About halfway through our party, Eva was turning the corner around our couch when she suddenly crumpled to the ground and started crying. There was nothing to trip on and she wasn’t even running, so I thought maybe she bumped her shin. It was hard to tell because she kept pointing to different spots whenever I’d ask “where does it hurt?” We finally figured she had sprained her ankle, so we put an ice pack on it, gave her some Tylenol, and propped her on the couch to watch a movie with her little friends. That night she woke a few times, but seemed fine in the morning. She wouldn’t put weight on it, and there was a slight bruise and faint swelling, but otherwise she didn’t seem to be in pain. The next night we gave her Motrin to help her sleep better (the weight of a blanket on her foot seemed to bother her), which she did.
We decided to go ahead and drive down to visit the grandparents as planned, but after 3 days of her refusing to walk, Grandma suggested we take her to a local urgent care for an x-ray, just in case. Grandma entertained Amanda in the waiting room while I carried Eva in to see the doctor. I showed Eva the big camera that would “take pictures” of her foot, and she was such a trooper! She cooperated with the technician, holding her foot exactly where he told her to, and when I’d tell her, “smile for the camera!”, she’d beam a big grin at us behind the little window. It was so cute!
Thankfully the images were digital, so we could see them immediately on the computer monitor, and the doctor confirmed that Eva had a “greenstick fracture” on her lower Tibia. Apparently children’s bones are so pliable that they can easily bend without much pressure. Her bone had buckled a bit on the side, but not broken all the way through. I still can’t believe she got such a big injury just from walking around the corner!
They made a custom splint out of cast material that I can put on with a bandage and remove when needed (like baths). It completely immobilizes her foot, just like a traditional cast. She’s already feeling confident enough to crawl across the floor or scoot around on her bottom, but mostly she wants us to carry her, calling “hold me!” every time she wants to be moved. She won’t be able to walk for at least a month, so I’m going to have to get creative at keeping a very active 3-year-old occupied while she’s laid up. Yikes!
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