The beginning...

One morning back in October of 2009, Wyatt woke up and complained that his leg and knee hurt. He was limping but said he still wanted to go to preschool that day. He continued to complain about pain in the groin and knee area for the next couple of weeks. We first wrote it off to growing pains or a pulled muscle since he is such an active little guy. When the pain and limp started to worsen, then we took him in to an acute pediatric facility and they took an x-ray. They diagnosed him with toxic synovitis. That is a condition where the hip is inflamed after the child has been sick with the flu or other infection. They said to give him motrin and he should be better in a couple of weeks.
We didn't see any improvement so we followed up with our pediatrician. He ordered an MRI and again said he didn't see anything prominent. He told us to give him more motrin and watch him over the next week and we should see an improvement. When again we didn't see any improvement, we called the doctor and he said to come back in for more tests. At that point, we knew we needed to see someone else. Wyatt came to me one day and told me something was really wrong with his leg and he wanted me to fix it. I knew it was time to go to the hospital.
Josh and I took him to the ER at Childrens' Hospital in Plano. They did blood work and then a more extensive x-ray. Wyatt sat in the hospital bed watching tv and complaining that he was bored. It's hard to keep this little man contained for very long! The doctor came in and said "Wyatt has Perthes Disease".
It was bittersweet--I was so happy to have an answer for him but hoped it wouldn't be that. Don't get me wrong, we were so happy it wasn't something fatal, but please don't tell me my little boy's bone is eroding and there is nothing I can do! Wyatt listened to the doctor and then asked if we could go home now. The ER doctor said a pediatric orthopedist would call us and make an appointment.
I went home and felt relief for a diagnosis, but was also overwhelmed with the thought of trying to keep Wyatt still. Wyatt came in our room that night and told us it was okay because God would heal his leg! What an inspiration! Sometimes we need a four year old to get refocused.