Anniversary of a Bone - Part 1

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my son's bone graft.

Last year, when he was just 2-1/2 years old, we noticed him limping. At first he would just limp when he woke up in the morning or after a nap. But instead of getting better, he started limping more and more often. He never complained and it didn't slow down him down much despite how extremely active he is.

I couldn't stand watching him limp so on a Monday morning, I took him in to his pediatrician. She examined his leg, hip and knee. She had him walk and run back and forth from me to her down the hallway (in just his diaper so she could watch his gait). It was probably the most fun he ever had at the doctor's office!

Since he didn't complain about any pain, she said it could have been several things. She sent him for an x-ray in case it was a fracture and a blood test in case it was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

My boy was a model patient for his first set of x-rays. The techs even said he was a better patient than many adults! Next, we went down to the lab and had his blood drawn. He sat on my lap the entire time, crying and telling the nurse, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The empathetic lab tech told him that he didn't do anything wrong and that she would be as quick as possible. After, he asked her what she was going to do with the vials. So she showed him all the machines they use for the blood samples. He was fascinated and wanted to stay to watch his blood samples go through the machines. The tech laughed and told him that it would take a long time because his blood had to coagulate - she showed him another sample of blood so he could see what she meant.

We didn't have to wait long to find out what was wrong with my son's leg. That afternoon, the doctor called to say the x-rays revealed a unicameral bone cyst on his upper femur. She said not to worry because it wasn't cancer, but was most likely a place where the bone didn't quite finish forming. They usually don't find a cyst until the kid breaks his leg. And this one was large enough to rub on something causing the limp.

She gave us a list of orthopedic surgeons and said the cyst could be easily repaired. In fact, most times, they don't do anything and simply allowed the bone to fill in on its own. But because he was so young and active, they might give him a steroid shot to get the bone to grow.

To us it was amazing how quickly we were able to get answers. It was a busy day. My little man loved all the attention he was getting. He charmed everyone and collected lollipops, stickers and stamps for being such a great patient. I was so proud of him for being so well-behaved!

Tomorrow I'll let you know how everything continued to move quickly, and how everything changed from a simple shot to a complicated surgery!