The other day, I went for a walk with my son who wanted to go 'snake hunting.' It is something I did as a kid all the time when my dad took our family camping.
There was a time as a kid when I had over a dozen snakes and reptiles in my room. Snake hunting was a passion of mine and it has become a passion for my 15-year-old son as well.
It was rewarding to see him catch a snake as it reminded me of how much joy it brought me to do the same at his age.
The same day my son caught the snake, I received a text from my oldest son who was passing on a text sent by a patient's dad who came to our office about a month ago.
The dad brought his son to the office the day after fracturing his hand in a baseball game just two weeks before the season started.
They were so disappointed because this young man (who also happened to be a kid I coached in flag football years ago) has been waiting to play high school baseball since he was a 5 year old in Little League.
The day he injured his hand, he went to urgent care and the x-ray revealed a noticeable fracture.
He was referred to an orthopedic surgeon for follow up care, but the parents came to our office the next day instead to see if we could help expedite the healing process.
He was referred by a teammate who had fractured his hand a year ago and was able to return sooner to the field with laser and other healing technology.
When this kid came to the office, his hand was swollen like a balloon, very painful, and only 10% of functional use. Within a few treatments his hand improved significantly and within 2 weeks he felt close to 95% better.
The text was extremely rewarding for me to see my 9th grade patient able to play baseball again in a few weeks after fracturing his hand, not only because it meant so much to him to be able to play, but because when I was in high school, I injured my knee playing football and had to miss the last two games, including Homecoming, during my senior year.
I would have given the world back then to be able to play football after injuring my knee, but did not have the opportunity to do so.
