Truck Day, X-Ray Day

A week or two after we moved to Woodbury two years ago, I read about "Truck Day." I was so excited to learn our new community offered great opportunities like this for kids - basically a chance to climb in and pretend to drive a variety of large vehicles. For free!


Little did I know that year was the first-ever Truck Day. I was about to write that we have now gone to all three years of this fun outing, only to look back at the blog history and be reminded that we did not go last year. We felt like we'd be torturing Zach since he would've had to just sit and look at the trucks... that pesky cast didn't allow for clambering in and out of trucks. Funny coincidence, given what else I was about to write about here, but more on that later!


Anyway, Scott took Zach on Saturday while I stayed home during Charlie's nap (have I mentioned before how hard it is to stay home mornings???? It's bad enough during the week, but I hate missing out on fun family outings on the weekends too!). There was the usual fantastic array of vehicles - fire trucks, various delivery trucks, garbage trucks, police vehicles, buses, and on and on. I am particular impressed with the person at UPS who said not only would they send a big brown truck, they'd send the one with the flames on it! What kid wouldn't love that??



Saturday was Truck Day, Monday was X-Ray Day, Zach's one-year follow-up for his broken leg. As you may remember, the doctor recommended we return annually to ensure the leg is still healing fine, but mostly to make sure that the growth of the broken leg matches that of the unscathed one. So off we went.

Previously when we went in for x-rays, Scott had to be the one to go in the x-ray room with Zach, since I was pregnant. Obviously not an issue this year, but I was strategizing exactly what I would do with Charlie when I went in the room with Zach. So when the x-ray tech called his name, I stood up with Charlie, about to ask what she would recommend. Before I could say a word, she looked at Zach and asked if he could come in alone, so his mom could wait in the hall with his little brother. Once again, before I could say anything, Zach unhesitatingly said sure, and followed her through the door.

I confess, I felt a little left behind and unnecessary! Who was this mature boy who was not the least bit scared of the big machine, willing to head off with a stranger for a medical procedure??? I thought back to the first few x-rays, when I would stand outside the door and listen to Zach scream in pain and fear, even with his dad there for comfort. This time, instead of cries, I heard the funniest conversations. When the tech teasingly asked him if he'd smiled for the first picture, he said no, he didn't need to smile because it was a picture of his leg, not his face. Then he asked what the red light was on his leg, and the tech explained it was so they could see exactly where they were taking the picture. Zach then launched into a story about a recent trip to Home Depot with his dad, where they used a big saw that had a red light like that. After more conversation I couldn't quite hear, both techs were laughing when they brought him out, and complimented me on our smart and funny son. Brave too, I think!

As far as the results of the x-ray, they were as expected - his leg looks fantastic. Within another year or so doctors won't even be able to tell it was ever broken when looking at an x-ray. None of this was surprising news to us, since we see this boy running incredibly fast, jumping, hopping on one foot, etc etc on a daily basis. We know he's fine!

However, we did get conflicting advice from this new doctor. The original one (who has now moved on to a new rotation) had recommended we return annually until Zach hits puberty, due to the concern about the equal growth in both legs. This doctor thought that wasn't necessary to expose Zach to that much radiation; that if we don't see differences two years after the break, we never will. This is one of many times I've wished we had a good friend who just happened to be a pediatric orthopedic doctor, so we could easily get a second opinion!!!

But I'll ignore that frustration for now and just enjoy that our boy is healthy. Especially after I went back and read where we were a year ago...