A child with as many broken bones as I had could easily become frightened of the ortho doctor. I was afraid of some doctors, and I thought others were mean. Not Dr Runge. He was always so very nice to me, and genuinely concerned that I have a quality of life while recovering from a broken bone.
When I was in second grade and I broke something in my heel, he didn't make me wear a cast so I could still go swimming. When I was in fifth grade and I broke my hand the night before I was supposed to go get a clean bill of health for the foot I'd broken a couple months before, he went ahead and gave me a pass to go back to dance class with a cast on my arm.
Dr Runge was the only doctor I have ever really, genuinely believed when he read my x-rays. It got to where we were skipping the ER and going straight to his office for my broken bones, because I'm not sure the ER doctors ever read one of my x-rays correctly. They'd find one break when there were five or diagnose a broken bone as a foreign body in the foot and so on. Dr Runge would get the x-rays and yell or laugh at the people who didn't get it right and patch me back up.
He never set one of my bones unless it was absolutely necessary. He never restricted my activities if he didn't have to. He'd explain to Mom and me exactly what was wrong in a way that I could understand. And then he'd put a cast on me, encourage me to be as active as possible and send me on my way. I don't think he ever told me I should be more careful, just more active.
Dr Runge was the best doctor I ever had. He will be missed.
