Good news today (gosh, we could use some, no?) – From what started out as a bad diagnosis for Maddie’s knee on Friday to a worse one on Monday ended up being really not so terrible after all today when we finally went to the orthopedic doctor. She does have a fractured knee cap (patella), but the area on her growth plate that appeared to be fractured by the doctor yesterday is really just a deep bone bruise, says the orthopedic doctor today. He said he highly doubts it is cracked, but that if it is, it is in 100% alignment, so he really thinks it’s just a bruise. The fragment of bone that did chip off on her knee cap is small and in a not-super-important place, so he plans to just let it go. He said she didn’t even need to use the crutches anymore, but does need to keep the knee brace on for a few weeks. He cut a hole in the middle of it to make some room for her knee to peek through and it’s much more comfortable for her now, though she’s still walking around like a stiff… She’s actually in more pain tonight than she has been since Friday, though, because she’s been crutch-free since 4pm so she’s been putting a fair amount of pressure on it, but that’s what prescription ibuprofen is for, right? He wants to see her back for an x-ray and follow up in five weeks. If it seems she isn’t healing up at that point he will talk removal of the piece of bone, but he won’t repair it. He said it’s so small he’s had more patient trouble with recovery from attempted repairs than flat removals. But if it’s healing up fine, we’ll move on.

All that to say this: WE ARE SO THANKFUL. Seriously. With the news from yesterday, I walked in there today totally prepared to hear surgery or at the very least, cast. Thankful for Maddie that this isn’t really *that* bad on the broken/fractured bone spectrum, that she can remove the brace for sleeping and bathing, and that really she’s going to be fine. Thank you for praying.

And PS – Yes, we are kinda sorta teasing her mercilessly about tripping over her own foot while walking down the stairs. People keep asking us why it happened and I keep blaming it on being 14. *grin*