her first "outing" in Dallas - we gave her the option of Six Flags, American Girl store or the zoo.  We thought of course she would choose Six Flags, but she surprised us with the zoo.

The zoo is really great - the animals are good and the viewing areas for the animals are really good as well.  It was cloudy and cool the morning we went, which helped the animals to be out and about.  But the zoo is laid out really well and has lots of shade - and also has some really good places to eat for a nice lunch (not your typical zoo food).  The only trouble we had was with the poor little train - we tried to ride it twice.  It just couldn't go.  So we will look forward to that next on the next visit and try to lose some weight to help it along.

Our favorite animals of the day were the elephants (some were doing tricks so that was fun), the lions, the white tigers and the birds (they have this neat inside exhibit where you can go in and feed them), the meerkats and the kissing orangutans.   Did not love the "herpetarium" - snakes, lizards and such.  Creepy!