Unpredictable!!

Last Saturday the younger kids and I were preparing to leave on our family trip to Colorado for a Bushman Family Reunion while Dave, Carlee and Taylor were at the lake with our youth group for their end of summer bash. I was so excited to be able to leave the heat and humidity of Texas and spend time with my family, some of which I only get to see once a year. Everything was ready to go, the T-shirts were made,the skit was perfect, the food was prepared and frozen, the house was clean, the laundry was done and all we needed to do was pack the car so we could leave early Sunday morning. I was feeling really good until... I received a call from Dave informing me that Taylor had been hurt while tubing and had possibly dislocated his shoulder. I started calling our friends who are doctors and was unable to reach any of them and so I called our urgent care and they instructed me to just take him to the ER. I arrived at the ER before Dave and Taylor and had him registered before they got there. I needed him to be fixed quick so that we could get things ready to go. Well, after x-rays, several hours of waiting and a 2 hour surgery this is what we ended up with! What happened to DISLOCATED???

Taylor had broken his arm in 2 just below his shoulder. His humerus broke along the growth plate and down just below the shoulder. His bone was then shoved up into his deltoid muscle and was sitting there just below the skin due to the force of his injury. The only way to fix his arm was to open up his shoulder and put in 3 titanium screws. The doctors could not believe how bad it was when they got in there and they are concerned with possible nerve damage and loss of muscle. Sooo, the reunion was now out of the question. I kept telling the Dr. that we were to leave town the next morning and he would give me a look like I was crazy and tell me that Taylor should not travel but I kept hoping until I finally flat out asked if we could leave and he said NO! What? We had been waiting for this trip all summer long and within a matter of hours we were no longer going. Ugh! We've never missed a Blaine Bushman reunion and certainly did not want to tell my kids or my family. We were so sad. What's crazy is that on the way to the hospital, Taylor was asking if he would be able to attend the dance that night and while waiting for surgery, he kept talking about going to Colorado. He was so excited to go and spend time with his cousins. I certainly didn't want to tell him the bad news.

We spent Sunday morning up at the hospital visiting Taylor instead of traveling. The kids were very emotional and very concerned about their brother. For a few days they only cared about Taylor and wanted him to get better and understood that we were not going to make the trip. Notice I said for a few days. That did wear off and when it did, they were sad all over again. Grace tried to help Taylor by rubbing his feet and that made him smile.

Here is Taylor with his nurse just before coming home. The nurse was shocked when Taylor stood up, she hadn't realized how tall he was. He thought that was pretty cool. He always likes when people think he is tall. He only has about 5 more inches until he catches his Dad.

Once home, he was greeted by a couple of his friends who had come over to decorate his room with streamers, balloons and posters. It was really cute and it made Taylor smile. Most of it is still up and I am sure it will stay that way for awhile.

Well, it is now almost a week since the accident and he is doing much better. He did not take any pain meds today and that is great. He has feeling in his hand and shoulder which is good and we go to the ortho on Monday to see what they think. Taylor is hoping they will take the bandages off so that he can see what it looks like. It itches pretty bad and he wants it off. He is already tired of the sling and hopes that he will heal extra fast, not only to get the sling off but so he can start swimming at school. Just one more thing that has to be postponed. We are however very grateful that he is ok and has some feeling in his hand and shoulder. Therapy will determine how much muscle he will regain. He has been a trooper throughout all of this and has had a few good experiences as well. He has decided that he will probably stay off the tubes for awhile but that he would like to hurry up and heal so that he can knee board again. He just learned how and did a 360 on his first try. Go Taylor!