No Cast!

Koen went off to school in his carpool and then Penn, Tav and Doug and I loaded up in the car.  Doug dropped Penn and I off at Children's Hospital for our 8:35am follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon.  Doug and Tav had a few minutes to kill before preschool opened its doors, so they had a coffee/apple juice date.  Tav was happy to say the least, he even donned his "preschool smile."  

At about the same time Penn was screaming bloody murder while being pinned down for some more X-rays.  Thankfully he rebounded quickly once we were back in the exam room.  He loves playing with the blood pressure air bulb thingy.  Look at this sweet "cheese" face!

The doctor came in not too long after and consulted with me about Penn's situation.  He commented that he was surprised they didn't cast Penn in the ER and I mentioned how I think that we were perhaps such a wreck of a family that they didn't want to push over the edge.  He then checked the chart and noticed there was an actual note from the Ortho resident saying something quite similar.  Oh the drama!  Anyways, the doctor was not upset about it and based on Penn's resilience and happy nature suggested that we not bother putting a cast on at this point.  The cast would really only be to protect the bone in this slightly weaker state from the tiny possibility of sustaining a large stress/strain over the next 4 weeks while it heals.  The doctor said that if Penn was his grandson that he would recommend not casting, so that is what we decided to do.  I felt like it was an answer to prayer that he was confident in that suggestion and I was relieved not to have to put Penn in a cast.  Please be praying for protection for this little guy as this fracture heals.  Otherwise Penn is doing really well maneuvering and acting very much like himself with just some limited movement (which he manages so well).  Thanks for all your prayers!