Saturday, October 27, 2012

All hail Synovia!

So some of you may be aware that one of my 3 yo twins was diagnosed with a mild case of Toxic Synovitis.  It's not that serious, especially if we convince her to sit and rest (HAHAHAHAHAHA!).  It's located in her left knee, so she can't walk on it.  We give her Motrin and let her watch all the TV she wants, which means she would rather do ANYTHING that watch TV (or color or read or sing songs or play board games...)  As I've typed this paragraph (and I type pretty fast) she's already tried to walk four times.

We were just diagnosed yesterday afternoon, and already we are a bit stir crazy and challenged.  This is our favorite time of year!  We want to be outside, picking apples, going to Halloween parties, playing and enjoying activities (note the word active there).  It's really hard for Twin B because as of right now she has no symptoms, and she might not get sick, but I need to keep her on the calm side so her twin isn't encouraged to run around.  So I thought, "Hey, let's take the stroller and go to the shopping center to run some errands!"  Perfect, right?  They are contained but getting to see something other than our four walls, and maybe I can have minor human interactions.  Whoohoo!

....Seriously?  What was I thinking?...

The problem wasn't the girls.  I mean, they didn't like being contained, but they were fairly willing to go along if it meant they were out of the house.  No, it was explaining WHY my girls were in a stroller.  See, we picked the day to go to the shopping center that was having a Halloween festival.  And somehow, despite my best efforts, I ended up having to constantly explain WHY they were in a stroller.

"She has WHAT?"  Toxic Synovitis
"What is that?"  It's a virus that travels to a joint.  In this case it's her knee.  
"A virus?  In her knee?  Seriously?  I didn't know that could happen!"  Hmmm...join the club
 "Does it sneeze?  Do you have to blow it?"  Oh ha ha!  That was funny the first 15 times I heard it...want to ask me if they are twins?  
"She can't walk?  Why can she move the knee?"  Apparently it depends on where it attacks the joint as to how much it affects a person.  In her case she can't bear weight on her lower leg or foot, but crawling or this weird butt scoot she's got going on (that is going to destroy all her pants) doesn't affect her.  
"Let's see her try to walk."  Oh, sure, because I'm sure you've got far more experience diagnosing and treating T.S. than the doctor who sees several cases a year...

And my personal favorite: "Was it named after her?"

Really?  You think this condition is named after my kid?  I mean, not that it's not possible.  But let's be real - people look at me and think, "¿Que Paso?"  They look at my kid, and think she's named after something that sounds like a minor Mid-European principality halfway between Bavaria and the French Riviera?  Why yes, this is my daughter Synovia.  And her twin Genovia.  They are famous for pears...

And there was the last hurdle I encountered that made me want to crack some skulls: Candy.  I have to tell you, if you have to catch T.S., avoid doing so on Halloween...or Christmas, Valentines day, Easter...see a pattern?  In addition to rest and Motrin, the other part of the protocol is to avoid dairy and...*ding ding ding!*  SUGAR!!

"Aww, poor girl.  Does she want some candy?"  That's so sweet of you, but she really needs to avoid sugar right now.
"But it's HALLOWEEN!"  What the...are you serious?  Like in a couple of days?  Like with costumes and everything?  Is THAT why there's candy for sale everywhere?  OOOOH!  That explains all the orange and black, doesn't it?!?!?

No s*%$, people, but trust me...if I take care of her, she'll be around for many MORE Halloweens.  And as much as I hate to do it, no kid dies from a dietary reduction of refined white sugar.  In fact, it may ultimately behoove her diet to do so.  Hmmm, might help yours, too...

So we're going to spend the rest of the day and tomorrow at the house.  If she continues to have problems walking by Monday I take her to the doctor.  Hopefully her twin doesn't manifest signs of the illness in the next 24 hours.  Provided I can keep her from walking the virus shouldn't spread and we should get better.

Twin A specializes in taking her illnesses to the next level, doesn't she?

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