THE BEGINNING
It all started a few weeks ago........
It was near bedtime and Braiden was complaining of pain in his thigh, we just chalked it up to growing pains, gave him a warm compress and called it a night. The next day I notice he had a bit of a limp. He would complain on and off for the next week or so about pain, but never really made a big deal about it. He was still running around like he always does. I started to suspect something was wrong, maybe he strained/sprained something. Then Tuesday (4/19/11) morning Braiden called to me from his room, he was sitting on the floor and he couldn't stand up, and he had to go potty. So, I was carrying him around all morning as it seemed to be getting worse. He was in a lot of pain, he couldn't straighten his leg or bend it without a great deal of pain. He was most comfortable with his hip and knee at approximately a 45 degree angle. Time to call the doctor.
THE DIAGNOSIS
I dropped Sebaztian off at school then Braiden and I went to the Doctor. I told her about the last week or so and she said we need to get an x-ray of his hips. This was not fun........we needed to get his leg "straight" .......I thought "Well this is going to be a bit of a problem." Getting his leg as straight as I can, he's crying, I'm crying and I tell them "This is as good as it's getting, take it NOW!". We wait for the radiologist to look the x-ray over, hoping we don't have to get anymore x-rays because that flat out sucked. Radiologist "Sees what he needed to see." Thank God! I have no idea what he sees yet. We go back to our room in the clinic and wait for the doctor. Doctor comes in and explains he has a hip condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease. Ok, what does that mean? He's going to be in a wheelchair for a long time, potentially years......... It was bad enough to see my child in such excruciating pain, now I'm being told he can't walk, run, jump, ride a bike...all the things he is supposed to do as a 4 year old. Tears streaming down my face as I am trying not to lose it in front of Braiden. He is crying "I don't want to have a wheelchair." Why didn't I have Erik come with..........
Due to the severity of Braiden's pain the doctor decided to admit him to Children's Hospital to get the pain under control before we bring him back home. I called Erik and broke the news......not good. Our hearts were breaking for our adventurous little man. I called my dad and let him know what was going and asked him to bring Erik to the Doctors office to be with me and Braiden. When dad and Erik got to the clinic I met them in the lobby and just cried and cried, something I couldn't do until now......I had to keep it together in front of Braiden as much as possible. While waiting for a room at the hospital the doctor went over the X-Ray with us. It was very apparent that the affected hip was not healthy. It was smaller than the left hip, you could see small fractures and dark areas were the bone had died. Finally, a room is available and we can get more comfortable.
THE HOSPITAL
So we are finally in the hospital and getting Braiden comfortable. It's much easier to keep him distracted from the pain with cartoons. After being in the clinic from 9:30am-1:00 pm poor Braiden was hungry, so we got him some lunch, got him nice and comfy in his bed and it wasn't long after he ate before he feel asleep. It was relief to see him at peace, even if for a few hours. When he woke from his nap we gave him some ibuprofen for the pain. The plan was to alternate ibuprofen and Tylenol....that plan didn't go so well. That first dose of ibuprofen was the only one I managed to get him to take. The first dose of Tylenol was supposed to happen at 8pm, I crushed it and put it in some ice cream (neither of my boys will take anything in oral suspension form). After about an hour of convincing, coercing and fighting I manage to get him to take it only to have him keep it in his mouth and get himself so worked up that he threw up. So, I call the nurse to help me get things cleaned up and I tell her "We're skipping that one." Braiden and I decide to watch Lion King before we go to sleep. Midnight comes, the nurse came to take his vitals and it is time for more ibuprofen. This also did not go well, both of us tired and frustrated, I am begging and pleading with him to take the ibuprofen then we can go back to sleep. After an hour of this I decide it is going nowhere...we are both way too tired and way to stubborn. I told the nurse to start an IV to give him his pain medication...we need to get some sleep. He actually handled getting an IV way better than taking the medication orally...go figure.
Morning comes too soon....
I wake to Braiden up on his knees trying to get to his water, he is clearly not in pain anymore. He has breakfast, the the Physical Therapist comes by to check his range of motion and to give me the exercises we need to do at home. The PT is impressed with how much better he is feeling and says she doesn't have any problem with sending him home today. YES! One hurdle crossed. Now to get him to take his medication orally, and get a wheelchair to come home with us. I told the nurse we are going to try the next scheduled meds orally. We get a wheelchair just to use in the hospital, we were getting bored and wanted to wander around. Time for Tylenol....we get 3 chewable tablets, I told the nurse I will get him to take 1. After about 20 minutes of convincing (we're improving) I get him to take 1 chewable Tylenol. The wheelchair to go home is on it's way. I find the nurse and let her know that she needs to take the IV out because I got him to take the 1 Tylenol tablet and then get our discharge under way. The nurse then tells me "We need him to take all three before I can take the IV out and send you home." My reply was "No, we are going home. I will have more success there. It is a control issue right now. The PT says he's good to go, the wheelchair is on the way.....we are leaving." The nurse replies "Well, if your confident."
We were out by noon...the nurse says that's a record.
