Ellie's Story

I'd like you all to meet my daughter, Ellie.

Ellie turned three years old last April. She's an incredibly happy kid - as you can see from the image - my wife @alladesria and I seem to be doing something right, though we don't know how!

Ellie was a surprise. My wife and I didn't think we could have kids. Lord knows we tried for seven-and-a-half years. Finally, we sunk our money - more money than we should have, really - into a big wedding at The Swan Club on Long Island the weekend after Superstorm Sandy tried to wipe Lower Manhattan off the map. The day after, we visit my parents' place and my wife pukes all over their carpet!

That got us thinking. Hoping. Kind of dreading, to be honest, considering we weren't prepared in the least. Finally, we bought a pregnancy test. My wife peed on the stick, and the rest was history.

Somehow, somewhere, by the grace of God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Tom Cruise, my wife and I ended up having a kid that always has a smile on her face, even in the most awful of circumstances. Case in point the horrorshow that the last month of our lives has been.

Ellie was visiting my parents down on Long Island for some quality grandparent time, giving my wife and me a bit of a break. I had just gotten out of the hospital (a story for another post) and my folks wanted to provide us a little breathing room. Grandma and Grandpa (or Big Daddy, as Ellie calls him) came upstate, picked up the package, and drove back down to LI with her.

My folks are of course crazy about her - not to mention that they spoil her rotten - so we figured she would be in good hands. Additionally, my mother is the kind of woman who would have made me wear a football helmet to Chess Club, so I knew she would be much too neurotic to put my kid in danger.

So my parents get back to their house, Ellie in tow, and not an hour goes by that I get a panicked message from my mother. Ellie was kicking a ball around in their yard and stepped on it wrong, causing her to twist her leg and fall. She screamed like a banshee, my mother said; the leg began to swell, and they rushed her to the hospital. Long story short, my poor girl suffered a spiral fracture of her femur, a pretty serious injury. Needless to say my wife and I rushed downstate, arriving at around 1 in the morning to the Emergency Room of Cohen's Children Hospital on Long Island.

Ellie needed to be placed in a cast for four long weeks for her leg to heal. My parents were distraught. My wife and I were frazzled. Meanwhile, my daughter thought it was the funniest thing ever.

I've never known someone to deal with being immobilized for a month with such aplomb. This kid is unflappable. Sure, the cast took some getting used to, but before long Ellie was back to her normal, happy self, though she was frustrated by her lack of mobility.

Do you know anyone who would be so laid back and chill after literally snapping her femur in half? And yes, that's my Empire Strikes Back sheets that used to be on my bed as a kid.

Finally, after a long and arduous four weeks of being stuck in a stroller or on the couch - or flat on her back in bed - Ellie had her follow-up appointment today. Our amazing pediatric orthopedist, Dr. Francisco Laplaza, told us that Ellie's leg had healed enough for her to come out of the cast. Free at last, in time to enjoy the rest of the summer!