Well, it has finally happened. We have our first broken bone. And since he’s never been one to do things half way, Fletcher decided to break not just one bone, but both bones in his leg. Yes, he broke both his tibia and his fibula near the ankle.
If you add up all the years of my children (and since three of them are having birthdays this upcoming week I’m adding those years too), it comes out to 79 years. So we’ve survived 79 “children years” without a broken bone. If you look at it that way, it’s not too bad. I’m just really hoping that this isn’t the start of a streak of some sort!!
Like many accidents, Fletcher wasn’t doing anything crazy. He simply jumped down the stairs (the way they all repeatedly do and the way they all are repeatedly told not to do). Somehow he landed wrong.
Jim put ice and compression on it, but a few hours later it was clear that he needed an x-ray. Fortunately I recently interviewed Kristie (a nurse practitioner) for a podcast episode on When to Visit the Doctor, so I had a good handle on what to do. Of course, the fact that Kristie was in the area and stopped by and looked at his ankle and told me to go the hospital also helped. LOL
The x-ray showed that both bones were broken, but that they were fortunately not displaced. This means they don’t have to do surgery!! So Fletcher got a temporary cast until the swelling goes down.
On Monday or Tuesday he’ll get a permanent cast for 6-8 weeks. I’m going to push really hard for a waterproof cast.
But until the new cast, he has to rest with his foot elevated and ice it every hour. I declared Indigo to be his nurse and she is taking very good care of him. She’s helping him with the food, ice, and entertainment.
And when she is otherwise occupied, he has his computer and his nook:
Anybody else dealt with children with broken bones (or maybe even yourself)? This is a new one for me. I’d love to hear about your experience and whether it was better or worse than you thought it would be!
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