Saturday, November 28, 2009

never a dull medical moment

baking with daddy

Compared to his first year of life, Lucas's second year of life has been a bit calmer on the medical front. He had no hospitalizations (in 2008 he had 3), and there were no new specialists to add to the list. Especially during the last 6 months, we have had very little to worry about in terms of Lucas's health (thank goodness). His cardiologist even increased the amount of time between visits. We've gotten through the entire fall season without any real illnesses (please knock on wood). It's been smooth sailing. Until now.

Last Saturday when Lucas woke up, he and I were sitting in the glider rocker and talking about the different parts of his body. When I prompted him to show me his thumbs, I noticed something a little funny. His left thumb is stuck in a bent position, and he can't straighten it. If you look carefully at the picture above, you can see the position. It's not forced; it's stuck in this double jointed position. Hmmmm.

I took him to the doctor on Monday and she's a bit baffled too. There's no known trauma. It just kind of happened. He had an x-ray done, and it came back fine. She made an initial diagnosis of trigger finger, otherwise known as pediatric trigger thumb. Needless to say, we're skipping the local specialist and heading right to CHOP to see an orthopedic surgeon on December 17. Based on the research I've done, I anticipate this ending in a surgical procedure. Please pray with us that it will not.

Never a dull medical moment. I never knew that such a phenomenon could occur with a finger. Oh the things I've learned since he was born... I should earn an honorary degree. HA!

3 comments:

sgarrett said...

I have had trigger finger surgery. It's not a bad surgery at all (if you can even call it surgery). I was awake during the procedure. Although, I imagine a child wouldn't be. It took less than 10 minutes from start to finish.

leah said...

Oh, my! Now there's something new- I am definitely praying with you that he won't need surgery to correct it. Thank goodness you live near CHOP- I've heard it is a great hospital for kids.

tammy said...

Hmmm, never heard of this either. Like you said, never a dull moment, especially during the holidays none the less! Hope it all goes well and that surgery isn't needed!