Toddler's Fracture

JT didn't take long to jump full force into being a toddler. Just 2 days after turning 1, JT had his first major injury. Toddler's Fracture is the official diagnosis- which is specific to toddlers/preschoolers and it's a lower leg fracture (shin bone) that occurs from a slip or fall when the child loses their footing. They are quite common from what I have read. They rarely show up on x-rays because their bones are not calcified enough, but after the bone heals, it then shows the new bone growth. Okay, enough of the medical stuff.

JT had a what seemed like a minor fall at home but when he stood up he was limping and not wanting to bear weight on his leg. we observed him, gave Tylenol, and held JT the little bit that was left in the night (this happened close to bedtime Thursday). Praying it was just some type of muscle pull, we placed JT to bed and would determine what to do the next morning depending on how he behaved.

The next day he seemed a bit worse, favoring to crawl and limping a great deal. So I made an appointment to with our pediatrician that morning. After seeing Dr. Holzen, she thought it would be best to bring JT down to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital ED for evaluation since it was Friday and she didn't want any delay in getting care. By then it was almost noon and I stopped by at home to gab a few things for JT and pick up John who took off work when he heard where we were headed.

We arrived at Vandy around 12:30 and got checked in and taken back to a room rather quickly. Hoping this was a good sign. The resident Dr evaluated JT and she thought it sounded more than likely to be the Toddler's Fracture, but we needed to run some blood work to rule out any type of inflammatory markers that would cause the limping. We were told JT couldn't have anything to eat/drink until the labs came back in case they needed to do anything further. The lab should be back in an hour and that was at about 3ish. Didn't mention that JT had last eaten at 9am and I wasn't thinking about no eating in the ED or I would have given him something prior to arriving.

Well, 1 hour turned to 2 and before long I went out to the nurses to ask when to expect results because our little man was having major meltdowns from being very hungry and tired. They attempted to locate the labs but long story short, they never got anything beyond CBC before we left. So the Dr pushed ahead to get JT in his cast. Backup to say that his x-ray did not show any fracture, but since he was limping,etc. it was the standard to cast since they don't often show up.So the next step was to give JT some sedative so he wouldn't wiggle during the casting. He was given Verset and boy did that work! He was fully awake but so mellow!!! It was kind of humorous seeing him like that- I guess John and I were ready for some laughs after the stressful day. After a quick x-ray to see if the cast was set properly, discharge papers, signed, we headed out at 8pm!!!

JT goes on Monday the 14th to the orthopedic group to evaluate if he can have his cast removed. We are very prayerful this is the case. We also expect to get the full blood test results to rule out anything illness wise that would cause JT's limping-also praying for normal results.

Here are some photo highlights of our fun filled 8 hours in the Vandy Children's ED:

JT enjoying his early hours in his room- playing with shiny things, reading books, and stickers after his 1st round of x-rays.

The first signs of JT "losing it". He didn't like having his IV line and arm splint on.

This pulse monitor was so fascinating to JT after he was sedated :) Some shots while the Ortho Dr. applied JT's cast.

The final result- 1 beautiful white cast (only white or pink were available in the ED)

JT's first bottle since 9am, it was now about 7:30pm. What a trooper he was! A few days later, with lots of signatures and sleeping in a new position due to the cast. He's always a belly/side sleeper.