As most of you may have heard, LMA is having some issues. The little monster has a limp.

I picked her up from school Monday and as she ran towards me, like she usually does (one of the high points of my day) she came up short, her right leg gave out on her, she grabbed her knee and started to cry. It wasn't a full blown wailing cry, but enough that I knew something was wrong. LMA is such an active, playful, energetic kid that this was like TNT in my heart. Instantly I began to think about leg braces and years upon years of medications and treatments that would turn her into a walking zombie, the little fire that is her life force snuffed.

I'm sure I'm over reacting, but I'm not the only one.

So we iced her knee at home and she couched for the evening, standing and jumping long enough to show Mrs. Austin the problem. You could tell it wasn't just a bump as she would wince and her leg would give every time she tried to step up or push off with that right leg. We called the doctor and were told to make an appointment for the next day.

10:15 the next day we hit the sick kids wing of the Pediatrician's office. After almost a 90 minute wait, and a 5 min visit from the doctor, we walked across the way to get an x-ray of her little knee and lower leg. If you thought toddler's legs were small before, image them sitting on an x-ray table while you envision how small those bones inside must be. She suddenly became this creature made of blown glass and wishes. We also pushed for some blood work as well, not wanting to wait it out. Both the x-ray and blood work came back negative, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. The next step is Motrine off and on for pain for a week and see if it goes away. The doctor thinks it's the end of a virus, she had a fever a week ago and it may be that the bug is in it's final throws of life. After that, if it's still not better, they want to check for jeuvenille arthritis, but that's 3 month's worth of persistant symptoms before a diagnosis. Three months of little 14 inch legs limping around.

Of course the internet has been especially helpful and dreadful in its myriad sites of research on the subject of toddler limping and as you can see, we're all over the place with paranoia and fear. At this point I'm hoping for a hairline fracture that x-ray didn't pick up over, say, septic arthritis or an absess forming on the spince or Legg-Perthes-Calve disease.

One thing the doctors haven't done is say, "Well, it's not this or that or the other thing" which is what parents are looking for. Shoot, any patient wants to hear some things ruled out in their favor. To quote George Castanza, "Cancer? Get outta here!!" I know the medical professionals are just doing their job by running tests and eliminating things, but give the parents some update, some progress report. What are you looking for? What are some causes? What do you suspect?

Ugh.

Meanwhile LMA and Mrs. A are at home buidling blocks. She's been cleared to go back to school on a supervised basis. For a 2 year old, that's a rough deal. Not much more to life than running around the sand pit and playground. Take that away and you're left eating and trying not to wet yourself.

So we're in a wait and see mode now. We're scared of course. Both families have been real nice. Yesterday I made the comment to Mrs. Austin how I felt I was the only one not over reacting to the situation. It's ironic that I'm the one online most of the time looking to compare symptoms to bacterial meningitis.

Will keep you posted.