Friday, 27 June 2008

  • Does This Look Right to You?

    elephant-65x65 by Mama Elephant

    You know, I am looking at it and his knee or lower leg still seems really out of place to me.  I guess it could be the swelling and we'll know more next week.  I just look at it and I think... Holy Cow, that must hurt like a *insert a really bad word here*!

     

    The good news is, nothing is broken.  More good news is that there are no evident tears.  The doctor, who was absolutely fantastic, thinks Junior dislocated his knee and it was popped into place during the trip to emergency room.  He gave Junior a hinged brace to wear and asked to see him again in a week.  He noted a kicked out gait and wants to make sure it is due to the current injury and not something else that needs to be treated. 

    He was everything a doctor should be when treating someone with a developmental disability.  He asked us the major questions but also addressed Junior, using words Junior was likely to understand.  He told Junior what he was going to do before doing it and did an excellent job at making Junior a part of the process.  His only mistake was that he started off speaking in a louder voice but as soon as I began to think that my son is autistic, not deaf... the kind doctor caught himself and made the correction all on his own.  He was very thorough, understanding that Junior may be in pain and unable to express it.  He even asked his partner to consult to make sure he didn't miss anything.  And finally, a stroke of genius.  When he said he wanted a follow up appointment in a week, he told us which days to not take because he would be in surgery and likely to be very behind in his office appointments.  Without being told, he seemed to understand that patients like Junior would not handle long waits very well.  He said that while treating a noncommunicative patient is challenging, it is also so much more rewarding. I love that attitude!  I wish he could be Junior's pediatrician.  Junior couldn't have asked for a better experience.

    Unfortunately, Junior is extremely ticked off to have to wear the brace and has already had a mini melt down over it.  We anticipated that however, and received the go ahead to administer Benedryl every six hours as a mild sedative... at least until Junior has built up a tolerance for it. 

    Overall, we are very relieved and thankful that Junior doesn't have any major injury and should have a speedy recovery.

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