Baylee's school called to say that she had taken a fall during PE and someone needed to come pick her up immediately. I was conducting a job interview when they called me and so I didn't answer my phone. I mean seriously 99.9% of the time it's some electronic message from the PTA. They proceeded to call Jeramie and then my mum. Fortunately my mum already had the afternoon off work and she offered to go pick her up. I guess the school couldn't seem to get her off their property quickly enough. They were very anxious about the whole situation.
Now, let's put this into perspective. When Baylee was in maybe 1st or 2nd grade she fell over walking into school off the bus. The school did not call me, even though she was complaining her arm hurt all day until the day was over. Turned out she had a broken arm. Since then we've been pretty cognoscente to make sure that all her teachers know that Baylee has a very VERY high pain threshold thanks to PWS. So while she may not be sobbing in agony, you have to really watch for other signs, like swelling and the such. I will be the first to say that it is a very fine line with her because she does enjoy attention and she can be rather dramatic at times. But after talking to my mum once she'd picked her up she was pretty confident that Baylee should be seen by a doctor. Being the money conscious person that I am I started by calling her pediatrician for an appointment that day. When talking to the nurse it was very apparent that she didn't want to make time for Baylee to come in. Being very clear with me that since I hadn't actually seen her that I couldn't truly judge whether she needed to be seen or not. I was very clear with the nurse that she needed to inquire with the doctor (who knows that I don't bring my kids in for stupid reasons) before blowing me off. She came back to the phone and offered me a 4:30pm appointment. Of course.
I am so very very lucky that my mum was off and able to take Baylee in and I didn't need to leave work early. I'd already left early the day before because I myself had been really sick. And trust me I never call in sick or leave sick from work and have very little patience for my staff that do. It stressed me out to potentially have to leave early a second day in a row unexpectedly. So off they went to the 4:30 appointment. After a series of x-rays they determined that they could barely see ONE small fracture in her foot. But her doctor was much more concerned over the amount of pain Baylee had in her knee where they could find nothing wrong. So she felt strongly that we should take her over to the hospital to process through the Emergency room in order to get an Orthopedic consultation. Okay .. well this didn't sound good. By this time they'd been in the clinic for a couple hours and I had come home from work and picked up the boys and drive my mother in law home. So I went up to the clinic and swapped places with my mum, much to Baylee's disappointment. She not happy to be stuck with her lame mother that's for sure.
Getting her into the car for the drive over to Jordan Valley was difficult to say the least. It was very clear at this point even to me that she was in a great deal of pain. And not just being dramatic. Long story short we arrived at Jordan Valley at 6:45pm and did not leave until 2am. It was a LONG. NIGHT.
They did two sets of X-rays and then decided that they thought they "might" see something more. Again still focusing on the foot, not the knee. So we were then referred for a CT scan of the foot. At which point Baylee was done with being bounced from bed to bed and bended and molded for their pictures. Also, they had never given her ANYthing for the pain. She slept a lot, which I'm sure is why I think they just didn't see our case as a ER priority. We would wait 45 mins to go get an x-ray and then another 45 mins for someone to come back and read it. I hadn't eaten anything since my lunch at noon, I was tired, hungry and getting increasingly grumpy. Not to mention frustrated that the whole reason we were sent to the ER was to see an Orthopedist, yet that was NOT going to happen they told me very clearly unless something looked like it needed surgery right then and there.
It was this face she made every time she rolled over in her sleep.
After the CT scan the conclusion was that they could clearly see FOUR (not one) fractures in her foot. They kept saying to me, "Really, all she did was fall in PE doing high butt kicks?" Yep, that's what the school told me. It's sad, but honestly I'm really glad that it happened at school. Had it happened at home I'm sure they flat wouldn't have believed me that that's all that had happened. The nurse just kept telling me that I needed to see the x-ray because it was really bad and he couldn't believe she was being such a good sport about it. Baylee literally slept pretty much the entire time we were there. I was very grateful to have my Kindle because I read the entire time.
There was also still nothing identified in her knee. While it is grotesquely swollen there is nothing broken. So we walked out of there at 2am, well okay I walked out, she rolled out in a wheelchair, with nothing more than a referral to the orthopedist for sometime next week. This was what the pediatrician could have done. I'm a little frustrated by the experience. I know my pediatrician was being conservative, she's like that. But I really do feel like we wasted 7 hours and a lot of money to get no further than we were originally.
They put a splint on her foot and a brace on her knee.
Splint minus the knee brace.
The "Pelvic Pod" where we spent 7 long hours. Like that comfy chair??
Baylee is completely immobile at this point. She can't bear weight at all on the foot. Which means she can't climb all the way down to her bedroom in the basement. So she's sleeping on the couch indefinitely. Apparently insurance will only provide crutches, yet she can't use them. They will not cover a wheelchair but I can rent one if I feel I need one. Really? I get really tired of the fact that insurance companies are so narrow minded. They only see 15 year old her, of course she "should" be able to use crutches for a foot injury. However, Baylee can NOT. My wonderful work offered to let me borrow the wheelchair they have on site for now. I'm so relieved. A penny saved. It's not like we'll be going anywhere but it sure does make the trips to the bathroom just a little bit quicker.
Home by 2:30am, settled on the couch while I ate my dinner in the middle of the night.
Thank you SO much Mum for sending me home food!
We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. It's going to be a very long few days. I really really hope that she does NOT need surgery. I guess we will find out on Tuesday. My gut says she won't, but who knows. Right now she's home, not going to school because frankly I have no idea how to get here there and home. I'm not planning to send her back to school until we've seen the surgeon, but I guess we'll see how she's moving about by Monday. All in all, while she is in pain and that's very obvious she's in very good spirits.
And guess what .. there will be no food sneaking while she's laid out. BONUS!!!!
I'm so very very grateful for my amazing family. My Mum for spending her time off doing favors for me instead of enjoying the time off. Evan and Rachel for the text messages last night to find out what's going on. My Dad for calling first thing this morning to talk to her and get an update. Amber for dropping off a goodie bag when she dropped Xavier this morning. Mike for the text message this morning checking in. And all the kind well wishes on Facebook. I feel so lucky to have so many people in my life that care this much.
Baylee is lucky too!
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