Child number 2 broke his arm...again. Again he tripped on another kid's feet while playing soccer. Midshaft radius and ulna fracture, same arm. No more soccer for you young man!
The orthopedists in our local hospital didn't like how the fracture was set and determined that he needs an operation. I decided to get a second opinion mainly because I have lost confidence in the doctors in the hospital where I used to work. Here in Tel Aviv, not only is there an entire department of pediatric orthopedics, there is even a specialist in pediatric fractures. I made a beeline to him for his opinion and he concurred that internal fixation was necessary.
Then began the debate. Should we operate in Be'er Sheva or in Tel Aviv. My wife wasn't keen on the idea of the logistics of traveling far from home (1 hour 15 minutes is far in Israel). I told her that our boy deserves the best treatment possible even if it is inconvenient. We'll get the grandmothers to look after the other kids and we will make the effort.
In the mean time the consultant asked that we take another x-ray the day before the operation because sometimes the alignment improves. The new pictures showed better alignment, but not perfect. The orthopedist said that he can do even better. He removed the cast, reduced the fracture (this caused no pain, just mild discomfort BTW) and applied a new cast. The re-x-ray was perfect.
Long story short, no need for the operation. Yoohoo!
Come on honey, say it, say it out loud, you know what I want to hear: "You were right."
3 comments:
Sorry about the broken arm, but happy to hear he won't need surgery.
I'm glad that worked out for the better for him.
An hour and 15 minutes isn't bad for around here. NYC and Cornell doctors are about an hour from our house.
And another tertiary hospital in NJ is also about an hour from our house.
When my doc was recommending the reconstructive ureteral surgery ..because I am high risk..he recommended Cornell docs.. in NY.
But my husband is not a city driver and so I opted for a NJ hospital ..about the same distance.
For me ..distance is determined by the ease of the travel. City driving YIKES. :)
Now maybe that was dumb on my part but I just didn't see my husband doing it and it all seemed inconvenient. But if worried about my pulling through/recovery, etc ..maybe I should've opted for the best.. although another doc did tell me that the group I chose was every bit as good as Cornell docs,
Fortunately ..I have managed to avoid the surgery and am praying this last stent ..together with God will facilitate permanent healing of my ureter.. otherwise ..this was the last stent and I will have to face the surgery.
Holding out for a miracle.
But maybe your son's experience is something I should remember if faced with this again.
P.S. I LOVE your profile comment ..HILARIOUS! And I'll bet you do ..nothing like going out laughing. :)
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