Quick Advice Needed!!

[annasmom]

My nanny just called, Kieran fell and is not putting weight on his leg. He is happy and laughing, but will not walk. I am about an hour away, and am trying to figure out whether (1) we should wait; (2) she should go straight to the ER; or (3) the doctor's office. Ugh, I just left a message with the doctor's office. My dh works really close to where we live so this usually wouldn't be an issue, but he is in NYC all day today at client meetings.

I should just get in my car shouldn't I???

[missym]

I would take him to the ER, or the ped's office if they can see you right away. Better safe than sorry... sending good thoughts your way!

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

** Want a penpal for your BBB kiddo? Send an email to:
[email protected] **

[bcky2]

i would get in my car. i would go with your gut feeling on this one. it could just be a sprain but you never know.

[cmdunn1972]

Eileen, I think you just answered your own question! If you think it's best to get in your car to confirm a diagnosis, then do it. Your first instinct is probably the right one. (These are the kind of family emergencies that your work should be flexible about.)

Hopefully Kieran is reasonably okay! He sounds like a great kid! :)

[crl]

Assuming you have a cell phone so the dr's office can reach you, I would get in the car and hope that the nanny can meet you at the ped's office.

Hope it is nothing after all!

[pampamz]

Go.

Hey -- if nothing else, it's an excuse to get out of the rest of the work day and stay home!

[buddyleebaby]

Hope Kieran's ok! keep us updated!

[Jo..]

Hope he's okay, we'll be waiting to hear!

[g-mama]

I'd take him to the ER. Same thing happened when my oldest was 2.5 and at Mothers Day Out. He fell on a concrete surface, it didn't seem like a terrible fall they said, and he wouldn't put weight on it. Turns out he broke his leg and it was called a "toddler fracture" because that is such an extremely common break for that age.

Keep us posted.


~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[annasmom]

Thanks for the good wishes ladies. Well, the peds office caught me on my way out of the office and I got a quick appointment for him. I zoomed home and met my nanny at the office. By the time I got there, the doctor was done examining him, and he was as happy as a clam. He still won't put all of his weight on his leg, so we have to watch him. The ped said if he wakes up tomorrow with a limp or still not putting pressure on it, we will have to go for x-rays. But he is happy and ready to go, so hopefully that is a good sign!

[brittone2]

I'd want an xray for DC.

I'll cross my fingers that it isn't a fracture and that he's feeling better very soon!

[annasmom]

Kristen - Was Paolo in pain?? I ask because Kieran is quite content, but still not putting any weight down on his leg. I really hope he wakes up tomorrow morning and starts running!

[s_gosney]

Eileen-
Glad to hear he's feeling somewhat better at least. We recently went through a similar ordeal and I thought I'd share my experience. DD jammed her leg into the side of a slide coming down on my sister's lap and cried hard for a little bit and wouldn't put weight on it. We went to the ER for xrays and they didn't show anything. We were told to wait and have it re-xrayed in 5-7 days if she wasn't better. Well, that time passed and she still wasn't willing to walk on it. You could put pressure on it in nearly any direction and she wouldn't grimace or cry (by day 5), but she showed no inclination to walk. We went to our ped who ordered more xrays, including films all the way up to the hip to see if anything was messed up anywhere along the full leg. This second round of x-rays also showed nothing, so the ped referred us to an orthopedic specialist. We saw him and he also couldn't see anything on any of the films and dd was still not walking. He diagnosed it as a "toddler fracture" which is a spiral fracture of the tibia that is frequently difficult to see on xray. He said that sometimes they splint them, but only if the leg seems to be bugging the child. As my dd had quickly adapted to crawling (weird to have a crawling 2 y/o) and didn't seem to be in pain when crawling, we chose not to splint it and let it heal naturally. DD was back to walking by about the 2 1/2 week mark, I'd say.
This whole mess was really hard because it felt like no one could tell us anything definitive, and I wanted to know why my high-energy child refused to walk, kwim? Dh even started suggesting that she was doing it for attention or maybe just because she was scared it might hurt. I was convinced that the injury was real though, because seriously what 2 y/o can remember for weeks that their foot hurts and keep straight which one is the bad one, etc?
Oh yeah, that reminded me of something else. DD always said that her foot hurt, but the diagnosis was actually for a break in the leg, but the docs all said it was normal for toddlers to refer pain like that.
Don't know if that helps you any, but I thought I'd share just in case it would. Also, when I looked around online for info on toddler's fractures I saw the abstract of a study published in a medical journal (I couldn't get access to the full article) that talked about the over-diagnosis of toddler's fracture. They did xrays after a certain amount of time (maybe 2 weeks?) when there should be evidence of healing if a fracture really occurred and found that in many cases it appeared that there never was a fracture. I thought that was interesting, but don't know what it really matters since the "treatment" just involved letting it naturally heal.
Anyway, I'll end this novel now. I hope your ds gets back to walking soon! I know how hard it is.

[s_gosney]

Oops! Didn't read the replies before I responded. My post below details our experience with a toddler fracture and my dd was also quite happy throughout the non-walking phase after the initial pain wore off.

[cmdunn1972]

Eileen, thanks for the update. Let us know how he is tomorrow morning! *crossing fingers*

[mudder17]

Sorry about Kieran, Eileen. :( I hope it's something that will heal quickly! I'm glad he seems to be happy, though!


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 28 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[annasmom]

Thanks so much everyone, and thanks for sharing your story Sherri. It is really interesting that nothing could be found on x-rays, that must have been really frustrating for you!

Kieran was actually back up and running last night, and is up to his regular mischief this morning so I think we are in the clear!

[mommyoftwo]

I'm so glad to hear that Kieran is doing fine. They sure know how to do things to scare us, don't they? I hope today is less eventful for you.

[cmdunn1972]

That's great, Eileen! What a relief that you got your sweet little troublemaker back. ;) :)

[dawell0]

Good to hear that Kieran is fine.

[mudder17]

Yay! That's great to hear!

Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 28 months...
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_-6_Kaya+is.png
http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[hez]

I'm happy to hear your scare was only a scare and nothing serious. Hugs!

[s_gosney]

good! I'm so glad to hear the good news!