Well, it's official. We have our first broken bone.
All that trampoline jumping this past weekend caught up with us.
On Sunday Owen and Aiden were jumping on the trampoline together. Owen landed wrong and immediately started crying and wouldn't put weight on his foot. I took him inside, sat with him for a little bit and he slowly started to put weight on it. I debated taking him in to the walk-in right then, but he seemed to be moving around ok so I decided to give it some time.
While we were driving back home on Monday, Ryan and I were talking and felt it would be best to take him in for peace of mind. He seemed to be moving around on it ok, but he was still walking on his toes not wanting to put full pressure on it. It was also pretty swollen and black and blue. We wanted to be sure it was nothing more than a sprain. And if it was a sprain, what were the best things we could do to help it heal properly. He's such an active kid and we didn't want something like this to come back and affect him when he was older.
They took x-rays at the doctor's office and she said they looked ok for the most part, but she was unsure of an area by the growth plate. She told us because of his age, the position of the growth plates, and the fact that he was not wanting to put pressure on it, she wanted us to see the pediatric orthopedic specialist. She put a splint on it (which is the equivalent of the back half of a cast wrapped with a sticky ace bandage) and made an appt for us to go back on Wednesday to see the specialist.
I figured the splint was a good thing because if anything it would help him rest his ankle. But then she let us know he would not be able to walk or put any pressure on that foot with
the splint on. What?!? Anyone who knows Owen knows that he has one speed..running.
How was I going to keep him off his feet until Wednesday morning?? The answer..lots of
movies and ipad games. He actually did really well. He didn't move off of the couch even
once. I think it helped that he was so tired from the weekend. It was the perfect day to veg
out. We went and picked out his own special movie and he was happy to relax.
Wednesday morning came and we went to the doctor. I was sure they had just been overly cautious on Monday and they were going to tell me it was only a sprain. Unfortunately that was not the case. They took the splint off, the doctor looked at his foot and then watched him walk on it. Her diagnosis, a broken bone/fracture on the outside of his foot. She explained that how adults and kids injure their bones/joints are completely different. When an adult hurts their ankle, for example, it is the tendon or ligament that gets sprained first. If it is bad enough, the bone breaks. With kids Owen's age, it is the opposite. Typically broken bones happen first. I'm not sure if that is because their tendons and ligaments aren't strong enough yet, or what exactly causes that. Truth be told I was trying to keep both Joe and Owen calm while she was explaining all of this so it's a little fuzzy.
To stabilize his foot and help the bone heal, Owen would be put in a walking (or in Owen's case, running) cast for 3 weeks. There is a small shoe that he wears with it to not only protect the cast, but give him some traction as the cast itself can be quite slippery on certain surfaces. I had never actually seen a cast put on before, so it was quite interesting.
They start with a thin sock, and then wrap it with cotton padding.
Next comes a layer or two of a neutral colored fiberglass. It comes out of the package dry, they get it wet and wrap it around his leg. After just a minute or two it dries and hardens.
They finish with a colored layer of fiberglass. Owen chose light blue.
The finished product, a perfectly light blue cast that any 3 year old would be proud of.
And with Joe as your moral support, everything seems a little easier.
Hopefully these next 3 weeks fly by.
the splint on. What?!? Anyone who knows Owen knows that he has one speed..running.
How was I going to keep him off his feet until Wednesday morning?? The answer..lots of
movies and ipad games. He actually did really well. He didn't move off of the couch even
once. I think it helped that he was so tired from the weekend. It was the perfect day to veg
out. We went and picked out his own special movie and he was happy to relax.
Wednesday morning came and we went to the doctor. I was sure they had just been overly cautious on Monday and they were going to tell me it was only a sprain. Unfortunately that was not the case. They took the splint off, the doctor looked at his foot and then watched him walk on it. Her diagnosis, a broken bone/fracture on the outside of his foot. She explained that how adults and kids injure their bones/joints are completely different. When an adult hurts their ankle, for example, it is the tendon or ligament that gets sprained first. If it is bad enough, the bone breaks. With kids Owen's age, it is the opposite. Typically broken bones happen first. I'm not sure if that is because their tendons and ligaments aren't strong enough yet, or what exactly causes that. Truth be told I was trying to keep both Joe and Owen calm while she was explaining all of this so it's a little fuzzy.
To stabilize his foot and help the bone heal, Owen would be put in a walking (or in Owen's case, running) cast for 3 weeks. There is a small shoe that he wears with it to not only protect the cast, but give him some traction as the cast itself can be quite slippery on certain surfaces. I had never actually seen a cast put on before, so it was quite interesting.
They start with a thin sock, and then wrap it with cotton padding.
Next comes a layer or two of a neutral colored fiberglass. It comes out of the package dry, they get it wet and wrap it around his leg. After just a minute or two it dries and hardens.
They finish with a colored layer of fiberglass. Owen chose light blue.
The finished product, a perfectly light blue cast that any 3 year old would be proud of.
And with Joe as your moral support, everything seems a little easier.
Hopefully these next 3 weeks fly by.
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