Three weeks ago we FINALLY had good weather after such a looooong winter. Austin was out running around with his neighborhood friends all day long. He played on the beach, was up and down the slide on the playset, and was running and jumping off the neighbors outdoor firepit onto the beach. He jumped off that firepit a few times before running off to do more boy stuff. I never witnessed him falling on his arm or shoulder. He also never came running to me telling me he hurt himself.
The next morning, Monday morning, Austin woke up crying and had Vaseline all over his neck. I have a tub of Vaseline in Austin's room because in the winter his face gets terribly dry, not to mention a horrible sore nose from all that wiping. He thought the Vaseline would help make his neck pain better. I got him some Motrin and assumed he had neck pain from muscle strain. All that jumping around and off surfaces, I thought he for sure jarred his neck. Days went on where he didn't like to be hugged tight, he didn't want to be picked up under his arms, and he had a hard time putting his arm through his shirts. As the week went on, and as he continued on Motrin, he was getting better. He even went to T-ball practice on Saturday, almost a week later, and even threw the ball around.
Oh, yesI forgot to mention this is all on his dominant arm which is his left.
One week later when I picked up Austin from school, I asked him, 'How's your neck buddy?' and sure enough he pointed right to his clavicle, in the middle, and says this is where it hurts right here. I took down his shirt and looked at both sides, and sure enough I could see a difference. The swelling had finally settled in and there was an obvious bump. I brought him in that night for an x-ray and the moment it was done, I could see the break from across the room.
It won't be the first time I am wrong or make a mistake as a mom. Don't know if my medical knowledge is helpful or hurtful at times. It helped to hear all the other stories from other moms who made their kids wait for x-rays, or wait to see the doctor for whatever reason.
So we happened to already be established with pediatric orthopedics since Austin was diagnosed with a baker's cyst behind his knee last year. I ended up calling the on-call ortho doc that night after we saw the results of the xrays. They happened to have a fracture clinic on Tuesday mornings that you could walk into. So I took him in and he got fit for a sling.
He immediately took it off. I put it back on. He took it off. And it was recommended for him to wear for 4 weeks. You can imagine what the next few weeks have been like. The sad thing is, that he went to all these T ball practices and his first game was the following Saturday. Sad face. Hopefully we will catch the end of the season and be able to play the last few games. We go back in 2 weeks for a repeat x-ray.
Austin wasn't too thrilled about the sling and when he went to school they decided to cheer him up by coloring and signing their names. After all the play and the wear of the free sling they gave us......you can't quite make out all the names or how cool it was once decorated.
Love you buddy.....sorry I made you wait a week for an x-ray. You are one tough little dude!
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