DuckTales: Remembrance [Lena x OC]

Chapter 0-2: The Doctors

My knees have been getting worse. About a year after mom disappeared, I started having knee issues. If I'm standing or doing exercise for too long, my knees sometimes buckle, and my left leg hurts a lot. Uncle Donald has been getting worried, and so have I, so he scheduled a doctor's appointment for me today. He left my brothers at the houseboat with a babysitter.

As of now, it's been about 2 years since mom disappeared. We're waiting in the waiting room at the hospital now, just after checking in. I start kicking my legs out of boredom, and then my knee starts hurting, so I stop. That's been happening a lot lately.

Suddenly, a nurse pokes her head out of a door, saying, "Izzabelle Duck?"

I nod my head, and she gestures for me and Uncle Donald to follow her. We follow her through the door, and she leads us to a small room with no door, a scale, and a height bar. She takes my measurements, then brings us to a room where we can wait for the doctor. We sit down in the chairs and after a few minutes the doctor comes in.

She says, "Hello, Izzabelle. My name is Dr. Patel. What seems to be the issue with your knees?"

I tell her what's been going on, and she leads me and Uncle Donald to another room. This room has a big table, an x-ray machine, and a smaller room for the people who run the machine.

She says, "Can you lay down on that table, honey? We need to take some pictures of your knee to see what's all going on."

I nod and lay on the table. She leads Uncle Donald into the smaller room, and she uses a computer in the smaller room to take a picture of my knees. She led us back to the room we were in earlier and sat down at a swivel chair behind the big computer.

She starts, "Alright, so it looks like your ligaments and tendons on your left leg are naturally looser than your right leg, so your knee has started to shift suddenly, causing that sudden pain. You're not done growing, so there's not much we can do for the time being except to put you in a knee brace. If that helps, then you shouldn't need surgery."

I feel my chest get heavy when she says surgery. Why would I need surgery? Is it really that bad?

Uncle Donald asks her, "Why would she need to stop growing before you do surgery? Wouldn't it be better to get her help sooner?"

Dr. Patel responds, "Well, the surgery required to stop this issue from recurring would include going into nerves, bone, and replacing her ligaments and tendons. If she's not done growing, there's a high chance that she would be unable to grow any taller than she currently is. So, the best option right now is to put her in a knee brace and make sure she isn't pushing herself. It's important for her to exercise and stretch daily, but not to overdo herself."

Most of what they were talking about was too many big words for me to understand, but Uncle Donald seemed to, so that made me feel a bit better. If this knee brace helps, then I won't have to have surgery. That's good news, right? Dr. Patel leaves the room and comes back in with a knee brace for me. It looks a little big, but she shows me that it's adjustable, so I can tighten it when I need to or loosen it as I get older and bigger.

After helping me put it on, she says, "You have to wear this knee brace every day, but make sure to wash it at least once a week and not wear it to bed."

After that, we're led back to the waiting room where Uncle Donald pays for the knee brace and the appointment, and then we head home. The ride back is mostly silent, with me being scared of eventually having to have surgery. Once we get home, Uncle Donald pays the babysitter, and she leaves. My baby brothers waddle over to me, giving my legs a big hug. They make me happy to be a big sister. The knee brace will be a big adjustment, but it'll just be something I have to get used to.