While at the lake for Easter we celebrated Cooper's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Gillam. Among the many gifts that he received from them was a scooter. Of course this was his favorite gift probably because I have been ignoring requests for scooters for a long time. Scooters to me, just seem like a really nice way to get hurt. However, both boys have been asking for one for so long and were so excited to get it that I decided to put my feelings aside and let them be kids.
From the beginning I warned both boys that the scooter was only to be used with a helmet and they both agreed. Two days later, Brad and I decided to go for a walk and Cooper asked to use his scooter. I was hesitant at first (mainly because I didn't want to get stuck carrying the scooter 3/4 of the way) but agreed after he brought me his helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, and knee pads to wear while riding it. So, I went against my instincts and decided to let him go, I mean, he was pretty much protected from head to toe right?
We walked the half block up to the trail entrance and Cooper took off down the trail which was situated on a bit of a downhill slope. Brad and I stopped for a second to help Connor get going on his bike when I heard a scream. As I looked up I saw Cooper go tumbling off of his scooter. He was hysterical; now anyone who knows Cooper, knows that he has quite a flare for the dramatics, making it pretty hard to tell when he is truly injured and when he is using his acting skills. However, this cry was his "hurt" cry so I figured something was probably wrong. So, I ran down the hill, scooped him up and took him back home.
After a couple of hours of him crying and complaining about his leg, we decided we better take him to the ER, better safe than sorry. Brad was leaving for Canada later that afternoon, so he packed his bag, managed to get Cooper into his car seat without hurting his leg and we were off.
Making an already long story shorter, we sat in the ER waiting room for an hour, Brad left for the airport, we sat in the ER hallway for 2 hours, I had to deal with a doctor who was sure I was lying about the scooter incident, after which I was then scolded by said doctor for letting my child ride a scooter. Next, Connor and I had to suffer through Cooper's frantic cries as said doctor roughly examined his leg which included making him walk on it. After all of this, it was determined that Cooper "possibly" broke his leg. His fibula was bowing inward but there were no apparent fractures on the x-ray so the super fabulous doctor, not, (Do people say not anymore? I think I am starting to show my age!) decided to go ahead and cast his leg to be on the safe side as she suspected a Greenstick fracture.
After visiting with the Peds Ortho, (who was wonderful by the way) it was decided that he needed to wear a boot for three weeks after which they would do another x-ray of his leg.
Fast forward three weeks...As it turns out, he fractured his fibula (smaller bone) which was suspected, and his tibia in two places :-( Luckily, since healing was well underway as in he had been in the boot for three weeks, she recommended two more weeks in the boot and no playgrounds for another week.
As of today he is officially boot free and has a green light for playgrounds. He does not seem to be bothered by his leg any longer so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the bones are in fact healed enough to endure all of his antics. (He is jumping from the loveseat to the couch as I am typing this, excuse me for a minute.) Ok, he has been warned, we will see how long the warning lasts before he attempts his Evel Knievel stunts again. There is never a dull moment in the life of Cooper Gillam!
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| Shortly after we got home from the ER, poor baby! |
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| Getting ready to go to the Ortho, much happier! |
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| Coop in his boot! He was very good about keeping it on and not complaining about it too much. |
