A few weeks ago, the Little Man injured his right thumb. It was by no means a serious injury, just one of those things that happens when 4-year-olds play. He didn’t even cry. We noticed that he couldn’t straighten out his thumb afterward. We visited the urgent care, then his pediatrician, who sent him for x-rays. The x-rays came back normal but he was sent to a orthopedist just to be safe. Turns out, he had what’s known as “trigger finger.” The condition probably existed at the time of his injury, and the injury just brought it to light.
This morning, the Little Man had surgery to correct the condition. This required general anesthesia, which is always a little nerve-wracking. But this was the third time that the Little Man has had general anesthesia and the surgery itself took only 15 minutes. We left the house at 6:30 am and were back home by 11 am. The Little Man was brave and smiling throughout and the surgery corrected the condition. In about 9 days–when the cast comes off–he will have full mobility and functionality of his right thumb once again.
Yes, there is kind of a cast. Lots of padding and wrapping and bandages, which almost seems overkill for an incision that was barely a few millimeters. But the Little Man is nearly four and the cast will help ensure proper healing.
At the time of this writing, the Little Man is downstairs, happily playing with the Little Miss (and some new toys). He will miss t-ball for two weeks, but he was going to miss a week anyway as we are taking a road trip on Memorial Day weekend. He is a little trooper, though.
I always get a little nervous before these things and it is a relief to have this behind us.
RSS - Posts
I know that horrible feeling. My daughter (4 at the time) fell with a glass cool drink bottle in her hand which broke and made a gash across the thumb zone. This was in a sports club in a remote part of Zimbabwe and the local hospital somewhat dubious. Fortunately, after some delay, a Swedish lady Doctor emerged and put in a few stitches. Within a few days she was mostly healed up – incredibly quick at that age. That feeling of dread at the time something like this happens is quite uncomfortable. In a few days he will be back in the swing of things with probably no second thought of what happened.
Regards Peter Stewart
A short recovery for the little man
Best wishes for the Little Man.