Rachel's New Accessory

Rachel and I had a new experience in Germany today, although doing something we had a fair amount of practice at in the US. We visited the ER at our local Klinikum. Thankfully everyone speaks more English than I speak German

Last night Rachel twisted her ankle at basketball practice. She had a strong limp but we decided to try ice and ibuprofen overnight. Things weren't better this morning so off to the hospital we went. I've had a bit of experience with minor versus more serious injuries especially with Rachel and AJ (meaning I don't run to the doctor with every injury), and this didn't feel like just an ankle twist or muscle pull. Rachel by the way insisted she would be fine because there is a tournament at school this weekend that she didn't want to miss.

The doctor initially thought it was just a sprain and our fingers were crossed, but after an X-ray she was concerned that there was a small fracture. Our next step was an MRI.  They were ready for us right away which was great. However when Rachel came out she said, "Mom, I'm not sure they did the right foot". She explained to me that both feet were on the table but the left not the right was in a compartment. So I asked. The girl at the desk went to get the manager who spoke awesome English and he checked and someone had written left instead of right. Darn!  So back to the waiting room to wait for another MRI. This was a good lesson for Rachel too, when in doubt, ask.

After a second MRI of the correct and also right foot we headed back to the doctor. Yep, small fracture in the growth plate. This means crutches and the cast for 10 days and then walking in the cast for another 2.5 weeks. We also had a piece of interesting news, since they also took an MRI of the left foot they read it, and 2-4 weeks ago she had a small fracture in that ankle that she never complained about, in fact, Rachel can't remember doing anything to it. So we know she's tough.

**Update** When I wrote this yesterday I forgot to mention one thing. During all of this Rachel walked everywhere! She walked from the clinic across the hospital to x-ray, then back. Then she walked from the clinic to the MRI area and back. Then when the doctor was going to show us the MRI's, Rachel started to get up to come see too and the doctor said, "No, you can't walk now that we know your ankle is fractured". At this point it was just funny.

Lastly we learned that in Germany when you get hurt at school, school "foots" the bill!