a trip to Seattle Children's ER

 He doesn't look too bad, does he? In fact, pretty darn cute in that little hospital gown with his IV all covered up with a sock.  Well this picture was taken after a long time cuddling and singing alone with him as he recovered from the trauma of being poked, pushed on, and held down by a bunch of strangers.  All with scary yellow gowns and masks on.  Not to mention that he was in so much pain that he could hardly move a muscle without tensing up and crying out. But if I helped him keep his hips perfectly still, I could get him to smile and even giggle with me- enough to send this reassuring picture of him to Daddy and our family before my phone died.

I better start at the beginning. Since this is my little family journal, as well as a way to keep in touch with loved ones, I like to record all the important stuff (to me, anyway). 

Ian had a nasty fever (104.7) over the weekend which finally resolved into a normal cold on Monday after Daddy gave him a blessing on Sunday night.  Then Thursday morning, from the moment I picked him up out of his crib, he was obviously in pain whenever I would move his legs - somewhere in his pelvic region.  So with my bigger kids at my friend's house (bless her heart), I took Ian to his pediatrician who did an xray and exam.  She figured out it was his left hip and since the xray was normal thought it was most likely Transient Synovitis of the hip joint (pretty much inflammation of a joint after an infection/virus and not a big deal).  However, he was in so much pain and was so little, she worried it might be something else, like a septic hip joint, so she sent us to Seattle Children's ER. There they put us in viral isolation... a little over the top since he hadn't had a fever in days... and hence the scary outfits that everyone donned on their way in.  Poor little Ian was already in so much pain, especially from his xray earlier (when they were non-too-gentle, grrr), exhausted from a missed nap and so much "excitement", and now he had a bunch of weirdly-garbed strangers wanting to examine him.  By the time his IV was placed, my calm and happy, friendly and sweet, little guy was screaming and clinging to me like his life depended on it... all without trying to move his hip at all.  It was just awful and I'm so desperately thankful I was able to be there to hold and comfort him. (Well where else would I be, right? But still.)  After some slightly abnormal blood work and an ultrasound showing an effusion on his left hip, they still weren't positive it was Transient Synovitis so they had the orthopedic specialist come down to examine him.  Dr Patton was amazing!  In about 5 minutes flat he had diagnosed him with complete certainty, explained it all to me in detail, reassured me that it was not serious at all BUT that it definitely could have been very serious (if it were septic joint) and so I had made all the right choices, and completely validated everything I was feeling!  Talk about a stellar doctor.  So after 8 hours of no pain medication, food, water, or sleep, Ian finally got to go home.  All he needs is ibuprofen for a week and he will be as good as new. What a blessing! Eric and I are so relieved and thankful.

In a nutshell, Transient Synovitis can occur in children after there is an infection in the body like a cold virus. The antibodies collect in the synovium of the hip joint (the inner lining of the capsule of the joint), where they excrete fluid until the pressure causes extreme pain.  NSAIDs like ibuprofen treat the inflammation and it should resolve within a week. However, the septic joint would be if bacteria were in the fluid - that can be very dangerous and requires surgery.  Thankfully that was not the case for our little Ian and he is already doing much better.  Every time things like this happen - where things turn out so much better than they could have - I can't help but think that Heavenly Father is watching over us and blessing us.  I know that hard and terrible things can happen to anyone, and we don't know exactly why, but I still thank Him that this time he has answered my prayers to keep my children safe and healthy.