Fractured Fashonista

Check out our little Diva's left foot.
Yep, that's a cast - - and cute toes, of course!

 On January 2nd, Gracie's ankle was fractured in two places following a massage and stretching with her nurse.  While her nurse clearly should have used less pressure and force, it wasn't entirely her fault.  Gracie has low bone density in her lower extremities due to lack of weight bearing and nutritional issues for the better part of nine years. 

You can see the lack of bone density here... her bones should be very bright and glowing instead of faded and almost transparent in places.  The ER doc and radiologist told me to be prepared for more of these as she ages.  Ugh. 

The good news is that is wasn't vascular - - her pediatrician had me rush her to the ER on the 2nd thinking she had a blood clot (DVT) rather than a break.  I had called in requesting an x-ray order because she suddenly wouldn't weight bear as we were leaving for a park outing.  He wanted us to be seen.  So along with Gracie's nurse, I rushed all three kids into the pediatrician to then have him tell me under no uncertain terms to rush her down to Children's in Oakland... 40+ miles away.  "Don't even stop at home first," he said.  (I did... I needed stuff for my kids and I needed to get Gracie's nurse back to her car.)

We rushed down to Oakland, John abruptly left work and met us alongside the freeway where we quickly exchanged the boys.  Gracie's nurse had been kind enough to offer to watch the boys in the lobby of the hospital until John got there, but he literally flew through multiple freeways to meet me. 
When I got Gracie to the ER, they were expecting us (those who had been waiting for hours were not so friendly and we had lots to say about us getting right in... including screaming racial slurs at us and the nursing staff who pulled us to the back immediately.  Sometimes I am so grateful Gracie is deaf and oblivious to that part of life.)  Anyway, once they examined her, they all seemed very underwhelmed and said they figured it was a fracture.  I said I figured so, too, but that the pediatrician literally freaked when he saw her leg swelling straight up past her knee and felt how hot it was.  Thankfully, he was wrong.

The bad news is this fracture is likely the first of many to come due to the fragility of her bones.  They put on a soft cast in the ER and by the time we drove all the way back home (at 10 something at night), Gracie had torn it off.  She got her hard cast on Monday and literally cried for four straight hours before conceding and giving into the fact that it won't come off.  We all know how this girl likes to be sock/shoe/clothes-less the minute she gets home... she was fit to be tied.  Now, though, she accepts it and is standing in it, doing her "Gracie Yoga" and pretty much back to normal.  And, in true Gracie fashion, she handled the pain like a champ.  Unless it was touched by someone other than her, she didn't really complain of pain hardly at all.  She even cruised furniture a bit before she was casted.  OUCH!