Carrie and I's holiday ended with some to do.
When it was time to go, Shane did not want to go. Nana was holding his hand and when they got near the door, Shane threw himself down in a tantrum.
That's when the tears started.
Shane cried and bawled from then up until his nap time. He cried when they drove by the library. He cried when it was time to be rocked to sleep.
At the time, Nana and Pop thought it was from Shane being overtired (with a touch of temper tantrum thrown in). Shane went down eventually, and Carrie and I showed up about ten minutes after nap time ended.
Shane was clearly favoring his left arm. He started to fuss, and it wasn't the typical "I'm pissed and want my way."
It was the "I'm hurt and something's wrong" variety of fussing.
It was the "I'm hurt and something's wrong" variety of fussing.
My first encounter with nursemaid's elbow immediately sprung to mind.
All of the signs were there. Nana was holding Shane's hand. Shane yanked and pulled himself sharply in the opposite direction. Both times, it was Shane's left arm that was hurt.
I supplied the yank the first time to pull Shane away from some broken glass. This time, Shane was large (and strong) enough to put the hurt on himself. My Uncle Dennis told me a similar story about his son, Kyle, did the exact same thing.
Of course, this all happened after hours on a Saturday. Carrie and I packed Shane up and headed over to a walk-in clinic that was nearby.
The doctor refused to examine Shane.
The doctor said he wasn't a pediatrician and we should go to the ER.
For those who don't know, nursemaid's elbow is when a tendon pops out of place in a baby/toddler's arm near the elbow. It causes it to hurt to move or use their arm.
The fix is quick. There are no xrays, medicines, or prolonged treatments. Our old practitioner just wiggled Shane's arm in some manner and he felt fine afterwards. Carrie and I wanted to avoid going to the hospital such a minor 'procedure' (if you even want to call it that).
We called another urgent care, and they also refused to examine Shane.
The only choice left was the Emergency Room.
It took almost three hours from start to finish. It took the doctor less than three minutes to help Shane.
The doctor walked in, asked what happened, and said "let's try this." The doctor did his thing and Shane cried.
"Okay, that should do it. Give him about 5-6 minutes to realize it doesn't hurt anymore..." the Doctor began.
"Okay, that should do it. Give him about 5-6 minutes to realize it doesn't hurt anymore..." the Doctor began.
"BUBBLES!" Shane reached out with both of his arms to bat at the bubbles Carrie blew (from the emergency entertainment kit.
"Or not. You can leave as soon as registration talks to you."
That was it.
No other doctor would look at Shane out of fear of a lawsuit or what have you.
I had to know how to do 'it.' I asked the doctor to show me what he did to fix the dislocated ligament .
Babies typically have their hands palm down. Shane was holding his arm bent 90 degrees with his elbow at his side and his palm was on his thigh. The doctor placed one hand on Shane elbow to feel for a 'pop,' and with his other hand he made Shane rotate his hand about 180 degrees so that his palm was facing up.
"Like opening a book," the doctor said.
Shane cried when the doctor moved his hand, but the doctor said the pain would be more from surprise and being uncomfortable than from a burning pain..
If this ever happens again, I'm going to gently try to help Shane myself. I am not going to try to overdo or force it, though. I'm just going to try and see if I can't save everyone involved some time and tears.
If it doesn't work, I hope that Shane decides to get hurt during normal business hours so we don't have to go to the ER again!
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