Vernacular and Other Things Learned

I told Darin last night, that by the time we raise our kids we could be doctors ourselves. Not really, but with terms like "Neurofibromatosis", "Diverticulitis", "supraclavicular", "plexiform", "brachial plexus", "subcutaneous vs. cutaneous", "epinephrine", "anaphylaxis", "conjunctivitis", "orthoscopic", "sacroiliac joint (or SI joint)", "ventral/incisional herniation", "hematoma", "C spine", "PICC line", "allogeneic vs. autologous BMT", and "engraftment", our growing medical vernacular makes us sound like we know what we are talking about...or at least, a family whose been through a lot. In truth, every one of those terms above we, or someone in our immediate families, have had personal experience with...and the list goes on. Yesterday, we just added another term..."costochondritis"...to our growing vocabulary, when our daughter Brooklyn was diagnosed yesterday. Before you get too alarmed, it is nothing serious, and as far as we know, a temporary condition. However, it was problematic enough that we ended up in the InstaCare to get her checked out.

Brooklyn called me from school yesterday around 1:30-ish to complain of her chest hurting. She was in tears and said it hurt really bad, like a pounding. I asked if she felt hot; if she felt nauseous, achy. I asked if she had hurt herself; fallen; bumped it. Had she been running around; active; playing hard. Had she eaten something that disagreed with her?, etc. No, no, no, no, no. "It just started", Brooklyn said.

I told her to go back to class until I could call Dad and get to the school to see her. Darin felt like I should at least go talk to her in person, and I agreed. After visiting with her for a good 10-15 minutes, and drilling her even more, I learned that the pain in her chest just started while she was finishing up a coloring project in the library. As she put her crayons in the box, her chest just started hurting and her heart started beating really fast. "the bone" under her neck was very tender to the touch. We ultimately decided to check her out of school and go to the doctor. As we were packing up, some of the girls in her class had snuck back in from recess to see her and send her off. They told me that some boys were pinning them during an earlier recess to try to kiss them. "Boys pinning you? What was that all about? On the ground?" No, they were just pinning them against the wall, but Brooklyn said she didn't hit her chest against the wall. Well, my feelings of that whole ordeal is for a different post...suffice it to say, that didn't seem to "hurt" her physically. Emotionally it may have made her a little anxious, though. I asked if that experience made her nervous (my last ditch effort to avoid taking her out of school). "No!", she said. I asked her if she it hurt bad enough to miss the rest of class and have to make up the extra work, and go to bed when she gets home. "Well, I guess I could just be brave for the rest of the day?", she said with tears welling up in her eyes. How could I let that happen! I didn't want her to have to be brave, if it hurt that bad. So, off to the InstaCare we went. We don't have a pediatrician or any other doctor, for that matter, up here, yet. So we went to the closest clinic.

The whole time I was certain that the doctor would find nothing wrong with her. She probably just had a little anxiety or something. Our family has been through quite a bit in the last several months. She said she was starting to feel a little better now (of course), but it was still bothering her. It was our time to go in. Dr. Travis Buzzard had just come on shift so we were his second patient. He was so good with Brooklyn. I let her explain what she was experiencing, how/when it started and the doctor listened patiently. He then continued with his examination. When he got to her chest area, he told her that he was going to carefully press down in spots and wanted her to tell him where and when it hurt. I could see her face wincing at times. Dr. Buzzard later said, "I'm pretty sure I know what this is, but I want to do one more thing to make sure we're not missing anything. We are going to do an EKG on her." WHAT? There might be something wrong with her heart? YIKES!

The cute nurses came in to hook her up to the machine. They talked her through the entire procedure. They promised it wouldn't hurt. They said they don't do EKG's very often on kids, so this was a new opportunity for them, too. Brooklyn was a trooper. She put her brave face on, complete with a smile.

Luckily, the EKG came back perfectly normal. Her heart is HEALTHY. So, Dr. Buzzard said that her condition was what he originally thought...costochondritis - an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum (breastbone), causing a rather harmless chest wall pain. Causes for this conditon vary. 60% of the time it comes on after a chest cold, cough, or viral thing. 30% of the cases involved trauma to the area causing the pain or deep anxiety (which he couldn't imagine her having at age 9). The other 10% just happen...for no reason. That must be her story. Out of the blue, go figure. Costochondritis usually resolves itself; however, because of the tenderness, pain, and discomort involved, patients need a little help until the swelling goes down. Motrin, dexamethisone (cortosteroid), and a heating will become her best friends. She will feel better soon, but will have to get plenty of rest and take it easy for a little while. Poor thing!!! And here is was being negative about the whole thing..."Are you sure we have to be here? "Does it hurt bad enough?" "Do you really need to miss school for this?" "We won't be back in time for Makenna.", "I don't have time for this." I am so sorry now that I wasn't more nurturing and careful with her. Brooklyn is usually a pretty strong kid when it comes to things like this. She doesn't like to miss school either, but this case was different, and I should've listened better. Lesson learned!

B's EKG