So this happened on Wednesday.
I get a mid morning call from Mister's school.
School: This is just a duty of care call to let you know during sport your son hurt his left wrist and we've applied an ice pack to it.
Me: Okay. Thanks for letting me know.
School: No. You need to come and collect him.
Me: Oh. Okay. I'm on my way.
So, I'm driving to the school and thinking it's only his left wrist, he's right handed. He can still participate at school. It's only a sprain.
I arrive at the school and Mister is sitting outside the office, with ice pack, and he looks fine and gives me a wry smile. He tells me his class were playing AFL for sport and he had the ball and got pushed and fell. The teacher asked him if he was alright and he said yes. Then it was assembly, then recess and then his wrist pain really started to hurt so he went to the office. Ice pack employed, call to mum made.
On the drive home Mister is very quiet. He's a man of few words anyway but his silence is deafening. He can make a fist, he can wiggle his fingers, it is painful to try and rotate, and it does look slightly swollen. Since we live near the hospital I made the decision to swing by and have it looked at in the Emergency Department (ED) rather than call my GP and wait days for an appointment. It's probably just a bad sprain anyway but intuition made me face the horrible hospital parking stations where you're lucky to find a car spot. Thankfully we found a car spot straight away and headed up to the ED, where we almost got run over by a taxi that failed to stop while we were on the pedestrian crossing. I mean, honestly!
The ED wasn't too busy, triage saw us within 10 minutes and we waited about another 15 minutes before a nurse gave him some pain relief. We ditched his ice pack from school because his hand and fingers were starting to turn blue from the cold. Another 10 minutes later and someone came to get us for an x-ray.
Hello wrist fracture.
Or for those who like the official medical terminology diagnosis - tortus fracture of the left distal radius and ulna with dorsal angulation.
We then headed back out to the ED waiting room to stay until we were called again for treatment. Another 10 minutes and a nurse collects us.
Nurse: What happened? Can you do this? Can you do that? blah blah blah
Me: It's a fractured wrist.
Nurse: How do you know that?
Me: Because we just had an x-ray and they told us.
Nurse: Where was the x-ray done.
Me: Here, about 10 minutes ago.
Nurse: Great. I'll go and have a look.
He comes back and let's us know it's a buckle fracture and explains how they happen. Basically, the bone buckles or crushes on itself. Which makes sense, as Mister was falling he stretched out his arm to stop the fall and his weight compressed on his wrist. The nurse said it was nothing serious and won't impact growth plates. Then he set about putting Mister's wrist in a cast.
This cast is just a temporary one. We need to see the Fracture Clinic next week, where they will remove the cast, x-ray his wrist again and then fit a new fibreglass cast. Apparently, they come in many colours. Mister has already decided he'd like a gold or yellow coloured one so he can turn his cast into the Infinity Gauntlet from the comic books and movie The Avengers.
Finally we get home and he's still very quiet. Nurse Minnie to the rescue. He had Thursday off school but went back today. He says it doesn't hurt too much.
The shame of it all is the timing. His soccer team are playing in their first Grand Final in just over a week. He won't be able to strap on his boots and hit the field. Instead he'll have to sit on the bench and watch.
Will keep you updated.
