A Broken Leg

Last Sunday was the Spring Festival at my school so we decided to go after Hannah and Owen's nap.  I had volunteered to work the inflatable for 30 minutes and figured they could just play while I worked.  They were so excited and were squealing with delight as we pulled up to my school.  We jumped out of the car and bought each of them a wristband for unlimited games and inflatables (a total of $10) and headed off the find the inflatable.  They were super excited because they have just recently started getting in inflatables.  At the firefighters games the day before they went in the giant fire truck slide and the obstacle course several times.  Well they got their shoes off and got in line and made up the ladder and down the slide.  And then that's when it happened...as Owen was getting off the slide his foot came down right on top of a kid's shoe that had been left on the ground at the base of the slide.  He rolled his ankle and fell down crying.  We knew he had done something because Owen is pretty easy going and gets over things quickly and he kept crying and crying.  We got him to put his foot down once, but you could tell it was painful.  We tried ice cream from the ice cream to redirect him until we could reassess it.  Before we headed out I grabbed our PE teacher (an athletic trainer) to take a look at it.  He moved it all around and pushed up into his foot and Owen never flinched.  So we determined it was a sprain and he'd soon feel better.  Later that evening he wouldn't put any weight on it, but we wondered if was just because he remembered it being so painful when it happened.  We applied ice and wrapped with an ace bandage and he never really complained.  That night he slept fine, but the next morning he still wouldn't put weight on it.  During the day he played fine and slept fine and didn't complain.  So we decided to give it another 24 hours of ice and rest, but by Wednesday morning when he would still not touch his toes to the floor we knew he needed an x-ray.

 Owen's left leg with ice and and ace bandage around it.

Does this look like a kid who's in pain?

Maybe it was just Hannah keeping him entertained while she attempted to put her pajamas on by herself.

Because we all laughed about this.

On Tuesday afternoon I left school when the buses pulled out and took Owen to Kid Med for an x-ray.  He was trooper and made all the nurses smile.  He was treated to a Popsicle, stickers, and a lollipop while we were there.  After the nurse practitioner looked at the x-rays she informed me that he had indeed broken his fibula.  She referred us to an orthopedist for children and they splinted Owen's leg with a rigid splint.

On Wednesday we took Owen to the orthopedist and found out he had a buckle fracture not an actual break in the bone.  Basically his bone buckled out when he rolled his ankle, but it did not break.  So his bone has a slight wave to it where it should be a continuous and smooth curve.  This was good news to us because it meant that Owen could wear a boot instead of a cast.  The boot will help straighten it back out and new bone will fill in as well as he grows.  He has to wear the boot for 3 weeks and then we will go back for another x-ray.  Owen was a little disappointed he didn't get to pick an orange cast, but we are happy the boot can be taken off for baths and that he doesn't have to sleep in it.  Mommy is happy that lining can be washed because Owen is your typical dirt loving little boy.

 At the doctor's office.

 Owen has a lot of stroller rides in his future (at least for the next 3 weeks) since the boot is heavy and hard to walk in for long distances.

 Mr. Josh, our neighbor, helps Owen practice walking in the boot to check out his garden next door.  Half way there Owen said, "I ran out of gas!".

By the next day Owen figured out how to walk independently.  We did have to get him a new pair of tennis shoes with a thicker sole to make walking with the boot a little easier.  He has been really good about putting it on first thing in the morning and wearing it all day along with a shoe on his other foot.  I think he has realized it is helping to make his leg feel better.  He is already able to put his injured leg back on the ground and is bearing a little weight on it.