Sad

Some patients really make you want to cry. A little girl broke her arm "falling out of a tree" two
months ago, had a cast placed, but never came back to check or change the cast. She came in today after her Mom had taken the cast off that morning. The girl was in a lot of pain and her hand was scrunched up like it had been squished in a deformed cast for too long. There was a lot of skin breakdown on her palm and fingers and there was obvious deformity of her forearm that I didn't remember being so bad after the initial fracture. When I saw the new xrays, I sighed with despair. The girl had re-broken her arm, this time much worse, with significant displacement that would require surgery. The Mom was immediately terrified at the prospect of coming back again. She had to sneak out of the house just to bring her daughter in today. Apparently the father is a real jerk and won't let them come to the doctor and gets mad when they spend money on anything. It is a terrible family situation. Now, because this little girl was not allowed to come in for follow up and appropriate care with the new fracture, she is in a much worse medical situation. What a tragedy that this father does not care enough about his daughter's health or future to let her come to the doctor. We will use our indigent fund to help this girl and help the Mom bring her in at times when she and the daughter will not "get in trouble" with the dad. So sad!