what's a pinky for?

caroline was playing ball with her friend on friday at school. apparently she caught the ball funny, which bent her pinky backwards. she went to the school nurse, who called me to say it was swollen but looked ok and they were icing it. i spoke with caroline on the phone as well and she wanted to stay at school since there was a science show that day. i knew she must be alright since the girl is always willing to leave school early. i told her i would pick her up at carpool then, rather than after school to be sure.

when i got to her, it (said left hand pinky) was pretty swollen and bruised. so off to the pediatrician's office we went at 4pm on a friday afternoon. after a 45 minute wait, which really tried my patience,  and a 5 minute observation, he sent us off to the children's hospital for an x-ray. they were much faster thankfully. lb was holding up pretty well through all of this despite knowing she was missing soccer practice and needed a good meal.

the x-ray showed she did have a fracture in her pinky. on the growth plate. did you even know there was a growth plate in your pinky? i didn't.

so yup, she broke her little finger.

then come this past wed, 5 days post break, caroline goes to a hand specialist (thanks to that growth plate break). it is there they tell phil that they will cast it for a week, x-ray it again, and see where the bone is. depending on how the week goes, she may need a pin in it. a pin. in her little pinky.  again with the luck of this girl.

does she even use her pinky much? other than pointing it out during her royal tea parties with princess hadley. guess it would be all sorts of wrong on our part, as the parents, to object to the pin. that being said, i don't like the idea of surgery over a little finger.

so now we wait. green cast and all. praying she does not need surgery.

on the bright side, lb had a great time getting all of her friends to sign her cast. by the end of the first day, it was full. even her dad and sister signed it. i still need to but there isn't much room. friends come out of the woodwork when it is time to sign a cast!

no matter what she is going through, fish bone in the tonsil... ant bites on the ankle... broken pinky.... lb is always smiling. i love and admire her for that.