Something I’ve been dreading ever since Sara was born. I was hoping we’d have a couple more years to prepare for it oh well….life happens. 😉
A couple weeks ago (June 27th to be exact) Sara went downstairs to get a toy. She came up the stairs with two and right when she got to the top stair she lost her balance and fell allllll the way down to the bottom. I ran (well, as close to a run as my knee would allow) to try and get her. I was close to catching her but she hit the ceramic tile on the landing with a thud. My screams and her crying brought Eric running down the stairs too. She seemed to be OK – no visible bumps or bruises and she was walking ok. On Wednesday she was walking with a very noticible limp and would cry if I bent her leg at the hip. By the time Eric got home from work, it was pretty bad. We decided to take her to the ER to make sure there was nothing broken or fractured. Sara was a trooper throughout all the waiting, the poking and proding and even the X-rays. No formal diagnosis was given – the x-rays showed no sign of fracture (although they told us that fractures in young children often don’t show up until they are healing). We were told to monitor her temperature to make sure there was no infection in the joint and to keep her fairly still. (HA! A 2 1/2 year old STILL?!) This doctor obviously had no children of her own. We were also told to follow up with an orthopedic doctor in several days. The ER experience was only about 2 1/2 hours – I guess Wednesday nights are relatively quiet emergency wise. The following Wednesday (July 7th), we had an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic doctor. The wait in the exam room was over an hour and I think this doctor was a quack. The x-rays we took in her office did not show any fractures either so she said she wanted us to make an appointment for a bone scan. Now, a bone scan involves an injection and then 3 hours later coming back in and lying still for 25 minutes in a tube. Alone. Now, at least during both sets of X-rays Eric was with her and they were over within a couple minutes. How the hell do they expect a toddler to complete a bone scan?!?!? The next day Eric was at work and in a meeting that was rescheduled due to Sara’s previous Dr’s appointment. One of Eric’s co-workers asked about her and it just so happens that she was an Orthopedic PA. Eric told her the whole story. She said she’d be willing to bet that it was just a ligament strain and should be better in a week or so. Guess what? She was right! Motrin and decreased activity seemed to have done the trick and Sara is no longer limping. YAY!