It has been a really eventful one week. Many will know by now that both our boys had an arm in a cast – one left, one right. But as of today, one is cast free!
Going back to what happened, last Thursday we were at an indoor children’s playground at a chalet. The boys had lined up a row of padded stools and were attempting to cross from one end to the other. The stools were knee high (Evan’ knee) and the floor was rubber padded, so it seemed like a relatively safe game to play. We were watching them play. Evan fell off first and started crying and saying his arm hurt. As we were tending to him, minutes later, Caleb fell too. We didn’t even see how he fell. He was holding on to his arm and saying, “Ow, ow.” But he wasn’t really screaming or crying. We simply could not believe both of them could be hurt at the same time, and certainly the thought of fractures didn’t even seem possible. Caleb’s lips did turn pale though, so that was probably a sign of pain or shock. But I just couldn’t imagine him being so hurt then.
We brought them home after that and they were quite calm in the car, both falling asleep. But at home, Evan was still crying about his arm being painful and Cameron saw that Caleb’s arm was swollen. We took them to our GP immediately. Thankfully he was open for half the day. It was a public holiday after all.
He felt quite sure that Caleb’s left arm was fractured and put it in a sling. It hurt the poor little boy to move his wrist, arm or fingers. Evan cringed when his arm was touched but didn’t seem as bad as Caleb. So he referred us to the A&E at KKH.
To sum up the 4 hours we spent at the hospital, x-rays were taken and both boys had their arm in a cast. We could see the fracture in Caleb’s arm on the x-ray, but not the one for Evan. The doctor pointed out that there was bleeding around the bone near the elbow joint and that could be a sign of a hairline fracture, or at least some kind of trauma to the elbow. And we were given an appointment to bring them to see the orthopaedics specialist the following Thursday.
We were still in shock when we got home, and went from blaming ourselves, thinking how we could have prevented this, to being in utter disbelief at what happened. We did pray with the boys a lot the next few days and asked God to heal their arms. As we were praying the first night, I was reminded of bridge of a song, “I am pressed but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. I am blessed beyond the curse for His promise will endure, and His joy’s gonna be my strength. Though the sorrow may last for the night, His joy comes in the morning!” We were encouraged that God is in control, and that He can cause good to come out of every bad situation.
I was thankful we had the next day off, and then the weekend that followed. And those were precious days of hanging out with the boys and doing things with them. It was certainly heartwarming to see them work together playing or colouring. I wished I had caught this on camera, the sight of them sitting with their good arms together, one colouring the page on the left, the other the page on the right of their colouring book. J My favourite thing I did with them was definitely having our own children’s church at home on Sunday, since I stayed home with them on Sunday, not wanting to risk them being too wild at church with their friends and getting hurt again when still recovering. (plus the slings were still temporary ones)
We had worship – I played Caleb’s guitar, he played the keyboard with his right hand only, and Evan attempted to play the ‘violin’ with his toy guitar (he later switched it to a cello which was more manageable). We made shakers, and we learnt the story of Jehoshaphat leading Judah in battle. “They didn’t even have to fight, they only had to sing! The singers went ahead of the army and they sang praises to God!” It was a timely lesson. So we sang after that, marching with the shakers, and shouting “Victory!” Later on we learnt that Daddy also got the African congregation in church to shout Victory! We are encouraged and reminded that we serve a living God who speaks to us today! And He is the One who gives us Victory in every situation.
The other exciting thing that happened was that we all went to my 20-week detailed ultrasound scan to see the baby. We were going to find out if it was a girl or boy! Caleb had been saying how he wished he could see the baby as he’s always in school when we went to the gynae. Evan had gone with us a couple of times. So it turned out to be a blessing that because he couldn’t go to school on Monday, we all could see the baby together! And we are so, so happy and excited that we are having a baby girl! Indeed, His promise will endure. We had felt this was God’s promise of a girl to us, and we have indeed been blessed with a girl! (It will take another post to share of God’s goodness J )
Today we brought them to see the specialist. And as we had been praying, we were hoping that Evan wouldn’t need a cast after today. We saw the doctor and he looked through the x-rays. Caleb’s was a straightforward case of a fracture and he was going to get a stronger cast on. For Evan, the doctor said there was a fracture near the elbow joint and that he could see it. He was concerned that it was the kind of fracture that could get displaced over weeks so we may have to bring Evan back weekly for x-rays and close monitoring. But he didn’t think it may be that serious so he wanted to let his senior check the x-rays to get his opinion. It was not exactly what we’d hoped to hear… We waited for a while for the senior consultant to come. He looked at the x-ray and said it wasn’t obvious that there was a fracture. And he said pain is a good indication. So he cut off Evan’s cast and asked him to move his arm around. He could do so perfectly with no pain at all. And the doctor said, “I don’t think he has a fracture at all!” Now that’s what we wanted to hear! Suddenly our hearts soared again. As we waited to get Caleb’s new cast on and another x-ray taken, we reminded Evan how we had prayed that he wouldn’t need a cast after today and God had answered our prayers. We rejoice together! Caleb got a cool blue cast that was much lighter yet stronger than the previous one and he seemed quite happy. He is really disappointed that he can’t do sports for 2 months and will miss his school’s sports fiesta, but otherwise has been in good spirits.
We feel so blessed to have 2 precious little boys and I have so enjoyed the time I have spent with them (I took leave on Tuesday too to be with them). I think this experience has brought us closer, and even gave the boys opportunities to help each other and empathise with each other. And we must always remember, that God’s promises will endure.
“You are good, You are good, You are good
Your mercy is forever.”
(the chorus that’s in my head right now)
PS: Thank you to all who have been praying for us and who have been visiting the boys and buying them little gifts to cheer them up. 🙂
Privileged to Serve 