We were all hoping that there was just a dislocation, but.... nope. A break it was. And, technology being the wonderful thing it is, we got to gather around the computer screen to admire Alex's skelton, and the lovely clean break in the middle of his clavicle.
Rebecca
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| At the hospital waiting for the x-rays |
In what was a highly unusual moment, both Steve and I had a window of opportunity, and drove up to Claremont School to watch the Mount Doug Junior Rubgy team play its first game.
I think that, for many of the players, this is their first year of experience with the game. So, it was interesting to watch them translate skills from football and soccer into a different sport.
I wasn't sure which was MORE entertaining: the game itself, or Steve running up and down the sidelines yelling out cheers and constructive feedback from the sidelines.
Unfortunately, Alex took to heart one of Steve's invitations to "tackle him!", and did what was a most impressive flying tackle. The unfortunate part is that the other guy just evaded Alex's outstretched fingers, leaving my boy to a mighty contact with the ground.
I could see Alex didn't look well, but he stayed on the field long enough to help do one of those wierd rugby lifts, before signalling that he wanted a substitution. He walked nearly the other side of the field before collapsing to the ground. He reported that, when he hit the ground, he heard a 'cracking noise'. oh dear.
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| shirt off, brace attached! |
In any event, the trainer tied up a sling, and sent us off to seek medical advice. Back to the car, to negotiate rush hour traffic, and find the closest hospital. All I will say about the ride is that Alex is now quite aware that aceleration and deceleration are painful concepts, and that speed bumps are NOT fun when you are a passenger with an injury.
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| borrowing his dad's coat for the walk back out |
Lucky for him, the break was clean and in alignment, so there was no need to surgery to pin things into place. Instead, a simple shoulder brace to help him hold things in place while the bone knits back together. A shoulder brace, and a bunch of drugs to help him negotiate the first few days of pain. Steve and Alex were both worried that the drs would have to cut off his brand new rugby shirt, but instead we got a hands-on-lesson on HOW to get clothes on and off him with out killing him in the process. So... shirt off, and brace on.
In a month, it should be healed up enough that he can start to function (relatively) normally again!
Rebecca
I want to know. How do you get clothes on and off without giving killer pain to a broken clavicle?
ReplyDeleteArta
Alex might say "you don't!" (that is, the removal was NOT without pain). However, the guy who came into emerg right after us believed he had broken a bone in his hand. He was quite social with Alex, reporting that dislocated shoulders were really painful, but not as bad as dislocated hips... he knew of what he spoke, having had some 12 or 13 breaks in his body. He shared lots of good advice about when Alex could start strength training again. He was also the epitome of male stoicism, seeing quite blase about the injury. He had, as he predicted, broken something, so the doctors were busy getting a hold of the orthopedic surgeons who were going to have to come in (and put him under) in order to pin and set the break. Alex was happy to have avoided that outcome.... all of which to say, that the pain of shirt removal was better than other alternatives.
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes. Please tell Alex that David said upon hearing the news, "I'm sorry you got hurt. I hope you get to play a lot of computer games and rest."
ReplyDeleteI see from the photos that Alex broke his right clavical (that is the one on the right side of his body). That will severly impede computer games that use a mouse. Crud.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side(for Alex that is), it will also impede school work.
Everytime I think of Alex's broken clavical, I cringe. I can only imagine the pain. I am so, so sorry Alex.
My advice -- really rest these first two weeks so that bone can start to knit. Rhiannon's piano teacher did not take this advice whe she recently broke her writs and had to go back in for surgery after two weeks to break and re-set the bone because it was not healing properly. Ouch.