Healthcare benefits on the road

I like to post things chronologically and lately I’ve been a few weeks behind on the blog posts (always watch our Instagram account for real-time travel updates). But I thought I’d jump ahead to talk about a big event that happened last week on the road – Hadley broke her arm! My sweet, adorable girl broke her humerus (the long bone in the upper arm). Let me tell you about it. . .

We were enjoying an amazing spot at Lone Rock Beach on Lake Powell. It was beautiful and the kids had so much room to run around and play that it made me so happy. To make things even better – we were traveling with one of our favorite families (@upintheairstream on Instagram) so not only did the kids have an epic place to play, but they had some of their best friends to play with. Things were going so well and I was so happy to see them run, smile, laugh, play and be outside. They were falling into bed exhausted and happy every night – what more could a mom ask for?

Our last night at Lone Rock Beach the kids were playing in the “fort” they created on the beach. It was a hole of sorts near the water. Liam jumped into the fort and Hadley followed closely behind – as she often does. She landed wonky – on her elbow, on harder, wet sand and was instantly in pain. I knew something wasn’t right because she’s such a tough cookie – she rarely cries when she gets hurt. . .but she was in pain and it quickly swelled up. We iced it right away and I found the nearest Urgent Care facility in Page, Arizona (about 20 minutes away). They closed at 6 p.m. and we got there at 5 p.m. – but they didn’t have an x-ray machine! So they sent us across the street to the Page Hospital Emergency Room.

The silver lining of the ER was they had cable so Hadley got to watch the Disney channel. 🙂  

The hospital in Page was amazing – they got us right in, did x-rays and quickly confirmed she had broken her humerus near the growth plate in her elbow. We explained we were headed to St. George, Utah the next day (a MUCH bigger metro center) and they referred us to an orthopedic doctor there. It was a good thing that we were already planning to head to a metro area – because Page is such a small community they had to send our x-rays to PHOENIX to get them reviewed! The emergency room staff put Hadley in a temporary cast and sent us home with after-care instructions.

Hadley looking at a pet adoption magazine at the orthopedics office. Now she wants a dog. 🙂

We got a call from the orthopedic doctor in St. George and he recommended surgery on Friday. Before this accident I had no idea a kid could need surgery for a broken arm! But because the break was so close to the growth plate, surgery was the best care option for her. I spent a half-day on the phone calling our insurance company and considering our options. . . Do we fly home to Washington for the surgery? Do we have the surgery here? Can we drive home in time to get surgery? What was the best choice for Hadley?

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