Can’t walk!?

[Anonymous]

Thanks. She still can’t walk- she tried when she got up this morning, took a step and then started screaming and just crawled around for the rest of the morning. I feel so bad for her.

Sue, is there such a thing as internal bruising only? Her leg/foot looks fine outside, no swelling or bruising that i can see or feel.

Also, how do they do a bone scan on a toddler? Does it involve more radiation? It might help me to know in advance what they will/won’t do… yesterday I got into a big fight with the x-ray tech because they told me that they couldn’t shield Hailey’s groin b/c they were x-raying the hips as well to look for dislocation. I told them that there was nothing wrong with her hips b/c she had completely full active and passive ROM without any signs of pain, and that my understanding was that the x-ray was to look at her knee, tibia, fibula, ankle, and foot. The tech got so mad at me that he made me leave, called the doc over who basically told me that it needed to be done b/c she could have a big problem that was a bigger risk than infertility later on in life from radiation to the groin. In the end I did it even though I knew that wasn’t the issue b/c I was afraid of being accused of abuse (the nurse kept asking me a million questions about how she fell, and when I said that she just tripped, she seemed unconvinced that merely tripping could cause a child to be unable to walk).

s&h’s mum2006-11-14 12:0:18

[Anonymous]

Shannon, When your son had the toddler’s fracture was there any obvious bruising or swelling? Was he able to walk initially after fall? Something just isn’t right. I’m really starting to think it’s broken.

[Anonymous]

Oh Lori I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope that Hailey is OK and they figure it

out soon – please keep us posted. We’ll be thinking of you.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

Something is really not right if she is still trying to walk and not able to! Please call the MD and request for something to be done immediately! Most kids with bruising start to walk but they have pain, but when they are find something a toy interesting they typically forget about their leg pain for awhile and walk and play. If Hailey still is trying and not getting distracted by anything, I truly am concerned! The fracture maybe at a growth plate which is always hard to see on an x-ray. I believe in a bone scan they are injected with radioactive dye and you have to wait awhile for dye to travel throughout the body and they will take a look at the bones under a camera. The radioactive dye collects in a spot with a lot of bone activity which is where the bone is broken and trying to repair itself. I know it is horrible for the radioactive dye to be injected but it is a very small amount, and in this case Hailey sounds like she may really need it, I am really afraid there maybe a fracture at a growth plate. Did you get a final result from the intial x-ray? Please ask you MD if there could possible be a fracture at a growth plate, that is why the intial x-ray did not show it!

[Anonymous]

That’s how it was with Ellie…she fell down the steps to a slide and she must have hit the top of her food hard. She wouldn’t walk on it at all the first day, and the second day began the same way, but I tricked her a couple of times by distracting her and I noticed that when she wasn’t thinking about it she could walk on it…though it did hurt some for a few days.

Also, I wouldn’t be too worried about them suspecting you of abuse. The same thing happened when I called about Ellie’s foot. Everyone I talked to (including the receptionist) wanted a detailed account of what happened. They’re probably just being cautious and following the “get it in writing” philosophy to cover themselves.

Is she still not walking on it?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Sue- I’ve had a couple of bone scans done myself, I just wasn’t sure if it’s any different for a baby. The doctor is going to book it tomorrow if she still can’t walk, which right now she can’t. She’s not in any pain though that I can see when she’s just lying around. I never heard of a growth plate fracture…annoying that the hospital MD never mentioned it. Christine, after you tricked Ellie into walking was she able to walk normally? Hailey can only limp and basically it’s if I’m being really mean and holding something out of her reach that she really wants… she’ll limp a step or two and then she’ll start crawling for it.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

This is a website I found regarding growth plate fractures if you are interested http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/growth_plate/growth.htm

Hope Hailey doesn’t have a fracture! Are you giving her any pain medications like Tylenol or Motrin help especially with any internal swelling that may be pressing against a tendon or liagment causing her pain versus a fracture?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I’ve been giving her advil b/c of the anti-inflammatory properties.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

When my son hurt his leg, there was no external things to tell us…when he first fell he refused to walk on it, and we went to the ER, after x-rays they sent us home…next day he still wouldnt walk, and so we went back..they took 3 more xrays from various angles, and there is what a thin hairline fracture in his tibia..no growth plate issues, but still hard to see since the leg is still not sturdy bone….so they casted him…when they checked him 2 weeks later, they saw the new bone growth on the xray, it was bright white…that was the biggest sign….Noah wouldnt even limp on it, the morning after, he just layed around and whined if I asked to get up, and screamed and cried when I tried to force him (I know I feel bad now, but I was told he was fine the night before, and it was just a sprain)

I would get it checked out ASAP, and it sounds like its more than just bruising and whatnot if she is still refusing to walk….my kid was out of the cast after 2 1/2 weeks but continued to limp for 2 months after.

I would get it checked out,better safe than sorry….and when Noah did this, I got lots of questions and story checks too, it sucks, but Id rather my kids be alright

good luck

[Anonymous]

Lori,

To answer your question, after I tricked her into taking a few distracted steps (this was the day after she hurt herself) she continued to limp around all day, but she could defintely walk without excruciating pain. I know it hurt because she’d wince and limp, but dh insisted it wasn’t broken and I trusted him and waited one more day and by the third day she was walking normally.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

My daughter, Claire, fell running this summer and we went through this same process. There was no external signs of anything wrong, no bruising or swelling, no inflammation.. nothing, but she wouldn’t walk on it. I talked to a ton of people, and a friend of mine had a similiar situation with her son. Turns out he had a toddler’s fracture. They couldn’t find it at all on an X-Ray, but they put on a cast on it anyway. They X-rayed it after the cast was removed and only then could they see where the bone had healed. Anyway, Claire started walking on hers a couple of days later. I guess these types of fractures are very very common with toddlers.. looks more like a spiral crack in the bone. If you go back and get x-Rays again, ask them to take them from a different angle than before. My mom is a radiology tech.. and I think its called the transverse angle??? I can’t really remember, but I looked it up online when Claire fell, and there was info. on what angle is best to find the fracture. What I was told, is that if the child can’t walk, even if they aren’t sure about the fracture, it should be put into a cast.. more for pain management than anything because these types of fractures are so common and their bones are still growing that they will just heal on their own. The cast would help her pain more than anything.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. Hailey started walking yesterday. It wasn’t very far and definitely limping, but she’s still walking. Last night, she started walking more, but was still limping and still not her usual active self- can’t run, and sometimes would fall down and start to cry, but otherwise is in a good mood. This morning, when I first put her down she was putting out her legs in a sitting position so that her feet wouldn’t touch the floor. I put her outside of our room and went down the hall to get Sarah (which she LOVES and usually comes running down the hall screaming)… but this morning she just layed there and then when she first stood up she cried a little bit for a few seconds, but then started to walk over at a decent pace, but still with a limp. She was a bit better with a shoe on which makes me wonder if the issue is her foot. The ped still hasn’t returned our calls from yesterday so I’m going to call again now, but was just wondering what you all think. If it was a fracture she wouldn’t be able to walk, right?

[Anonymous]

That sounds encouraging. Hopefully she’s on the mend now. I don’t really know for sure….but It’d think if it was broken she would still not be able to walk on it.

[Anonymous]

Possibly.. though from what I understood about toddler’s fractures.. they tend to heal on their own anyway..

[Anonymous]

Lori,
When I had my hairline fracture in my foot it hurt the worst the 2nd & 3rd days then got slowly better after that. The doc just wrapped my foot in an ace bandage & the pressure of that helped for the first few days. He said there’s not much else you can do but let it heal.

Bryce’sMom2006-11-16 9:53:54

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