Sever's

Caden has Sever's disease.

It's more of a condition rather than a disease however.

He's had it since about May.

After baseball practice or games I'd notice him limping around and he'd say his feet hurt.

He'd go to bed and the next day he'd be just fine

At first I chalked it up to old cleats so we got new ones.

That didn't help.

Took him to the doctor, who said the problem was Severs and basically "over use" due to his being so active.

Ice, rest, and ibuprofen was the remedy.

About this time baseball was over and he wasn't as active on his feet.

More swimming and riding motorcycle/gocarts so it wasn't really an issue and we mistakenly thought the problem had resolved. 

Fast forward to September and the Twister run he participated in. 

From that moment until now the Sever's has been raging.

Very easily aggravated and painful for him. 

Enter the specialist (who was Colton's doc for the foot surgery he had), now this doctor has a son who had severs last year. The doc says this is a self-limiting condition = you can be active until it hurts then you STOP the activity and rest - start the remedies.

Sounds reasonable right?

Sure it does until Caden decided to push it one day in PE when they were playing a hot game of basketball.

We just happened to pick him up from school that day and he said his right foot hurt worse than it ever had before, previously it was his left that bothered him most.

 Ok, we went home and started the ice/ibuprofen.

Next day I went to wake him up and he literally fell to the floor in pain.

He could not stand on his right foot at all. 

Course the specialist was in surgery all that day so we went to an urgent care doc who said Caden was having an acute bout of Severs - no broken bones. He put Caden on crutches and in a boot to allow the growth plate inflammation to subside.

The next week we went to the specialist and he said yep, this will happen when you push the activity too far. He said his son was in and out of the boot/crutches for nine months. 

Which visibly made Caden cringe because those crutches were fun for about the first two hours and that was it. They were now a pain in the butt and he was MISERABLE.

And wouldn't you know it basketball practice started that very day.

The doc said Caden can play basketball if he's smart about it - when the pain starts he has to stop otherwise he'll be back in the boot and both feet could be booted at the same time if he's not careful.

A week on crutches, a week just in the boot and now, as of this last Wednesday, he is back up and around. Thankfully.

He was a miserable boy the whole time his activity was limited.

We are doing some stretching exercises to attempt to help lengthen his Achilles tendon, hoping this will also help.

Side note: Caden has grown over an inch in six weeks! How's that for a growth spurt!

No one knows how long his Sever's will last. 

Could be another six months or four years (oh please not years). 

Every kid that has Severs is different.

Until then Caden will have to be very careful and listen to his body - then do what he knows he needs to do - STOP and rest his feet.

Which is a whole lot to ask of a sport crazy boy.

At the Veteran's Day program a few weeks ago.

He had been going to be a flag bearer and read at the microphone, but didn't want to have to walk in front of the crowd on crutches - fearing that he'd fall, so he ended up handing out programs at the door.

Anywho.

It's damn cold here today.

WINDY and a high of only 15*.

It's the opening day of deer hunting too - burrr.

A local business is having a wine tasting event and my gal pals and I have decided to attend. 

Should be fun!

Stay warm :)