Femur Break

Hello Everyone!

Well, we have had a pretty rough weekend to say the least! I was over at my mom's house on Friday night preparing for a yard sale and Sonya was with me scooting all about the house when she suddenly screamed out "the scream". She was sitting half keeled over herself in front of the door and I scooped her up immediately, took her to the family room and tried to calm her down. She was completely inconsolable and I just knew something broke. When I laid her down on the floor her arms swung wildly and her right leg kicked at me, but her left leg was limp, completely motionless. I felt up her left leg coming to a hot spot and huge lump. It was then very obvious to me that she had broke her femur. Tears were pouring down her red face as she hyperventilated, getting more and more upset with the extreme pain. I also then started crying, knowing what this meant for her.

I forgot the break box at home (of course of all days to not have it) and we couldn't put her in her car seat with the chance of having the broken bone strip through her skin piercing it and then creating an even worse trauma, so my mom hopped into the back seat and held Sonya keeping her leg immobilized while I drove 25 minutes to St. Lukes hospital, simultaneously calling Ian to notify him of the situation. Upon arriving they rushed us in, splinted her leg, got an IV placed on the third try (her veins are so tiny and invisible), started her on morphine and had us go in for xrays immediately. It was a complete through break at her already weak spot from an in utero fracture. The weekend late night doctor at the hospital is awesome and has now seen us 3 times! He called AI Dupont, our OI hospital, and consulted with them. They decided to transport Sonya there to the on call ortho to have her prepped for surgery. The ambulance had come from another hospital about 15 minutes away since all of St. Lukes ambulances were already occupied. The doctor informed the EMS crew of her OI upon their arrival and they took great care in transferring her onto the stretcher. While in route to AI Dupont, a hour and 15 minute drive, the EMS who rode in the back with me and Sonya gave us a SAM splint for Sonya's break kit! This was very awesome! I was planning on purchasing one off the internet for $30 plus shipping and handling and here he gave it too us for free!

We arrived at Dupont and were quickly greeted by the nurses who took down every iota of info on Sonya and began her on a bag of fluids. The on call ortho came in and removed her splint, re splinted her and then sent her for more xrays even though they had the ones that were done at St. Lukes only 2 hours ago. We were then told that Sonya would need a spica cast. A spica cast is some horrible torture device! Pictures are posted below. All I have to say is 4-8 weeks of this are going to be the worst weeks ever! Diapering is a whole new experience with a spica! We have to first place a feminine overnight maxi pad over the area followed by a size 1 diaper tucked in the edges of the spica and then covered by a size 5 diaper regular style over the huge cast. Maneuvering her is quite awkward too. There is a whole picking up and laying down technique and I swear she weighs about 35 pounds now with the cast, a far cry from her typical 17 pounds!

Sonya went in for surgery to have her femur (thigh bone) reset and straightened at 8am on Saturday morning and the spica cast was applied then. The night before surgery was the worst night in the history of Sonya! We had a shared room with a family whose son was 2 months old and had severe acid reflux issues. When Sonya wasn't crying (very rare) that poor little guy was, so nobody got any rest at all! The absolute worst part were the spasms! Every 5 minutes Sonya would have these tremors that would rock her whole body, upsetting her, quaking her from drifting to sleep and giving shocking pain to her broken femur whose 2 pieces would grate against each other! She was put on morphine and valium to help control this horrible issue but it did little help unfortunately. Ian and I stood over her holding her down the best we could every time she would have a spasm. It was so hard for us to see our baby in so much pain!

After surgery we were able to go and see her right away in the recovery room. She was monitored closely during and after the surgery and the surgeon took very precise measures to protect her C spine because of it's instability. After about 45 minutes in the recovery room we were moved back to our shared room. Her legs are kept elevated at all times with a rolled up hospital blanket to reduce swelling. Sonya slept for about 5 hours post operation. When she finally woke she was groggy and only stayed awake for about 15 minutes before her heavy eyes closed and took her back to lala land. She woke up again an hour later and drank some juice from a bottle, chatted with us for a few minutes and then fell asleep again. She then awoke again in another hour and ate some applesauce and a little bit of yogurt as well as some more juice from her bottle. In the meantime a physical therapist came in and gave us instructions on how to position, diaper and move Sonya and she also got us a special car seat that is specifically made for infants and children who are in spica casts. Sonya was officially fitted in the car seat and we were instructed on how to install it properly. Because Sonya is in a spica she is unable to sit rear facing. Her feet and legs would be crammed up against the seat and they would be at significant risk for more fractures if put in that position, so she is forward facing for the duration of the spica cast wear.

Because she was eating and drinking well and keeping it all down and the anesthesia from surgery had worn off we were allowed to be released at about 2am. We were given her prescriptions for pain management and directed to a 24 hour pharmacy where we had them filled quite quickly (it was 2am after all)! The ride home was uneventful and Sonya slept the whole way! We are adjusting to Sonya's new look and needs fairly well and she is being such a tough cookie! She is not very fond of being diapered or moved, but it is necessary to change her diaper frequently to avoid a messy spica and we must give her different positions to be in (besides sitting, spica won't allow it) to avoid bed sores.

I will be calling her doctors on Monday to set up her follow up appointments and address my concerns. We still have a bunch of plans other than doctors visits including two beach vacations and we are going to keep with all of those plans and enjoy our summer the best we can despite the spica. OI will never rule our life and we want to let Sonya enjoy every moment she's got!

Sonya in the recovery room.


Poor baby!


She loves her monkey pacifier!


Pain relief kicking in...


Trying to swipe the IV away!



Swollen from all the fluids and anesthesia.


First time out of the hospital bed being held by daddy.


At home resting...

Feminine overnight maxi pad 1st...

Size 1 diaper tucked into edges of cast...

All covered and wrapped up with a size 5 diaper.


Getting sleepy after reading lots of books!

Sleepy head.

Holding the SAM splint from the EMS.

Sonya thanks you all for your get well wishes, prayers, love and support! We are sending you all thank you hugs right now! :)