I totally rock

When I was 8 I fell and broke my collar bone while rollerskating in the next door neighbor's driveway.  Mom didn't believe me that it really hurt so I think it was a little surprising to everyone but me when a full week later I finally was taken to the Dr. and it was discovered that it was broken.  I wore a lovely backbrace contraption thing under my clothes for a while and it was healed.  The memory of it, however, notsomuch.  I get it now, though.  When my kids say something hurts I console and cuddle, give ice and Motrin, and then wait it out.  I take the whole don't-mention-it-and-they'll-forget-about-it approach.  I think I know where I learned this now. 

Last Monday, ONE WEEK AGO, Drew fell while zipping around on her scooter in the backyard.  I actually saw it happen and new instantly it was a good fall.  She grabbed her ankle and I thought, "Oh, crap.  Here we go."  I picked her up while she was howling and put her in a chair while I did my mom examination.  "Does this hurt?  Does this hurt?"  The whole thing hurt and she just continued to cry.  Now I must say here that Drew is my tough girl.  She doesn't complain or whine about things physically bothering her.  You've been with me on the whole frenulectomy and ear tube surgery experiences and I think you've already gotten a sense of her tough-guy approach to things.  The downside to this is that I can't trust her.  She'll say something is ok or is feeling better when it may seem that way to her but it's just not so.  Anyway, we put her ankle up and she had ice on it for a while but then within the hour was up playing again.  I was relieved to see her playing and for some reason trusted that she was ok. That night she complained in the bath that it was hurting so I gave her some Motrin and off to bed she went.  Well, she limped everyday last week.  I kept looking at her ankle but I never saw any sign of real swelling and there was no bruising.  It didn't occur to me that there may be an internal fracture of some sort.  

Here we are a week later and after a night at my mom's with mom witnessing her limping and favoring her other foot, as well as a discussion of what mom though I should do (duh), I decided it would be a good idea to make an appointment to have it looked at.  After dropping William off at school today, all the girls went to the Dr.  He pointed out some obvious swelling and said it is most definitely sprained.  Drew was sent for an x-ray to make sure there are no fractures of any kind.  Where she points that it hurts the most is right on her growth plate so it's a good idea that I finally pulled my head out of my ass and took her in.  We expect to get the results from the radiologist by later this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest.  In the meantime she gets to wear this snazzy ankle brace which she actually doesn't mind at all.  We're to do Motrin every 6 hours for 5 days to get the swelling down, as well as ice every night.  NO park, trampoline, scooter, or bike for 10 days.  That's a long time.  What will we do?!  We'll figure it out.  I'm just hoping there is no fracture because fracture means cast which means... well, I don't know.  Not much fun for a while I guess.  

Oh, and at the end of the doctor explaining to Drew what she has to do to take care of it and what she can't play on for 10 days, he said, "Drew? Were you wearing shoes while you were riding your scooter?"  She said, "No."  He said, "Were you wearing a helmet?"  She said, "No."  He looked at me.  I fumbled and bumbled and said, "But she was just riding in the backyard.  Whenever we ride out front we do those things."  He said, "Riding a scooter is riding a scooter."  

No shoes, no helmet, waited a week.  I totally rock.

Awesome ankle brace