With all the reading and research I do on the internet (want to find adoption blogs?? know how starfish eat?? - which incidentally is very gross) you would have thought I would have looked up "femur fractures" before now.
But silly me, I didn't. Until today.
If I had, I would have known that getting all those extra x-rays and being asked to repeat the story of Owen's fall over and over and over again to medical professionals was normal.
I would have known that femur fractures peak in the 2- to 3- year old range and in adolescence.
I would have known that the big blue cast is actually called a spica cast ... and I might have found this helpful blog post about keeping the spica cast clean ... and best of all, I would have been able to show Owen a picture of another little boy his age in a cast like his (which I did today.)
I might have discovered this patient care/cast care guide (or this one) before today (but I'm glad I have them now.)
And I definitely would have been even more thankful that Owen's was a closed femur fracture; that it was not comminuted; and that it appears the cast will be on for about 7 weeks instead of 8-12 as some sites indicate.
God is good.
But silly me, I didn't. Until today.
If I had, I would have known that getting all those extra x-rays and being asked to repeat the story of Owen's fall over and over and over again to medical professionals was normal.
I would have known that femur fractures peak in the 2- to 3- year old range and in adolescence.
I would have known that the big blue cast is actually called a spica cast ... and I might have found this helpful blog post about keeping the spica cast clean ... and best of all, I would have been able to show Owen a picture of another little boy his age in a cast like his (which I did today.)
I might have discovered this patient care/cast care guide (or this one) before today (but I'm glad I have them now.)
And I definitely would have been even more thankful that Owen's was a closed femur fracture; that it was not comminuted; and that it appears the cast will be on for about 7 weeks instead of 8-12 as some sites indicate.
God is good.
2 comments:
Stephanie, I'm so glad my blog was of help to you. From speaking with other parents, I've found that the length of time a child wears a hip spica cast can vary widely. The father of a 2.5 yr. old said his child only wore one for six weeks, and after my son had his hip spica cast fitted the doctor said he may wear it as long as three months, so I guess it depends on the individual, the rate of healing, etc.
Re the many, many times hospital staff ask you how your child broke his leg, I got the impression they were trying to determine whether I abused my child or not. They even asked my son directly how he broke his femur (my son didn't understand, so I answered for him.) You can't blame them for trying to determine this; they are, after all, only doing so in the best interests of the child.
My heart goes out to you and your son. I hope you can find people to help out, as you're going to need it. But when it's all over, and your son's leg is healed (and time will fly, you'll be so busy), life will suddenly seem easy.
So funny : ). I do that sometimes too. I can't believe you are going to be 5 minutes from the beach! That is just TOO cool! I know you will miss your family though. I'm praying for you today! And your boys!
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