Hailey's MRI

Hailey was complaining about her knee hurting.

Finally for a few days, she was REALLY complaining and limping.

So, I made an appointment with a specialist.

The problem was, we'd have to see his PA because he was booked out two months.

That was fine with us, since she just needed to be seen.

We met the PA and he did some movement exercises with her to determine where the pain was. He couldn't find any areas of pain. He had her do jumping jacks and things like that, no pain.

So, to be on the safe side, he took some x-rays.

What happened next was definitely not expected.

The specialist walked in. I was surprised to see him since they said he had a 2 month waiting list and this was 2 days after making the appointment.

His words were: "I need to talk to you about your daughter's condition"

Inside, I was freaking out. I did not like where this was going. He explained to me that he suspected she had what's called Osteochondritis Dissecans.

It's a condition where the cartilage becomes unattached from the bone, leaving fluid build up between the two. He showed me the x-ray that concerned him and I couldn't see a darn thing. He said he was puzzled because this condition is extremely rare and never seen in children, girls especially.  He said he needed to do an MRI to be sure but it needed to be done soon. I was freaking out a bit, especially because Nate was at scout camp and I couldn't reach him.

They scheduled her MRI for that afternoon.

Even though she was really nervous and scared about this, she did amazing. I couldn't believe how still she was. They allowed me to put on scrubs and stand next to the machine with her and talk to her during the scan. Well, the next day, the specialist himself called me to tell me the news that she indeed had what he had suspected. He also said it was good that I paid attention to her complaints because it is a very painful condition.  His instructions were that she was to stop all activity besides swimming and riding a bike. No running, jumping, playing, etc. My thoughts at this point were, how in the heck can we do that? This is HAILEY!

They gave us a knee brace for her to wear while she was doing things with friends to remind her to stay off her knee. I wish I could say it worked great, but again, this is Hailey. 

(The out-of-pocket for her MRI cost us almost $500.00)