Anyone else wish they were at the beach somewhere…anywhere right about now!? I do!!
I got a call from the school nurse yesterday. In today’s covid world, that is a scary call because if a kid is sent home for sickness, they aren’t allowed back at school unless they get a negative test which takes days.
I was relieved when she said Cannon fell off the swings and hurt his foot and was unable to walk. Not ideal, but not covid!
We usually wait a day or two before heading to a doctor in a situation like this. In Bennett’s broken foot case we waited 10 days because he kept telling us he was okay.
But Cannon was in a lot of pain and waiting a few hours didn’t seem to change that. Not to mention he had a bone on the side of his foot that was protruding out more than usual. We got him in for x-rays and miraculously it wasn’t broken. Seriously strained, but not broken. But could take weeks to heal.
He got wrapped up and sent home and I thought just the idea of knowing it wasn’t broken may help him feel better. But hours after he went to bed he was up in the night crying in pain. This morning he so badly wanted to go to school, but he couldn’t even walk. Not even the slightest of pressure. And when I told him he needed to be able to put a little weight on his foot in order to even get to school he tried his hardest to push through. Ultimately, he was left crying on the couch in pain. So he had a home school day. He watched movies, did puzzles, played games with Briggs and worked on a school project.
I think he realized it’s boring to stay home with mom! We’re both hoping he can make it to school tomorrow.
I find it so strange and frankly upsetting that In the US people wait to check on an injury. Here the first thing we’d do is go to a clinic or make an appointment with family dr and get the answer and then proceed. Cat bites you? Off for a tetanus shot. Scratchy throat and ears that won’t quit? Strep test. Funny rash or lump? Get that sucker seen to. For peace of mind and not waiting till something is far more serious totally worth the tiny bit of extra taxes. You pay and hope you don’t need the full meal deal and do your best to prevent it.
I think it is definitely part of our culture to “wait and see”. (although I do know a handful of people that use doctor’s regularly). Doctor’s and hospitals are such busy places as it is, I can’t imagine what it would be like if people saw a doctor for every ailment. I had to take my daughter to get a sports physical and even with an appointment, we were there for an hour and a half before seeing a nurse practitioner. I suppose it’s not necessarily the cost that turns people away, it’s probably the time and availability. Our neighbor is a podiatrist and I had called his office to schedule an appointment for Cannon – he was a week out before having availability. Luckily, because we’re friends he was able to see me at the end of his work day, but our only other option would be to go to an urgent care or emergency room. For things requiring immediate attention (stitches, strep, etc) we usually land in an urgent care (or we’ve been able to benefit from telemedicine in several situations). For injury related ailments we may wait and see – 95% of the time they require no care. My mother intuition on Cannon was that it was broken which is why we sought immediate attention – lucky for us that wasn’t the case!