Basketball and Broken Bones

Well, I am home with my daughter today, but not because she is sick.

She broke her collar bone in her basketball game last night. L

Harley is quite a go-getter on the court and spends a lot of time on the floor.

She always gets back and goes some more.

That is why last night, when she drove to the basket and had what looked like a minor collision with a player from the other team, I assumed she was fine.

People she did not even fall down. They just sort of bounced off of each other.

Harley grabbed her shoulder and looked at her coach (who happens to be my brother). He took her out of the game which surprised me because she never volunteers to come out of a basketball game. It is her favorite sport.

I was sitting across the gym, watching. I am not the type of mother who is going to rush over to the bench. I waited to see if the coaches would call me over. Thought maybe she just got the wind knocked out of her…

My brother and his assistant were checking her over, she was obviously in pain. At the end of the 3^rd quarter a few seconds later, they called me over.

They didn’t know what to think – neither of them had seen a broken collar bone – and well…neither have I. They tell me her shoulder feels “squishy” and showed me the “bump” on her left collar bone that was not on the other side.

She was also in pain, but not crying anymore.

I felt bad for thinking she was fine!

Anyway, I took her to the ER to confirm our fears. We were about 20 minutes away from the hospital. Harley didn’t say much on the way there. She said it hurt really bad.

The triage nurse asked her to rate her pain 1-10, 10 being the worst.

“Um…10,” Harley grinds out.

Not-kid-friendly nurse with sarcasm asks, “Really? Worst pain in your entire life?”

I explained, “She is really not a complainer, so I think it must be pretty bad.”

I wanted to add, “She’s an 11-year-old girl with nothing to compare it to. She’s never had any other serious injuries.”

I mean, it is not like she has experienced childbirth or anything…so YES it probably is the worst pain in her entire life!

Long story short, the X-Ray confirmed it. When Harley saw it, she shed silent tears because she knew basketball was done for this year. That is when this mom got teary… I know it broke her heart.

On the way back to the game (we went back to watch my son), she was talking more (pain medicine had kicked in).

She says, “I knew I was really hurt because I heard a pop and I couldn’t talk.”

Turns out, she couldn’t even answer when my brother asked her if she was okay. He said she just stared at him with her mouth open. I’m assuming that was due to the pain or shock…or both. She is one tough little cookie.

Blessings in all of this…

1.       We were at a home game so closer to the hospital. Our away games are all over an hour away.

2.       They did not have to “set” it or anything. She sees orthopedic doctor tomorrow.

3.       She seems in good spirits today and not in too much pain.

4.     Almost forgot a big one...it is her left collar bone and she is right-handed.

I’ll be back at it tomorrow. I’ve got the *funniest* pictures of a Solids vs. Liquids Venn diagram assignment that I’m planning to share with you. :-)

Have a great evening!
Crystal