When we first found out that Aleck broke his femur we were like, “well this sucks, but we can handle this. Three weeks in a cast shouldn’t be so bad. We’ve been here before, it’ll be fine. He’ll be back on his feet in no time.”
Then when the doctor wanted Aleck off his feet for another two weeks we were like, “well this really sucks, but we can handle this. Another two weeks, this is like the summer of 2018 all over again. Ugh. But at least it wasn’t major surgery, getting him back on his feet shouldn’t be a problem.”
Then we went to Florida. We swam in the pool, we soaked in the hot tub, we bobbed over waves and spotted dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, but we did not put Aleck on his feet. We figured his legs were already getting a major workout every single day and who really wants to use their measly five days of vacation working physical therapy on their 8-year-old while my parents looked on, not us, no sir.
Then we came home and had an entire day before going back to school to practice being on our feet and using our walker. And now we are like, “well this sucks and we aren’t sure how much more we can handle. Aleck is screaming in pain every time we put him on his feet. It’s as if he’s forgotten how to walk. This is worse than the summer of 2018.”
And just like we’ve always done in these moments, we schedule the unhappiness at regular hours of the day so we are all in agreement about when he’s using us for assisted walking, when he’s using his walker in the apartment, and when it’s time to carry him to the breakfast table as we are trying to get him out the door. I can’t imagine what my neighbors upstairs must think when they hear him crying out in pain at 6:09am trying to put him on his feet so he can pee standing up.
Physical therapy at Shriner’s starts next week and we are counting down the days. It’s hard to see your child in so much pain and continue to push them to take the few steps you know they need to take every day. And it’s hard to keep saying, “it’s only going to get better. Soon this will all be a memory,” while wiping his tears that are streaming down his cheeks, knowing full well that in April it’s only going to get worse because that’s when he’s going to have the hardware removed from his hip and his leg.
Originally scheduled for the end of this month, we decided to push it to try and give the kid a break (pun always intended). We’ve also decided to have this done at Shriner’s instead of at Lurie. Now, why would we want to put Aleck through another painful process that will take him off his feet and back into his walker for a few weeks? I had that exact same conversation with one of his surgeons who wasn’t so eager to remove the hardware at all. It’s no big deal, I was told, a lot of kids don’t get their hardware removed. So humor me, I said, when would you recommend getting the hardware removed. Well, if he ever needed surgery on that hip again it would be easier to do it without the bones having grown over all that metal. Interesting, I said. By six years of age, he’s already had two surgeries on the same hip. If I was down in Vegas I’d say it’s even money he’ll have another hip surgery somewhere down the road, wouldn’t you agree? An affirmative nod followed. The other reason that it would be a good idea to remove the hardware is in case of a bad fall if surgery was needed to repair the bone it would be easier if the hardware wasn’t there. Ding, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Keep in mind, this conversation was in December, only weeks before Aleck broke his femur. Know your audience people, know your patients doctors.
After that hilarious appointment, we went ahead and scheduled the procedure. We were told it would be outpatient, we knew it wouldn’t. We were told it wouldn’t be a big deal or hurt so much, we already know it will. The hardware from the hip won’t be so bad, but removing it from his tibia is going to smart, there’s just nothing fleshy there to cushion the incisions, it’s bone and skin and that’s really it. Since Aleck’s surgeon at Shriner’s was available to diagnose and treat the broken femur we asked for his thoughts on the hardware and the recovery. We were told to prepare for at least 24 hours in the hospital and that he’ll probably be in pain for five days or so. We pulled out our calendars and asked for April 6, the first day of spring break. Even though it was already a full day the doctor’s nurse pulled a few strings for us and they were able to schedule it. Our only other option would have been April 8th, the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Aleck’s favorite holiday all year (he totally takes after his mom on this one). We barely had to play the religion card, they were more than happy to make it work if they could. The only question now is where we will be having that first seder.
