Okay, so....

On Wednesday day morning, I took Steven into see Dr. Jones for a follow up appointment. Before we saw the doc, he needed some Xrays. Getting Steven on the table and putting his leg in the position they needed for the pictures was excruciating. He was screaming through it all and the techs were trying to get what they needed as fast as they could. I had every intention to take pictures of the xray, but with all the drama, it slipped my mind. So now I will just have to try to describe what I saw.

Let's just say, that at first glace from my untrained eye, I saw immediately why Steven is in so much pain. In fact, it made my stomach churn. When Dr. Jones said he broke it the other direction, he wasn't kidding. Even the techs were really confused about why a cast was on and his bone looked like that. Imagine taking a stick and breaking it in half. There are jagged edges all around it. Now set it at a slight angle--the jagged parts are jutting out. That is my small attempt to describe what I saw.

Dr. Jones said that everything looked good--it was what he expected to see. So, I guess that is good news. I asked him how it would grow back--he said that eventually (as in a few years), the bone would look smooth again--crooked, but smooth. In the meantime, Steven is in extreme pain because unlike his surgery, or even the orginal break, there iis no metal plate holding the pieces together. As Dr. Jones put it, the muscles and cast are holding the bone "in the general zip code" of where they are supposed to be and until the bones start to knit together, every little movement makes the bones with all their nerves rub together. Sounds awful, huh?

On the bright side, Steven seemed to be in a little less pain yesterday. He even made it to school in the morning, and moving him wasn't too excruciating. He is still taking pain medication, but he isn't needing it every three hours like he did before. He is still in the wheelchair and trying to keep his leg as still as possible, I guess the improvement I see is that he is moving faster as we transfer him from one place to another. He is in excellent spirits for the most part. Going to school did him a world of good as the kids in his class gave him a warm welcome and he was able to catch up on some things. Today he won't go because the 4th graders are going on a ski trip. Back when they were planning this and we decided he wouldn't go, I felt one of those twinges of saddness that he couldn't do what the other kids were. But now skiing is so beyond his abilities that I am mostly just glad I don't have to figure out how to get him to school today. The sadness comes about things like the fact that he can't use the bathroom without assistance. Funny how my perspective has changed.

He goes back to see the doctor in mid January again, and when he does, I promise I will get pictures of the Xrays.