Trust your "mommy" instincts...what happened to Christopher...

I was writing a comment for Gather Orange, and I realized I might as well write this up as an article.

Last January 21st, my son and his friend were riding their scooters. Now, both boys had helmets and long pants and shirts on. Three of us moms were outside with all the kids watching them play. Christopher and Zach were going done the small hill when PHer's scooter just broke....Tracy, Dawn, and I could only watch the whole scene unfold. First, Pher's scooter started to wobble, then some part just fell off...we all knew he was going to crash. It was just a matter of how bad...and it was bad...Pher went flying.

I yelled to him to see if he was hurt...."not bad" was his answer...that means he's hurt and doesn't want anyone to know just how bad...he limped back up to us (he had to walk, he was 13 and way too big for me to carry)....blood was everywhere. Pants were ripped, his shirt was torn, and he just looked a mess. We got him to Dawn's house where she started cleaning him up.

Now, Dawn has a lot more sympathy than I do...I'm use to blood, she's not. Anyway, I asked Pher where he hurt.

Pher: "Everywhere"
Me: "Well, what hurts the worst."
Pher: " Uh..my foot"
Me: "Take off your Shoes"
Pher: "I can't bend that far."
Me: "I'll do it."
Pher: "No, you'll hurt me."
Me: "Now..."

I took off both shoes and socks...his right foot was definately broken. I then examed the rest of him as Dawn kept cleaning up the blood and bandaging the knees, hands, and arms. He was having issues with his right shoulder also. Besides the abrasions, there was a problem, but I wasn't sure what it was. Pher's pants and shirt were both total losses...I ran and got him shorts and a t-shirt to put on (though it was January).

Tracy watched Angela, Dawn called my husband, and I took Pher to the Children's Ready care/ER for x-rays. The doctor and I went around and around about the accident. I saw Pher fall, and I knew he was hurt worse than the doctor said. The doctor said I was just being a "worried parent" and Pher would hurt from the bruises and scrapes. The x-ray of his foot showed that it was broken, but I couldn't get the doctor to x-ray his shoulder. I argued and argued, to the point the doctor threatened to have me removed. He wouldn't even look past the scrapes. I figured that the orthopaedics would have to be called ASAP. Someone (nurse?) put a temp. cast on Pher's foot and gave him crutches to use. I could see that the cast wasn't put on correctly. The Ready Care didn't even give my child anything for the pain.

As soon as we got home I left a message for the orthopaedics (closed for the holiday). We are "frequent fliers" and have our gold card with the orthpaedics, so I knew they'd help.

I gave Pher Motrin and Tylenol for the pain...every couple of hours alternating, but that didn't help too much. No one likes to see their baby in pain...Pher and I were both up all night. He couldn't sleep, because everything hurt. Laying down caused his shoulder to throb.

Of coarse I didn't let him go to school the next day. As soon as I knew the office was open I called the ortho back. After a little pleading, and the nurse looking up Pher's records in the computer, Pher had an appointment for that morning.

Pher used the crutches to get to the office, which I kept telling him was a mistake. He couldn't put any weight on his right foot, and by the time we got to the office, Pher was in tears. They took him right back to a room where he sat down with his foot propped up. When the doctor came in to look at him, I pleaded for her to have Pher's shoulder x-rayed. This doctor is wonderful! She listens to parents.....she said that if I thought something was wrong with Pher's shoulder, then it should get x-rayed. Then came the problem...Pher couldn't move at all. Someone went around to the different doctor offices looking for something to move Pher with....and finally got an oversized chair on wheels. It took 3 of us to lift him up (without too many screams) to get him in this chair. Pher was x-rayed in the chair, since there was no way we could lift him to the table.

It turns out not only was Pher's foot broken in a couple of spots, so was his shoulder. The crutches the ER gave him caused his shoulder to separate further. I was a VERY angry mom with a VERY hurt child. The ortho doctor called the ER and ripped in to them (needless to say I was never billed for the ER visit) for not listening to me, not giving him a proper exam, not taking the correct x-rays, not giving him pain meds., putting the temporary cast on incorrectly, and doing more damage by giving him crutches. (They are lucky we didn't sue).

Pher was hurting and in a wheelchair for weeks. The shoulder was more of a problem than the foot.... Thank goodness I trusted my instincts and got him in to the ortho right away...the damage to Pher's shoulder could have been worse and/or could have been permanent.