Well, technically it was “Brokeback Sunday” but that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?
and (thanks to my daughter Moon Unit), I’ve learned that it is entirely possible to break one’s back and have it not be a big deal!
Long story short: slip on stairs at indoor pool, bumped head/back, crying, felt better with cuddling and ineffective ice pack, more swimming / playing, dinner, lay down on couch, pain worsened, playmate hysterical “Moon Unit Broke Her Back, WAAAH!”, phone to pediatrician, trip to ER, lots of waiting around (and grateful for same as I’m reasonably familiar with triage requirements and glad we didn’t need to get bumped up in priority), X-ray, consult with spinal specialist… and the diagnosis is “compression fracture of T10 vertebra”. Treatment? Painkillers for a few days, revisit in 2 weeks, come back if it gets worse.
I emailed playmate’s mom and told her her kid should go to medical school as her diagnostic skillz are clearly excellent.
Moon Unit - though still in some pain - is rather pleased with the attention at this point.
We’re obviously rather relieved that we dodged the bullet of a far more serious injury. She showed no signs of neurological injury to my poorly-trained eye - and more importantly, to the eyes of the medical people. And apparently compression injuries (when not triggered by more serious things like osteoporosis or cancer or what-have-you) aren’t all that serious! Who’da thunk it.
Be careful! Extra cautious, the back is a very complex set of engineering, and when something goes wrong, there can easily be a “cascade” effect: small problems trigger small problems, which aggravate minor problems, and so forth. Don’t depend on “feeling ok” as a signal that healing is complete. Be lazy as shit, malinger. Let the kids do the work for a while, it’ll be good for them, builds character.
Its kinda like ribs in a way, they’d heal a lot faster if you didn’t have to breathe…
Oh man, I feel relief for you all the way over here! I know the terrifying list of Really Bad Things That Nearly Happened was whizzing through your head.
elucidator, we’ll take your advice (BTW, I’m Mama Zappa’s hubby and Moon Unit’s dad), but it’s the kid who hurt her back. She gets to malinger. She gets to sit and watch TV all day. That was her plan for today anyway, but now she gets adult dosages of ibuprofen. And maybe tylenol 3. And ice cream for breakfast. Youth is wasted on the young
But yes, it could have been a Very Bad Day[sup]TM[/sup] - could have been very bad indeed. :eek:
Then I spoke rashly, and am chastened. I emphathize, children must be firmly guided to develop character and moral fiber. Mine own, the Err Apparent, will malinger for days over the tiniest hairline fracture, and whimper over the lightest application of the knout. (Happily, my firm upbringing has borne fruit, he is currently saving money assiduously to afford me comfort in my reclining years in a carefully chosen retirement community, something called DeVille’s Island…)
I suggest more poweful pain medication, codeine, morphine, something in the opiate family. Not for her, of course, she’ll simply abuse them. Such powerful analgesics can only be used by responsible adults, as a preventative of murder.
