Shots and Knees (or should that be Shot Knees)...

Jed's appointment was this past Monday. He weighed in at a whopping 23 pounds (60th percentile) and 31 1/2 inches tall (80th percentile. Looks like he will be taking after his tall slender father than his shorter rounder mother.

We actually did a double appointment. We were there for Jed's check-up as well as getting my husband's knee looked at. His knee has given him problems for years. About 6 years ago he was riding his brother-in-law’s dirt bike and crashed. He went to the ER where they told he had torn a few ligaments in his left knee, gave him a brace and told him to take it easy. At least that’s how he remembers it. More than likely they also added that he should have it looked at by his doctor after the weekend. But he was invincible then, as everyone is in their twenties. He knew his body would fix itself and he would be good as new. He didn’t need another doctor (and another doctor’s bill) tell him that.

But 6 years later age has caught up. The knee aches a little which he can handle. However, every now and then his knee will just pop out of socket and unless his right leg is already holding his weight, he will hit the ground. So the doc looked at it and set up another appointment for us with an orthopedic surgeon in a couple of weeks. We’ll see what he has to say, but it looks like arthroscopic surgery may be in his future.

After the doctor was done checking my husband’s knee, he examined Jed. He proclaimed him to be absolutely perfect (as we already knew). We then discussed the plan for his shots. He was due for 5 and we had a choice. All 5 shots today (which included the dreadful MMR) or to split it into two rounds, 2 shots today and the rest at 18 months. I chose the two rounds. The MMR will be given at 18 months and from my understanding it hurts. It hurts when they give it and it hurts after. The doc gave me a prescription for a cream to apply to the area an hour before the appointment. It should numb the area so that it will not be as painful for Jed. He then left (can’t have the doctor be the bad guy when it comes to shots) and sent in two nurses. My husband held Jed’s legs and I held his hands. The nurses said One, Two, Three and gave both of his shots at one time. At first, Jed was perfectly calm, then about two seconds into the injection he just wailed, huge round tears pouring from his eyes and my heart just broke. I teared up a bit (the nurses kept apologizing to me) but I think I did as well, if not better than the last few rounds of shots. I really hate going through this and hate putting him through it but I know he needs the shots and the few minutes of pain is well worth avoiding these illnesses.

I am happy to say, that by the time we were out the door, Jed had stopped crying. He was still fussy from being tired and hungry (his afternoon nap was cut short for his appointment). And amazingly, he was in a wonderful mood the rest of the evening (well that is after a couple dozen French fries and a short nap during the ride home.) Now how many more times will I, well we have to go through this???