Eight.

Benson broke his collar bone last week. Again.

Thankfully Ben has a high pain tolerance.  He always has.  We know when Benson cries he is probably really injured. Landon is like that too.

After I picked Benson up from school (he fell from the monkey bars--a failed 'cherry drop'...)  I got him settled down in the car and asked him if his shoulder hurt and he just looked up and said "no, Mom I'm fine," but then he cried when we hit a big bump in the road--a dead give away for a broken bone.  Sprains, cuts etc. don't hurt from bumps on the road or from just sitting down or getting jostled.

And for the record--we have never had a broken bone that made it impossible to move the injured extremity.  Even when Landon broke his metacarpal (finger bone in the hand--twice) he could always move his fingers.

This makes a total of eight broken bones for our family.

Did you know you shouldn't give ibuprofen (Advil)  if you suspect a broken bone?  Tylenol is better because it doesn't have any anti-coagulation effects.  Bet you wanted to know that...

Casts are a pain.  And they are expensive. But they really do help with pain control with broken bones.

Benson broke the same collar bone three years ago but last time  the bone pieces (broken in two places) were displaced and it caused extreme pain.  He {and I} were just miserable for three or four days.  Of all the injuries and surgeries our kids have had (we have honestly lost count...), Benson's first collar bone break was definitely the most painful.  There is no way to cast or set a collar bone so it is just a matter of stabilizing the arm and waiting for the bone to heal--usually 4 weeks or so.  They don't set or pin collar bones either.  They say if the bones are in the same area they will grow back together.  Good thing!

Ben's a trooper and I'm sure with a few more days to let the bone start to knit back together he will be bouncing around as usual.

Just in time for school to get out!