The Adopted Daughter

I was back to school for the start of a new school year August 2011-2012 as a fourth grader, in a new classroom with a new classroom teacher Mr. Smith. The subjects we were to learn were going to be the same as third grade: math, language arts, science, social studies, art, music, computer, P.E., foreign language. I was happy to know that my art, music, computer, P.E., and Spanish teachers were the same. Mr. Smiths’ class was equally the same size as Mrs. Coopers’, with lots and lots of reading books, four computers, reading silent area, and huge cushions. Our desks were organized in a square rectangular way and each seated with five students. However, the best part of being in fourth grade was that Jaime, Carl, Chris, Cynthia and I were in Mr. Smith’s classroom once again for a full school year.

Being in fourth grade was not as bad as I thought it would be and pretty much everything that happened in fourth grade was similar to third grade. The school year 2011-2012 came and went very fast, of course with lots of great improvements in my learning, personal growth and social developments. Although we still got lots of homework, even more than in third grade, I was able to participate in two after school activities: art club and arts and crafts club and each activity were once a week.

As we were coming close to finishing the school year of fourth grade, I was beginning to get quite worried because after this summer vacation, I would be enrolling in fifth grade which would be my last year as an elementary school student and will then be moving on to middle school and was not quite sure how I would do, would I fit in, would Jaime, Chris and I be in the same class….all these questions started racing through my mind. Nevertheless, I told myself “let’s first get through fourth grade and enjoy the final year (which will be fifth grade) as an elementary school student and will see what happens next.”

Fifth grade rolled in at the beginning of the fall of 2012, at the age of 9 but for some reason I got the feeling that this was either going to be a good, bad or a special but interesting school year, not only because it was my last year in elementary, but I felt that it was going to be a very different year compared to my previous elementary school years. My classroom was on the third floor, a class of twenty five students, and a huge classroom that was very similar in size as Mr. Smith in fourth grade. Our classroom teacher was Mr. Thompson. The subjects we were taught were the same since third grade. I continued learning Spanish and was especially pleased to have the same Spanish and art teacher. There were a few things that were different in fifth grade; firstly the work load and homework was even more than in third and fourth grade, had lots of group and individual presentations in science, social studies, language arts and Spanish classes. Secondly, the classroom rules were slightly different from what I was used to in third and fourth grade, but rules are rules and they had to be followed in class, out of class, at the playground and in the cafeteria. Thirdly, our class had the ‘monthly class award’ which was given to four students every month for their achievements, hard work, organization, completion and submission of homework on time for a whole month and a few other categories. I could already imagine how fierce this competition would be especially for those overachievers. Then, field trips during our science and social studies classes that would be in connection to the lesson content we would be learning, which would include trips to historical and science museums. Finally, my after school activity program, I joined a sports club this semester which was archery; I had always wanted to learn archery and since it was open to fifth graders this was a chance I was not going to miss. When it came to choosing after school activities, my parents allowed me to choose activities that I was not only interested in but would enjoy and learn something out of them; choosing art club helped me improve in my art classes, choosing arts and craft club helped in learning about jewelry and how to make bracelets and necklaces using beads. This year I had chosen archery a skill I had come to understand its importance in learning how to focus, paying attention and knowing how to aim at your target, so was curious to see how the archery club would go and what I would make of it.

It was an exciting beginning, an exciting year as well, also the fact that Cynthia, Carl, Jaime, Chris and I were once again in the same classroom and we all sat together. I started thinking to myself how inseparable we had become Jaime, Chris and I and now with two new additional buddies Cynthia and Carl, to me could not have asked for a better way to start and end my final elementary school year in fifth grade.

Fifth grade was a very challenging and special year as quite a few incidents had happened not only in my P.E. class, but also during my after school activity archery club. These were incidents I shall never forget which also went down in my elementary school life history.

Let’s start with what happened in my P.E. class; this was in the first semester, Mr. Hall had been our P.E. teacher since third grade and he was pretty good at his job and ensuring that we all had a great time in our P.E. classes. In fifth grade we were going to do quite a lot of running, moving around, and swimming, soccer, group exercises and other sports as well. On this particular day a Friday afternoon in September, the weather had been quite good, and P.E. was the last class for the day, so after this class we would head to catch the school buses and go home. We gathered all our belongings from class, and Mr. Thompson escorted us to the gym where Mr. Hall had been waiting for us outside the gym. We put our backpacks inside the gym lockers, changed and went inside the gym.

Everyone: Hello Mr. Hall

Mr. Hall: Hello Mr. Thompson’s class, welcome back to a new school year and your final year of elementary school.

He briefly gave an introduction of what we shall be doing this semester, and then got us set up for the games and activities we would be doing.

Mr. Hall: Today we shall be skipping rope, then participating in a running competition and tug of war. For each activity you will be divided into teams, first you will do some warm up exercises, practice and then you will have a competition in your assigned teams.

So we gathered in the middle of the gym started doing some stretching exercises which were quite cool but tiring by the time we were done. Then, we had the skipping rope activity, with a class of twenty five students’; we were assigned five members in a group, each given two skipping ropes. We were to do single skipping rope exercises each person doing 20 to 30 jumps timed in three minutes, upon completion was the group skipping activity where one person is holding the rope on one end while the other on the other end, students would jump in and skip two or three times and move, rotate until everyone had done a full circle and everyone had done the skipping exercises. The rope should continue moving and everyone in your group should continue skipping until someone is unable to skip and will be eliminated. The group that can skip the longest will be the winner. This was a really cool game, but was very tiring. I remembered skipping so hard that I almost lost balance, but I managed to be steady and continued skipping. I had always loved skipping ropes and would always do skipping activities with Cynthia and other girls during recess. Unfortunately for our group we came in third place which was better than not winning at all but then again we were indeed happy with our results.

The second sport was tag of war which was quite easy, in the same groups, one group on each side, Mr. Hall would be standing in the middle, once he blew the whistle, the war begun, and the team that goes beyond the red line lost. Our group was against a group of five boys, we were two girls and three boys, so our plan was the girls in front and the boys behind. It was a tough competition but we won the first round, won the second and third round and were the winners of the class tug of war game!! We were so excited that we jumped and hugged each other!!

The third and final one was running, now you would think this was my sport but sadly it wasn’t and here is where things got crazy. We were to run in our groups from the beginning marked A to B then return back to A tag your partner and the race continues. It came to my turn and I got tagged by Carl, I ran to the first end but as I was running back, I don’t know what happened but I found myself flat on the ground with my right leg inward. I screamed, crying due to the pain, Mr. Hall blew the whistle and everyone stopped as he run towards me, everyone came running quickly around me….asking “are you OK?”

Mr. Hall: Are you Ok Diana as he tries to move my right leg.

Diana: (in agony saying) it hurts, it hurts

Mr. Hall: Carl get the school nurse quickly!

As Carl got the school nurse while we were all waiting, I was sitting on the ground, crying in pain as my classmates tried to comfort me and Mr. Hall went to get an icepack to put on my right leg and around my right ankle as it was already swollen and looking quite scary.

The nurse came with her kit, asked what happened and I explained what I could remember, she tried to move my right leg, touching my right ankle but I was in so much pain with tears running down my face. If there was one thing I could not handle was pain, didn’t matter whether it was external or internal, it was something I could never bare or handle at all.

Nurse: (looking at Mr. Hall) her right ankle is swollen badly and she seems to also have a fracture. I can continue to put an icepack and spray medication around the swollen area to ease the pain, but we will need to take her to the hospital to do an X-ray on her leg and foot right away.

Mr. Hall: OK, do you need me to notify the parents?

Nurse: No, I will call them and notify her classroom teacher Mr. Thompson, thank you. I brought the wheelchair, so will take her to the office where she will wait for her parents.

Mr. Hall: Alright, thank you.

So I got up on one foot feeling very exhausted, sat on the wheelchair and got wheeled out of the gym. I was still in agony and wasn’t sure how long I could take this pain. As the nurse was wheeling me out of the gym, my classmates hugged me, saying ‘get well soon’, ‘hope you will be ok’.

Mr. Hall: Get well soon Diana; hope it will not be something serious and that you shall be able to join us next week for class.

Diana: Thanks Mr. Hall.

We got back to the nurse’s office where the nurse immediately called my mum. I could hear the nurse speaking to my mum but with the pain going through my right foot and leg, I lost track of the conversation and tears started falling down my face.

Half an hour later…..

Mum: Oh my dear Diana, what happened?

Diana: I was just looking at my mum with tears…..was just not able to speak.

Nurse: She fell during P.E. class. Her right ankle is swollen pretty badly and I think she may have fractured her right leg.

Mum: Oh good heavens. Alright, I will take her to the hospital. Will you need any medical report from the hospital?

Nurse: Yes, no rush, can give it to me on Monday. I will also inform her classroom teacher Mr. Thompson.

Mum: Alright, thank you nurse.

With two large icepacks wrapped around my foot, ankle and leg, my mum and the nurse wheeled me to the car, carried me and put me gently and slowly on the back seat lying down, closed the door and entered the drivers’ seat, started the car and drove straight off to the hospital. My mum was trying as hard as she could to comfort me as she was driving at the same time. I was trying to control the pain but it was too much. We arrived at the emergency area, my mum got out of the car ran to the hospital door, got a wheelchair and with the help of one of the nurses carried and placed me on the wheelchair. I could hear the conversation between the nurse and my mum asking what happened, she could see I was in so much pain and crying at the same time.

I was taken to the ER where they called a doctor who examined my right leg, my right ankle and foot, asking what happened. He requested that I get an x-ray done and will take it from there. I was escorted to the x-ray room, where the second incident happened; the nurse who was doing my x-ray had told me that the moving of my right foot and right leg will hurt as they needed to make sure they got a proper x-ray done to see the injury clearly.

Diana: I nodded, but was already in tears again because I knew this was going to be the worst pain ever.

The x-ray begun and the nurse was moving my right foot, then my right leg, touched my right ankle and I screamed of the pain, the slightest touch was especially at the swelling of the right ankle and I was crying and crying. I almost felt like telling her to stop, but I had to try and bear with it.

Nurse: We are almost done, almost done, just one more part. There, done!

After all that was done which was such a relief got on one leg and sat on the wheelchair and was wheeled to the doctor’s office. My mum had been waiting for me outside of the doctor’s office, she saw I had been crying and she knew it was the pain. She hugged me and thanked me for being brave. A few minutes later the doctor came in and sat down.

Doctor: Hello I am Dr. Wells. Mrs. Johnson? This is Diana?

Mrs. Johnson: Yes, and this is my daughter Diana.

Dr. Wells: So Diana, tell me what happened.

After wiping my tears, I started explaining what happened and all I could remember in details.

Dr. Wells: Alright, so as we wait for the x-ray results, I am going to touch and try to move the right leg, the right foot and right ankle and if any pain let me know, OK?

Diana: Yes

So he started with the leg no pain so far, touched my right ankle moving my foot and that was where I felt the pain and fear that came back again.

Diana: Pain, pain, pain

Dr. Wells immediately stopped touching my right ankle, started to move my foot and the pain was unbearable.

Dr. Wells: From what I can sense, her ankle is pretty badly swollen and this was probably due to the way she fell so hard on the floor hitting the ankle so hard which affected the foot and leg area causing a fracture.

I was looking at the doctor as he said this and was just sighing in a depressed unhappy way because I was already sure of getting bad news about the swelling and injury.

The nurse knocked on the door and gave Dr. Wells the x-ray results. He put them on the screen turned on the light and I was shocked with what I saw from the results. I turned and looked at my mum and I could see the worry and fear she had on her face.

Dr. Wells: From the x-ray results, your right ankle is swollen pretty badly and there is a fracture on your foot. The good news we don’t need to do any surgery, the bad news we will need to do a cast for her foot but that would have to be once the swelling on her ankle had cooled down. We will first work on the swelling which hopefully will be healed by tomorrow, then shall work on the cast for the foot. This means she will need to be admitted to the hospital for three days.

To be honest I was not sure what was going on, but all I knew was that I was spending the weekend at the hospital and would pretty much be missing a few days of school.

Mum: That is a relief that my daughter doesn’t need to do any surgery. Alright Dr. Wells. Thank you.

Dr. Wells: No problem, I will make arrangements for the room and get everything prepared for Diana.

Diana: Dr. Wells, will I be Ok? Will I be able to walk or run again?

Dr. Wells: Of course you will, give yourself two to three months and you should be back in shape running up and down.

Upon hearing that I was so relieved and so was my mum, because I was not sure what I would do if I found out that I could never walk again and at the age of 9!!!! It would have been the most devastating news in my life, but thanks to Dr. Wells, I will recover slowly which will take time, but I will get better!! Thank goodness!!

Mum: All will be Ok dear, you will get better and we will be here for you, alright?

Diana: Thanks mum! Did you call Dad? Yes he is on his way to the hospital.

Once my room was ready, one the nurses wheeled me to the room which I was admitted in and it was quite nice, spacious, one bed had a bathroom and toilet, huge window with a great view and a nice screen TV, also a fridge and a telephone. I had never in my entire life thought I would be finding myself in a hospital from a fall that happened in school. I guess as the saying goes ‘there is always a first time to everything’ and here I was at the age of 9 admitted in a hospital from a fall that occurred in my fifth grade P.E. class.

I was asked to change into the hospital clothing and requested to lie in bed as the doctor and nurse would prepare the treatment and medication for my ankle. Mum helped me change then I lay in bed. Dad walked in a few minutes later in a panic and worried state, hugged me asking “what happened? Are you OK sweetie?” I explained to him what happened and mum explained to him what Dr. Wells said and what would be done.

Dad: Are you in a lot of pain? Oh my poor baby.

Diana: I nodded saying it still hurts a lot but the good thing Dr. Wells told me is that I will recover and will be able to run and walk again but will take about two to three months.

Dr. Wells and the nurses (two of them) walked in with a cart full of treatment stuff and medication. My mum introduced my dad and they greeted each other. I was already lying on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position because the painful feeling on my right foot and ankle was awful. Dr. Wells begun to explain what they were going to do which was the treatment of the swollen ankle. He mentioned after the treatment and applying of the medication that they would wrap it with a surgical bandage and leave it for the weekend. During the weekend, the nurses would be checking in to see how the ankle is doing. Then on Sunday evening shall un-wrap the surgical bandage and see if the treatment and medication helped reduce the swelling. If all is good and well healed, we will prepare a cast for the foot, you will stay in the hospital for observation maybe three to four days and if you are feeling better and in no pain then you will be released from the hospital.

Dr. Wells: Sound good?

Mum, dad and I: All good.

Mum: You will be alright sweetie, we are right here, alright?

Diana: Alright (looking at her parents, sighing trying to gain courage).

As they prepared the treatment, I asked Dr. Wells if it will be painful, he did mention that it will hurt at the beginning because we have to put the cream medication and massage the ankle so that the medication is full absorbed into the ankle, but once that is done the other parts will be fine. I remember looking at both my mum and dad and I just started crying. My parents had known I could never bear any kind or form of pain but they never knew it was this serious until today. When I saw the nurses had prepared the cream medication I knew it was time. The nurse held my foot, I put my face on my mum’s arm, my dad was holding my head telling me not to look as he knew the pain I was about to endure. Dr. Wells applied the cream and all I felt was excruciating pain. I cried, screaming holding my parents so tight, the crying and screaming was so loud I almost felt like saying ‘STOP!!” but I couldn’t because I knew it would only get worse. My parents were comforting me, trying to ease me from crying and screaming, it helped a bit and I cooled down but I was still crying holding them tightly as it was still very painful.

Dr. Wells: Alright we are almost done Diana, almost done.

Mum: Oh dear, it is too much for her

Dr. Wells: There, all done!

Dad: You were very brave Diana!!

Mum: Yes, very brave sweetie

I looked at my ankle and it was fully wrapped all around. I was laid on a sling as the foot area that was fractured was also wrapped in a surgical bandage to prevent even more pain and swelling.

Dr. Wells: You get some rest Diana!! We shall come back on Sunday evening to check on your ankle and work on your foot. OK?

Diana: Thank you Dr. Wells (wiping my tears).

Dr. Wells: We shall see you on Sunday.

It was already night time and we had not eaten dinner. My parents wanted to bring me dinner but I wasn’t hungry. I was too exhausted from the crying and screaming, all I wanted to do was rest. My parents did get me some snacks and drinks in case I would be hungry in the middle of the night.

The visiting hours ended at 6 PM but my parents were able to stay with me until 9 PM. Once they left, I found myself looking out the window and falling asleep until the next morning.

On Saturday morning and afternoon I had some snacks that my parents brought for me and since I was unable to move or get off the bed, all I did was just eat, sleep and sleep. It wasn’t until around 2 PM, my parents, Jaime, Chris and their parents came to see me. They all looked pretty worried, asking if I was OK and if everything was going well in the hospital; Jaime and Chris had already explained to their parents what had happened and my parents had also explained to them what had happened at the hospital.

It was actually very good to see everyone, and their support and encouragement really meant a lot to me. Jaime and Chris brought me some snacks and drinks which were more than enough to keep me going till tomorrow. They knew my favorite snacks, which I opened and we ate them together. I told them that “I may have to miss a few days of school as Dr. Wells will be working on my foot tomorrow night, then will need to stay in the hospital for observation, if all is good then I shall be cleared to leave the hospital. I will be in a cast and on crutches for two to three months depending on how fast I heal.”

Jaime and Chris: That’s a long time.

Jaime; But I am sure you will get better sooner and will be back on your feet running and walking and jumping up and down.

Diana: Yes I am sure all will be OK.

At around 8 PM, it was time for everyone to leave as visiting hours were already over. We waved our goodbyes, got hugs and kisses from mum and dad and they all left.

On Sunday morning had simple breakfast that the hospital brought in my room, was actually quite surprised what they offered. I had pancakes, apple juice, hot cocoa, and sausages. It almost felt like it was breakfast that was cooked by my mum and delivered to my hospital room, it was great and delicious!! The nurse on duty informed me that Dr. Wells would be coming around 6 PM to check on my ankle. She asked how I was feeling and surprisingly I told her and I quote “so much better and there is no pain”. She was so relieved to hear that and left the room.

At 5:30 PM, my parents came and we sat talking waiting for Dr. Wells who arrived exactly at 6PM with the nurse along with the treatment cart that was full of medication.

Dr. Wells: How are you Diana? How are you feeling?

Diana: I am good Dr. Wells. I am actually feeling so much better.

Dr. Wells: Any pain?

Diana: Since Saturday morning till now I have not felt any pain.

Dr. Wells: Wow, that’s great. Alright, so I am going to take off the surgical bandage and check on your ankle.

The nurse held my foot while Dr. Wells cut off the surgical bandage. To his amazement including the nurses and my parents the swelling had and was actually completely healed, almost as if nothing happened to my ankle. Dr. Wells started feeling and touching my ankle moving it asking if I felt any pain and said ‘no pain at all’. I saw my parents looking quite relieved as well.

Dr. Wells: Excellent! Now we shall work on your foot. This should be painless, but if you do feel any pain, let us know, OK?

Diana: Sure.

Dr. Wells and the nurse worked on my foot while my parents were watching from the side, observing everything that was going on as was I and it was quite cool watching how Dr. Wells was applying the cast on my foot. It took over two hours to get the full cast done, but once it was done we were all relieved.

Dr. Wells: How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain?

Diana: No pain just tired.

Dr. Wells: Alright, so you will stay in the hospital for another three days of observation and as I mentioned if everything checks out and you are OK, you can leave the hospital.

Diana: Thank you Dr. Wells.

Mum and Dad: Thank you Dr. Wells.

Dr. Wells: Any time!! The nurses will be coming to check in on you so if you have any problems let them know.

Diana: Ok, no problem. Good night.

It was already going to 11 PM and I could already see that my parents were looking and feeling tired. I told my parents to go home and rest and that they could come see me tomorrow. I requested if they could bring me some toiletries as I ran out of toiletries and wanted more snacks. I also reminded them to inform my teachers that I will be out of school for the week. This meant I would only be going back to school the following week.