Mother Knows Best

You know that old saying "Mother Knows Best?" Well I have a whole new belief in it.

Monday afternoon I got a call from Leo's daycare telling me that he was favoring his right arm, not letting anyone touch it, and not using it. I figured he'd dislocated his elbow again (he did it back in September) so I picked him up and took him to the ER. I told the nurses there what I thought the problem was and the doctor on call fidgeted with his elbow but didn't think it was dislocated. She ordered some x-rays and those came back normal. Leo was still not using his hand so we got more x-rays of his wrist. Well after about 2 hours, they basically told me "we don't know what's wrong so here's a splint and a phone number for an orthopedist." I called and made an appointment for Thursday but needed a referral from Leo's pediatrician for my insurance to cover it. And home we went.

Tuesday morning, Leo woke up with a fever of 101, and would not move or let me pick him up. So after dropping Shannyn off at Kindergarten, off to the ER we trucked again. The doctor that saw him diagnosed Leo with a cold and wanted to look at his x-rays from the day before and check out his arm while we were there. He didn't find anything on the x-rays and ordered more x-rays with a different view. 2-3 hours later, he came back and told me that Leo had a "bent" ulna in his arm. He said that because he was still young, the bone didn't break because it was still pliable. He said that it's still treated like a fracture and to keep the appointment with the orthopedist for Thursday. So back in the splint and home we went...with a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. Did you know they made Tylenol with codeine for 2 year olds?????

Which brings us to today. I got an appointment with Leo's pediatrician so I could get the referral to the orthopedist for tomorrow. The doctor came in, looked at Leo's arm for all of 2 minutes, fidgeted with it, and popped it back into place. He said there was no break, nothing wrong at all with his x-rays and that, yes, it was dislocated.

WHICH IS THE SAME THING I TOLD THE NURSES AND DOCTORS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM ON...wait for it.........MONDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you tell I'm frustrated?

Anyway, Leo's elbow is back in place, he's using his hand just fine, and doesn't seem to be in any more pain. Needless to say, I will not be taking Leo back to the hospital again for his elbow. I should have just taken him to his doctor in the first place but when your kid is hurt and hurt bad, you don't always think to call the doctor before heading to the ER. You just want your baby to feel better and feel better now.

And that's how my week started...........