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OT: Baby's Leg Broken!
I am soo sorry it happened. You and yours definately have our prayers.
God bless, Brian
Julie Macfarlane
"Its not just a car! Its an adventure!"
1981 MKI 2L 16v w 2Y
Amsterdam NY
>From: "Brian Haygood" <haygood@myway.com>
>Reply-To: haygood@myway.com
>To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>Subject: OT: Baby's Leg Broken!
>Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 01:26:35 -0400 (EDT)
>
>
>What a day. I can't even find an adjective to put in that last sentence.
>
>
>
>This morning my wife noticed that our 8-week-old son's left upper thigh was
>swollen pretty remarkably. We have noticed in the past couple of days that
>he cries loudly when we change his diapers - moving his legs around, and
>wondered if he had a problem with his hip. We called 5 doctors we know or
>Julie works with, and the ones we got in touch with said that since he is
>comfortable and actually pretty happy and active, we should take him to a
>pediatric orthopoedist on Monday morning. When my Dad got the message, he
>said he would come look at Travis.
>
>
>
>Dad noticed that the swelling was more in the middle of the thigh than the
>hip. We found no bite marks or redness, so we decided to get an X-Ray.
>The X-ray was truly unbelieveable. It took my breath away. The left femur
>(thigh bone) is broken clean in two right in the middle. There was a gap
>between the halves that you could stick your finger through. We have no
>idea why Travis wasn't complaining about such a horrible looking injury.
>
>
>
>We called in an orthopod and got a cast on him. We took some more X-rays
>and an MRI to check for tissue damage and look for bone abnormalities. No
>MRI results yet. X-rays look good to the doctor; he got the bone lined up
>reasonably well. Apparently for a baby this will be more than good enough
>since they heal so well. Still scary looking to me. I had to climb into
>the MRI tube with Travis to support his head and hold his hand. I talked
>to him for a while and he fussed slightly when the horrendous noises
>started then fell asleep - he was by now about 4 hours behind on naptimes.
>
>
>
>The cast is huge. I'm sure it weighs more than he does. You can see the
>tips of his toes on each foot, and it goes all the way up to the middle of
>his chest. His legs are flexed up and out a bit and there is a brace
>between his knees. He will probably have to get a new cast in 3 or 4 weeks
>because he is growing so rapidly, and the casts will be on for a total of 4
>or 5 weeks. The cast has a large cutout for his privates, which we are
>told (and believe) will be impossible to keep clean. We can't get the cast
>wet.
>
>
>
>We have no idea how this happened. The break is clean, not splintered or
>comminuted (smashed into bits). The X-ray looks to me like it shows a
>somewhat torsional fracture, but the Dr. said only somewhat torsional.
>There are no bruises or cuts anywhere on him. He has been in our care or
>my parents' care for the past several days. We are hoping that there isn't
>some bone defect that has weakened his bones, but we are told we would have
>seen more trouble than this by now if that were the case.
>
>
>
>The only thing we can come up with relates to our almost 3 year old son
>Thai. Thai is very excited about Baby Travis and likes showing off for him
>and "holding" him. By that I mean that we let him put his arms around him
>while we do the real holding. Thai also likes to give everyone hugs and
>kisses when he goes to sleep. Thai doesn't seem to realize that he is
>putting a lot of weight on the baby when he leans on/over him to kiss him
>at times. Now I don't know how much force it takes to break a little
>femur, but the only thing I can figure is that Thai must have climbed on
>Travis' leg to give him a kiss when Travis was in his bouncer. We keep the
>two pretty closely watched, but this is the only scenario that even half
>way makes sense. No one knows of any big event where Travis cried out when
>Thai was around him, and they aren't even on the same level often at all,
>especially not without us around. Travis has been so comfortable and quiet
>throughout the whole process
>that maybe we wouldn't have noticed anything. Whatever happened we are all
>confused, shocked and saddened by the whole thing.
>
>
>
>What a sad thing for a little guy to have to go through. The next 3/4 of
>his life (6 weeks) will be pretty uncomfortable, but it looks like he'll be
>fine after that. We are home now and he is trying to sleep. He is not
>sleeping too soundly. It is hard to burp him and he has been having
>trouble in that area already. He doesn't fit in his car seat because his
>legs are spread apart in the cast. We tried at the hospital to support him
>in it somehow, but we all agreed it couldn't really be done, so Julie held
>him in the back of the van. I never drove so slowly. I have a spare car
>seat I will have to cut the sides off of for his legs to clear it, but it
>should work quite well then. I'm also thinking of making a fiberglass
>"splash" of his whole body to make sort of a seat he will fit in around the
>house. Diaper changes are a two man ordeal. My wife can't really even
>pick him up because he is so heavy and cumbersome.
>
>
>
>I'm thankful that he is healthy overall. There really are many worse
>things that could happen to any of us. I'd still appreciate any extra
>prayers anyone could include us in. Julie's work has been exhausting
>because her partner is in the middle of a two week vacation. I'm in the
>final running for a two week contract to finish the design of some
>helicopter parts, and if I get that I will be swamped with work as well.
>We have a good network and helpful family, so we'll make it.
>
>
>
>Thanks for letting me rant/vent, etc. What a day.
>
>
>
>
>
>Brian
>
>Tyler, TX
>
>
>
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