What a trip!

Ava and I have spent the past two nights at the hospital after she took a bad fall on Thursday afternoon when she tripped over a netball.

I was watching Ruby's netball game when Eadie rushed over to me to say Ava had fallen over and really hurt herself. As I ran towards her she I could see she was frozen, crying "My bone's sticking out and it really hurts!".  I took a deep breath as I approached her and although relieved that the bone wasn't actually sticking out, her right forearm had a distinct bend in it. I scooped her up and raced her to the first aid room where a splint was put on it. Sadly for Ava, she didn't get any pain relief.

A friend, who is also a doctor, drove Ava and I to the Starship hospital and that's where we stayed till 10.30 this morning! X-rays confirmed the break and options were discussed. Then the long wait started but of course at that stage we had no idea how long we were actually going to spend there. In my naivety, I thought if you broke a bone they "fixed" it, put a cast on and sent you on your merry way. It seems that Ava was not the only child to break a bone that day as there was an unprecedented number of orthopaedic cases forcing them to open more operating theatres.

Twice she was taken down to the pre-op room only to be told a case with a higher priority had come in. The poor child only had breakfast yesterday, and then nothing until 11pm last night. That was one of the hardest parts of the whole ordeal. That, and the waiting, and the boredom.

Getting a temporary half cast put on until she got the real thing.

The doll we decorated whilst waiting for Ava's turn in theatre – one of the things we did to occupy the time.

Happy to be back at home.