You know you have a child with special needs when you practically do a back flip in the specialist's office because your child ONLY has a broken toe... that is when the alternative could possibly be leukemia. Yesterday we got in to see the bone and joint doc and she did even more x-rays. Initially I think she missed the fracture too but what she saw on the film was new bone growth and they she magnified the image and looked closer. And there it was. A fine fracture of the metatarsal... in the head of the long bone on the big toe. She suspects that he could have gotten this sort of fracture from stubbing his toe really hard... but with Sam who knows. Since it is already healing and in place there was not much to do... so no cast. We will let him nurse it for a few more weeks but if he is not at least attempting to walk again in 2 weeks we will take him back for a follow up. So need less to say we are thrilled.
FYI for those of you who think I might be insane.... leukemia is a very common risk for kids with Down syndrome... something like 60%. Often times, especially when our kids are non verbal, the only way they have to tell us that something is wrong is by acting out or when they abruptly stop doing and activity that they usually do (such as walking, weight bearing, smiling, eating etc). but otherwise appear perfectly fine. In Sam's case he would not put weight on his left foot for nearly 2 weeks now and sadly not weight bearing is a big red flag.
Thank you thank you thank you for all our Down syndrome friends who asked about Sam's bloodwork (believe me I KNEW exactly what you were thinking). We did not do a CBC at this time but like I said... he will (regardless of how his foot is) have a complete blood work up during his surgery in a few weeks... more on that later. In the mean time we are doing the happy dance... over Sam's broken toe.
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Who would have thought we would do a"Whoo Hoooo" dance over a broken bone but ... "Whooo Hooo,Whoo Hoooo!" I hold my breath for every blood draw Zoey has every couple of months. Will I ever get use to it? I really don't think so. It is probably my biggest struggle on this journey and the fact that she is at an even higher risk then that of other Down syndrome children doesn't help.A bummer to say the least but absolutely, positively out of my control.Thanks for the heads up on the g-tube. Something to look forward to!
too much dancing perhaps? glad to hear it wasn't all that bad - and no cast is even better!
Great news!!! Seems so funny to say that... but I'd be doing the happy dance too, for sure!
Angela broke her foot when she was 3 1/2. Thankfully at the time I was blissfully ignorant about the symptoms of leukemia! LOL Anyway, she hopped off the bottom steps of our back cement steps, and when she landed she reached down and touched the top of her foot, said "Ow!" and kept on going. That night no weight bearing...or for the next 3 days. We happened to have an appointment with the developmental ped. who right then and there had the ortho xray it, but he couldn't see anything. He decided to err on the side of caution and casted the foot. 2 weeks later we went back for another xray, and there was new bone grown one one of the bones on the top of her foot. Everything seemed to be in the right place so he recasted it and sent us on our way.
Oh that is such a relief that it is just a broken toe. But how miserable for him. :( Praying it heals quickly!
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