Doug and Jessica Goodwin: November 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Rachel's Broken Leg

On Monday, October 17, I heard the gate at the top of the stairs sliding open. It makes a tell-tale sound scraping metal on tile. I thought that perhaps I should sprint into the front room and stop Rachel. But, Rachel has been up and down the stairs a hundred times. I decided to let her go. I figured she was headed to visit her dad in the basement. He would love a surprise visit.

My thoughts had barely registered when I heard crying. She was in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. For the next hour I thought her inconsolable crying was just a bid for attention. She cried through lunch. Then when I set her down on the floor to walk to her nap she crumpled again. I carried her to her room and put her in bed. 10 minutes later I realized that she might have a break or at least a sprain. So, with an apology on my lips and children's motrin in hand, I returned to her room. She cried for another 5 minutes or so, then she fell asleep.

She woke up 2.5 hours later. The wailing began as soon as I lifted her out of her crib and set her on the floor. I asked her to help me find the pain. She pointed to her right leg. So I thoroughly explored it. She never winced once as I poked and prodded. But, to be on the safe side, I decided to grab her left leg to lift her up to change her diaper. As I did so she let out a terrible scream. Boy was I a sorry parent!

We took her to Instacare. Indeed, there was a break in the leg, possibly two. But that didn't stop me from slamming her head into the big light above the x-ray table for good measure. Poor girl. They put a splint on it and sent us home. She was a good girl. She sat on the couch and iced her leg, watched TV, colored and read books. Some of our friends brought her presents. She got a whole fairy care package with a balloon, book, crayons, coloring book, stickers and a fairy wand. She also received a beautiful doll. Their kindness makes me want to be a better neighbor and friend. She, and I, really needed it.

That Friday we took her to get more x-rays and her cast.

She was very brave and happily greeted the doctor. Her only reticence was when he pretended to eat one of her fruit snacks. Boy did she scowl.

She had her red cast on for 3 weeks. Then, when we returned for her new smaller cast they said she didn't need one any more. She was actually visually disappointed.

She has been cast free for almost a week now. Yesterday was the first day she traveled much without crawling. She's resilient though. I have no doubts that she will be running in no time.