Cast/Foot Update

Today we went to see Dr. Frierson, a pediatric orthopedic in Baton Rouge for Baylor's followup. The first thing they had to do was cut of his cast with this loud saw. Suprisingly, Baylor did very well and only let out one or two whimpers but no bouts of hysterical crying, thank goodness.

We got to keep his cast as a souvenir!

After we got the cast off, we went for more xrays. Dr. Frierson came in to assess Baylor's leg and talk to us about the xrays but there were still no signs of a fracture in Baylor's ankle or foot. He asked if Baylor had been sick the week or two before and I told him yes, a nasty sinus infection that went away on it's own, just like all the other ones he gets every few months. He told me that it is very common this time of the year for kids to get sick and the fluid/infection ends up settling in their joints or synovial cavities. He was 100% sure Baylor had "synovitis" in his ankle/foot from his recent sinus infection. Synovitis is just inflamation of the synovial membrane that lines the joint. (This is also what Scott suggested to the other Dr. in Mobile that just blew us off!) He told me to keep him on Motrin for a couple of days so his leg wouldn't get stiff and he would be good to go. And that he was..... go, go, go. He got that cast off and kept going. He was a happy camper!

Of course I didn't even think to bring his other shoe. The whole week I only had to worry about one. Thank goodness we didn't have any errands to run afterwards.

A Cast for Christmas

On Wednesday around 11 A.M., Baylor walked into the other room for maybe 20 seconds by himself and when he returned he had this "mysterious limp" in his right leg. We never heard anything fall, he never cried. Nothing. Scott, his parents, brother and I all noticed it and looked at each other like "somethings not right". As the hour went on, the limp got worse. Scott poked and prodded Baylor's hips and legs but nothing seemed to bother him. I tried to lay Baylor down for a nap at 12:30 but being unsuccessful in doing so, I let him down out of the chair and that's when he almost tumbled over. That's when we decided to call an Orthopedic Pediatrician in Mobile. They were able to get us in for 2 P.M. that day thankfully. By the time we made it to the doctor's office, Baylor couldn't even stand up on his right leg to walk. It was scary, to watch your child go from running that morning to not even being able to walk and not knowing what caused it. Once the dr. assessed Baylor, he decided to do some xrays. This was not a pleasant experience: a big dark room with big machines and having to sit completely still is not fun for a 2 year old. Once the xrays came back, the dr. came in to talk to us. Nothing showed up on the xray but in kids, if they fracture something, it doesn't show up until the bone starts healing in a week or so. Scott googled "2 year old with sudden limp" and all this stuff came up about infections, Perth's disease and toxic synovitis. So when the dr. told us he thought he just sprained his ankle or had a stress fracture, Scott told him about his google research and pushed for them to do blood work. The Dr. told Scott we were thinking worse case scenario and overreacting. I thought these two were going to start going at it with all the tension you could feel in the room but I mean what would it of hurt to do some blood work, that's what I have insurance for right? He reassured us it wasn't nothing to worry about and to just have a follow up at home in BR when we got home from Christmas vacation. Regardless, Baylor could not walk so they had to cast his leg, for support and for what ever was wrong to heal. The process actually went over very well. Baylor flirted enough with a nurse enough to get a cookie and then get a sucker before the process began:

We picked out Christmas Green for his cast to celebrate this unwanting Christmas present. They also gave Baylor a little gripped boot to put on over his cast to keep it from getting dirty and so he wouldn't slide all over the floor. Believe me, this cast did not slow down my baby one bit! He still ran (yes ran), jumped on the bed, played and rode his tricycle. By the time we finished up at the dr. and made it home, my little guy crashed at 5 p.m., in the car, a few minutes from the house. We brought him inside and let him take a cat nap under the tree:

What an eventful, nerve-racking Christmas experience this was! I never could have imagined Baylor would be in a cast before the age of 3 for no apparent reason at all! I knew a cast would possibly be in our future but for crazy reasons like diving off the bed or jumping of the climbing castle outside or falling off his skateboard or bike, typical boy behavior. What a bazaar Christmas present!? Follow up is scheduled next Wednesday with Dr. Frierson in Baton Rouge.