Land of our Sojourn: "The Cast Saga" or "We knew a broken bone was coming"

So, Miss M has her first (and hopefully last) cast on right now. We got a call from her school on October 30 saying that we needed to pick her up. Now, we've gotten this call before and it has never been anything serious. In fact, it's been the least serious of incidents, the kind where you think, "School, why in the world are you sending this kid home? There is nothing wrong with her." So I have to admit that I wasn't exactly taking things seriously. I had just started Bible study time at our house with a couple of my girlfriends here and I asked one of them to talk on the phone and see if we really had to get M. She said the teacher in no uncertain terms said we had to pick her up, so Dave graciously gave up his Spanish study time to go get Miss M and I continued on with my group.

We wasted no time in getting signatures.

When Dave and M came home, her arm was swollen and wrapped in an elastic strap. The school had had a doctor look at her and she said he didn't think it was broken but to keep an eye on it. We were applying ice on for 10 minutes and off and elevated her arm. She was crying a little but most of the time just resting without tears. I applied some essential oils for pain management and to help reduce the swelling and they seemed to help along with the ice.

First night- it's her left wrist and it wasn't very swollen by the time she went to bed.

Miss M told us that she had climbed a tree and was hanging from a branch about as high as Dave's shoulder (so maybe 5 feet or so) and that she dropped down to the ground. She somehow shifted and ended up landing on her left wrist and then the other kids were laughing, thinking that it was a trick, until they realized she was crying and then they stopped laughing. She got help from the teacher, they got a doctor and some ice, and then she came home. We continued with the ice and elevation and oils and by bedtime, most of the swelling was gone but it wasn't totally gone. I conversed online with another expat friend (who happens to be a doctor and whose own daughter fell off a horse the same day and fractured her wrist) and she suggested we go to get an xray just in case.

So, on Oct 31, Dave and M headed off to the doctor to find someone to take an xray. The first doctor was not available in the morning, so they went to another hospital. Now, the medical system in Peru is a smidge different. We have insurance, but it's high deductible and the health care costs here are not that high, so it's basically a pay as you go event for us anytime we need health care. In the past year we have only gone to the chiropractor and had a wellness check for Little A. We've been healthy. So this was our first foray into the Peruvian health care system. There were a lot of lines and Dave had to pay for each component as he went. He waited in line for each component of care and waited in line to pay for each component of care (the consult, the xray, the supplies needed for the consult (like exam gloves) and the cast components (plaster of paris webbing and cotton), and the doctor putting the cast on). We were fortunate in that the doctor working the shift that day was an arm and wrist expert. He is the one who saw Miss M and did her casting. She ended up with an over the elbow cast to prevent movement of her wrist bones and we were told she needed it on for about three weeks. In case you are wondering, the grand total for all of this medical care was about $83 USD.

Then, she went back to school for the few hours left in the day and when she came home it was time for the Halloween costume transformation. She didn't really have much trouble with pain past that first 12 hour period and once the cast was on, the little swelling she had rapidly went away.

Getting Rarity ready (the Equestria Girls version- My Little Pony but the human version)

Ready to trick-or-treat

Our adventurous girl hasn't let a cast slow her down. It's a bit heavy, and another expat friend here lent us an arm sling. M has been wearing it periodically, but most of the time she prefers the free range motion. She accidentally leaned her arm in a puddle of water on the second day and her cast turned mushy, so we got to go to the pharmacy and buy some additional plaster webbing ($2 if you wondered) and Dave applied a patch. It's holding up ok, but I'm still glad we only have to make it through a few weeks!

Trick-or-treating with her friend who fractured her wrist the same day!

Miss M has continued to want to do anything and everything and has been struggling with being told that jumping on the trampoline or climbing on monkey bars might not be the best thing for right now. But for the most part, she is handling the cast quite well. As my mom says, it's kind of miraculous that she hasn't broken anything before now. She just has a minor fracture in her wrist bone and hopefully all will heal up nicely. The doctors aren't anticipating any long term problems.