The Day She Got Broken

I have always dreaded the phone calls from school.  Really, ANY phone call from school in the middle of the day is never a good thing.

Hi Mrs B, this is Ms C - Hattie is sick. Come and get her.

Hey there, Hattie is having a rough day.

Hi ... ummm, did you forget Hattie's lunch today?  (yes, sad to say I HAVE gotten that one!)

I hate to tell you this but Hattie missed the bus.  (do not even get me started on this one!!!)

But the one I have dreaded the most is the "Hi Mrs. B ... Hattie is OK, but............"

Cause, really, she is either OK or there is a "but".  Ya just cannot have it both ways.  It don't work!

And, the weirdest part of the day it happened is that I didn't even GET the phone call.  Because everyone thought she was fine.  At least until the bus hit that bump.

But I digress, let's start at the beginning:

Hattie was at school and the day was normal.  She had actually had a very good day.  So, when time to leave approached and it was time to get ready for the bus, Hattie did so without issue.  Now, in her program, not all of the children CAN get ready on their own.  So, this day they put on a little video to make the process run a little smoother.  Hattie was among the first ready so she sat on a chair to watch TV.  But Hattie has a bad habit of tipping in her chair.  And on this day, every warning she had ever been given about falling out of her chair, came to pass.

Her teachers ran to her aid, got her some ice and moved her to the bean bag (her usual cool down spot). But Hattie couldn't see the TV from the bean bag so she declared herself all better and moved back to the TV area with no other complaints.

But, somewhere between the classroom and our front door something went awry.  She cried a little when they put her belt over her shoulder (the special needs bus comes with carseat like 5 point harness things - which they had been looking into moving her out of anyway because it was too tight).  And she REALLY started crying when the bus hit a particularly big bump.

I watched the bus pull up outside and, as I opened the front door, I heard her crying.  I knew immediately that it was an "I'm in pain" cry. When I got to the bus and saw her pale face and the fact that she refused to move her left arm, I knew we were in trouble.  So, off we headed to the emergency room.

As it happens (by the Grace of God), the girls had watched a show just that morning in which a character had to be taken to the hospital and given an x-ray.  By this point she was calm and had started to mover her arm slightly, but I could SEE a bump and knew that it was either broken or dislocated.  After I all but BEGGED them to check it out, a nice young man came to escort us to the big machines.  And Hattie happily marched down the hall declaring "I'm gonna get an x-ray!  I'm gonna get an x-ray!" And, because they had portrayed it rather well on TV, she was not at all afraid of the machines and things went as smooth as silk! PRAISE HIM!

Once the break was confirmed and I managed to refrain myself from telling everyone in the place I TOLD YA SO!, we were given a sling and sent on our merry way.  And now, two and a half weeks later, I can hardly keep her IN that sling and she seems stronger every day.  The first week or so was rough - trying to keep her from certain activities, hugs gone wrong, forgetfully pushing herself up, etc ..., but we got through it all and seem to be well on our way to recovery.

Have I ever mentioned that the resiliency that this child is Blessed with amazes me every single day?  She is incredible and I am so proud to be her mama and to witness the beauty that is her strength!  I know that strength will serve her well ... because I KNOW that God has big plans for her.

I cannot wait to see her become who He created her to be.