The Road to 40 Day 303/365: Hospital Day

We spent much of this day waiting to be attended by doctors, and it’s never good when you have to go to a hospital.

Vino has been complaining about a nagging pain on his foot since Wednesday. He said some of his friends sat on his leg and some went down to his foot. It has been on and off, and at some point, I thought he was just making up an excuse because he didn’t want to train.

He was a bit down after one of the training sessions because he had a bad performance. I’ve tried to re-assure him that he’s fine, but last Friday, he told me that he “didn’t want to get bullied” by the bigger kids.

Apparently, he was told that he “sucked” because he conceded a few goals. I told him it was just his first time in the bigger goal and field, as well as competing with older kids. He can’t be immediately good, especially considering it was just his second training day.

Anyway, I pushed for him to train last Friday, but we decided not to go through with it because of the rain. Last Saturday night, he was limping again, so we decided to send him to the doctor on Sunday.

I brought him to the nearby clinic to get a recommendation to a specialist. After about an hour waiting for the doctor, he kept asking about medication allergy, but barely touched Vino’s foot. Later, he told me “I’ll recommend that you go to A&E because he shouldn’t be walking like that.”

I mean, “duh, doc.”

We went home first to have lunch and a bit of rest before we headed off to NUH. A lot of waiting again for our turn to get an x-ray and to get the results read to us.

Upon initial inspection, the doctor said she suspects a fracture because of the structure of the bones. However, she also noted that since Vino is still young, his bones are still developing, and what she sees as an irregularity might be normal for him.

The options given to me were that he would need to wear a cast for one to two weeks, or he would be asked to wear a light bandage, to try and immobilize it. I was torn, because either way, I felt like he would be uncomfortable. I asked for other possibilites of his pain.

The doctor suggested to do an x-ray of his other foot for comparison. This was another hour and change.

All I could think of was how this happened. I’m frustrated, and I know that the kids were just playing. However, Vino said he asked his friend not to sit on him, but he continued to, until others joined in.

It could have been an avoidable injury, yet here he is, potentially needing a cast to avoid major damage on his foot – the foot of a boy who loves to play football.

I know I can’t fight all his battles, and he has to know how to stand up for himself. I told him not to laugh even if they’re playing, especially if it really hurts. I told him to punch the kid if need be. Che wasn’t a fan of this notion.

When we were called back to check the comparison, I was told that it didn’t look different from his injured right foot. As such, he doesn’t need a cast, as it may not be a fracture. Still, the doctor was not ruling out a fracture, so he still needs to wear a bandage.

On the positive side, he’s in good spirits. After the bandage, he said, “I like it.”

I had to carry him on my back, though, so we had to take a cab home.

He will have to rest for the week, as he shouldn’t really put much weight on his foot. Hopefully, the pain will finally subside, and he can resume regular activities again by next week.