Toxic Synovitis...what is THAT?

Ok, my quote is a little dramatic, because everyone is FINE -- but I want to give a special little shoutout to my Baby B, my Caden Francis, my energetic little love bug.

We had a little sickness scare on Tuesday. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing more than a reaction to a virus, but trust me when I tell you I was beyond scared/nervous/uneasy/worried about my little man.

For new moms like myself who also didn't know this, let me save you the shock and worry and fear of the unknown:

Apparently toddlers can all of a sudden stop walking and/or start walking with a limp randomly. Like, really? With all the other worries and uncertainties, now this? Yup.

Let me back up. Caden was absolutely fine one morning. We dressed him, gave him breakfast, and dropped him off at daycare like it was any typical morning. As I arrived at work, I received a call from daycare and she said "Caden isn't walking anymore. He won't put any pressure or weight on his right leg". My heart sank. I didn't know what happened. I of course assumed he fell, hurt himself, or maybe even got stung by a bee. It was weird. I actually hoped he got stung by a bee. Awful, right? I immediately left work and FLEW to daycare to see him. My mom came with me. We checked him out. We looked at his foot, leg, knee, hip, bum, you name it. He was fine. In fact, he wasn't even crying. We then rotated his feet and toes and legs to see if he would wince in pain. NOTHING. He was smiling, happy, obsessed-with-his-bottle, Caden. But he wasn't walking and running like he usually does. So I brought him home, called the doctor, and booked the first available sick appointment. Why has my child stopped walking and running??? WHY?!

Toxic Synovitis. That was the diagnosis.

I got this excerpt from the Kids Health website. "Toxic synovitis has a scary name, but it's not a scary condition. This temporary inflammation of the hip can cause limping and pain in the hip and leg. This can be unpleasant for a child and unsettling for a parent — especially when symptoms start suddenly — but toxic synovitis usually goes away within a week or two, and causes no long-term problems."

Symptoms

When kids have toxic synovitis, the pain starts suddenly and usually is only on one side of the body. Other signs to look for:

• a recent viral infection, such as a cold or stomach virus
• low-grade fever (up to 101°F [38°C])
• limping with toes turned outward, the knee bent or straightened
• walking on tiptoes
• hip discomfort that happens after a long period of resting the joint (such as sitting in a car or at a desk, or watching TV)
• knee or thigh pain with no hip pain
• in younger children, crying
• in some cases, a refusal to walk

To give some background and signs to look out for -- Caden had a small cold/runny nose just a day prior to this whole refusal to walk incident. And he was waking in the night (which I assumed was part of his head cold). Conor had also been sick in the Cape over the weekend with the same cold. You know, they always get sick within days of each other. For me, a full-time working mom with two one-year olds, it's pretty easy to over-look minor things and just assume the child is sick or fussy. But turns out, Caden had a pretty serious reaction to the cold and thus, put Mommy in panic mode. So FYI to all you Moms. It's actually pretty common!

And here's Caden back to normal...thank goodness. :)

You know, the reason for my quote at the beginning is not to be dramatic -- but rather to take an extra minute to count your blessings BEFORE something goes wrong or you think something is going wrong. It's unfortunate that it takes something like this to check yourself and be grateful for what you have. I am so fortunate and grateful in fact, that the only other time I had a similar 'worried' feeling was when the boys were born and Caden went down to the NICU. He was so so so little and he couldn't maintain an adequate blood sugar level. I felt helpless that there was nothing I could do to help him - especially since he was out of my belly at that point - but I trusted in his doctors to help make him healthier and stronger. And sure enough, we did the same thing this time around. I'm also thankful we didn't have to go through a million appointments to get answers either. It all moved very quickly.

I mean, just look at them....little peanuts. #tbt :)

 xo,

Shaz