Evidence-based approach

Alex is nothing if not concrete in his thinking. After breaking his leg and having it in a CAM boot for 3 weeks, I told him that he could bear weight on it as long as it was comfortable, enough to move around and walk a bit.

He refused. Getting out of the bath he would fold the leg up like a bird with a broken wing. He insisted on being carried everywhere or he would crawl. He was just too nervous to put weight on it. I told him the doctor said it was ok to give it a try, it would be healed enough to put some weight on it by now. If he didn't find it comfortable he didn't have to do it. He shook his head. No.

"I'll wait till we get the second lot of x-rays done today, and if it looks fixed then, I'll walk on it," he declared.

And so it was that I carried him in to the specialists appointment, into a full waiting room. We had another discussion while we were waiting about maybe trying to walk a bit into the doctor's room, to show him how much better his leg was. No dice. So I carried the 21kg+ of him (as I had been doing for three weeks) into the consulting room. I actually suspected he was more than capable of walking on it, at least a bit, but I knew better than to force the issue with Alex, and besides, publicly admonishing a boy with a broken leg to walk might have looked a bit suss. The doctor showed him the x-ray and assured him it was ok to walk on it.


Imagine the amusement in the waiting room when, ten minutes later, the boy who had been carried in, walked out (albeit with a slight limp, but full of confidence.) That doctor is a miracle worker!