A Trip to the ER

With Sarah this time and not Rebekah.

The girls were playing yesterday and Sarah fell backward against the couch and then Rebekah fell on top of her. After that Sarah wouldn't take more than 2 or 3 steps without stopping, screaming and grabbing her left leg. We called the pediatrician's office and spoke with the on call nurse. She suggested we give her some motrin and see how she is doing in an hour. If she was still hurting after an hour, then we should take her to the ER for xrays. Well, she was still having problems an hour later, so Mommy and Sarah head to the hospital. Grandma M stayed home with Rebekah. It was rather strange to be taking Sarah to the hospital instead of Rebekah.

At the ER, they took xrays of her left leg which didn't show any fractures. By the time we were seen in the ER, Sarah was walking OK and wasn't really acting hurt. The ER doc suggested that we do not give her any more pain meds (that might cover the pain so that we couldn't see it) and see how she was doing in the morning. If she was acting fine, then don't worry. If she still had problems, she should see an orthopedic doctor and he gave me the names and number for the pediatric orthopedic doctors at the hospital.

Well, this morning when I set her down she took two or three steps and cried (not as loudly as the day before), grabbed her leg and wanted Mommy to pick her up. Not really what I wanted to see. So just after 8am, I called the orthopedic doctor's office and left a message to try to schedule an appointment. They called back and we set the appointment for 3pm. After a while, Sarah was doing ok - walking fine and generally seeming ok. Really, for the rest of the day, she has done fine. We kept her appointment, anyway, just to have her checked.

The orthopedic doctor didn't see anything on the xrays either. He examined her, looking to see if she would wince (or otherwise express pain) and she didn't. He said that even with a hairline fracture she would wince, so he is pretty sure that she doesn't have any fracture. It is probably something in her soft tissue - like a bruise. She may have better times and worse times and if she is still having problems in a week, we should schedule another appointment.

It is good to know that there doesn't appear to be a fracture. Now let's hope that she continues to improve and we don't have to follow up.

Throughout the last two days, any time Sarah saw antibacterial hand wash on the wall, she had to have her hands washed. It was really cute to see. How many 19 month olds do you know who would recognize the hand wash and tell you that they wanted their hands washed? She is a smart little girl.

Nothing much is new with Rebekah. Daddy got to pick her up from school today, while Mommy took Sarah to the doctor. She seemed to like having Daddy time and riding in Daddy's car.