The tale of a little broken leg

Last Tuesday, our morning routine was proceeding as usual.  I was getting ready in the bathroom (hair, makeup) and Emily was sitting on the counter right in front of me.  Megan decided to play sweater tug-of-war with her.  All of a sudden, Megan pulled a little too hard and Emily came off of the counter, slid down the cabinets, and landed on her little bum (or so I thought).  She cried pretty hard - I thought she was just scared.

We headed into Salt Lake and met my sister and her kids at Gardner Village.  Emily was miserable the whole time.  It was really hard to tell, though, if it was her leg, her foot, or if she just really needed a nap.  After a fun day in Salt Lake, we headed back into Tooele.  Emily was acting as if nothing was wrong - rolling around, laughing, playing.  I put her to bed and she slept all night as usual.

The next morning, I knew something was wrong.  She wouldn't put weight on her leg and was crying when you touched it.  I took her to Dr. Gould's office that afternoon.  After an x-ray done at the hospital, it was determined that Emily had a non-displaced buckle fracture of the tibia.  A minor break (luckily).  Dr. Gould's office put a splint on Emily's leg that went up to her knee.  We were to follow up at the orthopedist's office in one week.

The splint wasn't horrible except for the fact that Emily was supposed to be non-weight bearing.  Hah...  Try telling that to an 18-month-old.  She kept standing up on it and has a huge sore on the bottom of her heel. 

Today we went to Dr. Douglas' office.  They took another x-ray.  Yup - still broken.  You can see the fracture line right above the growth plate.  Because the fracture is in a major weight-bearing bone, Emily needs to not put any weight on that leg until it is healed.  The PA's solution to this was to put a new splint on - this time it goes up to her thigh, with her knee bent.  It literally brushes the edge of her diaper.  This definitely keeps her from putting weight on it - she can't stand.  Nor can she crawl.  Poor little thing...  We lovingly call her our gimpy child.  :-)

Good news is that she might be able to get it off next week.  Children's bones heal very quickly and with her fracture being right next to the growth plate, that new bone should form rapidly.  They will take another x-ray again next Tuesday and see if she can walk on it.

Between 2 new molars and a broken leg, poor Emily has been fairly miserable.  Luckily we have a supply of Motrin here.  And now we have a great excuse to carry her around and love on her even more.  Because she still wasn't really walking before the splint went on, I'm a little concerned about her walking after it comes off.  I guess time will tell...

Here are some pictures of Emily with the first splint and then the one she got today. 

 

 

 (Don't mind the very soggy diaper)