IM had her yearly appointment with her orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Because she did such a thorough job breaking her left arm two years ago, and involved the growth plates in her elbow, they like to keep an eye on her.
The good news is that her flexibility is still, to quote the surgeon, "Frickin' good."
The bad news is that it appears the growth plate in her left elbow is calcifying faster than the corresponding plate in her right arm. Worst case scenario, her left arm will be noticeably shorter than her right. The doctor asked me if her long-sleeve shirts hung differently on one arm than the other. Does it make me a bad parent if I have no clue? And to be honest, spending more time looking at my kids' wrists when they're wearing long-sleeve shirts is way down on my list of parenting goals.
I asked what we do if the arms grow differently. There are two options. One, they chip away the calcification on the growth plate to encourage the arm to keep growing. Two, IM has "bone elongation surgery." Sounds fun, doesn't it?
But, since there is absolutely nothing we can do to change the outcome at this point, I am putting this one firmly on the Things I Am Not Going to Worry About Yet pile. We'll see if I have to pick it back up next year.
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3 comments:
Yikes! Well, I'd say you're doing a "frickin' good" job as the parent of four, even without being able to report in detail how her shirt hangs (!?).
I didn't realize her break was that bad. "Bone Elongation" reminds me of something out of Harry Potter, (you know, the part where Harry has to painfully regrow his bones?)
Hrm. I had no idea that arm breaks could do that.
I wonder if calcification around my left clavicle is why I have so many problems with that rotator cuff. (Broke it and my left leg when I was 17. Actually, I might have been on crutches for your wedding reception, now that I think about it. Hrm.)
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