Foo - My son has an owie :(

He was over at a friend's house jumping on their trampoline and landed wrong. Came home in tears and holding his arm close to his body. Luckily, the 'grandmother' who lives in that house came over and explained what happened and offered to take us to the E.R. Called my wife at work and she made near record setting time meeting up with us.

X-rays revealed a 'clean' break in both bones, lower right arm, between the elbow and wrist. He's in a splint for now, they gave him some Lortab for the pain, and sent us on our way. He's chowing down on Little Caesar's cheese pizza and drinking a soda while watching tv. Wife is now on her way to get the Rx filled at Walgreen's and I got to call the bone Dr. first thing in the morning to schedule a visit to put a cast on the boy.

This was his first time going to the hospital and was a little apprehensive at first. By the time we left, he was miffed that he didn't get a sucker.

Aww, poor guy. The worst is over. Looking back on childhood injuries, they actually ended up being fun, having your parents wait on you hand and foot, getting someone to carry your books at school, etc etc. It's crazy how dangerous trampolines can be. I broke a few ribs on one once.

A cast will be a badge of courage for your son.

Just be sure the bones are setting correctly and he will be fine.

My tomboy youngest daughter was on a first-name basis with the staff at our local ER. I was afraid they were going to report me for child abuse.

We're gonna let home play hooky tomorrow, but he knows he'll have to go back to school on Monday. One of the staff at the ER said that he could go to school "if he's careful". My wife and I exchanged glances and decided to keep him home. The boy is akin to Dennis the Menace, Calvin, Bart Simpson, and Huck Finn all rolled up.

When you put him to bed put a pilow or cushion by his side and get him to rest his arm on it. It'll help with the throbbing and assist blood flow returning to the heart and therefore reduce the swelling. If they offer you the option of a fiberglass cast, let him pick out the colour.

If they offer you the option of a fiberglass cast, let him pick out the colour.

And stake your claim on where you get to sign it!

Trust me, once he gets that cast on, he will WANT to go to school to show it off. But I agree with you on letting him stay home the first day. After a while, he will be sticking things down it to scratch, trying to karate chop everything in sight with it and trying to sniff the funnk inside. LOL!!

And GET SOME STICKERS! FOR IT!

Healing vibes are on their way.

Get stickers or we will gather some up for him. ;)

And stake your claim on where you get to sign it!

Trust me, once he gets that cast on, he will WANT to go to school to show it off. But I agree with you on letting him stay home the first day. After a while, he will be sticking things down it to scratch, trying to karate chop everything in sight with it and trying to sniff the funnk inside. LOL!!

And GET SOME STICKERS! FOR IT!

Oddly enough, he brought up the question about color choices while waiting to be discharged from the ER. He wants red, black, or camo.

As to the funky smell, the scratching, and karate chopping... I told him about the time I had to wear a cast on my leg (spiral compound fracture below the knee, left leg). I told him at first that I couldn't really do anything when I first got the cast, but I was running (literally) again before it came off. Also told him it's gonna be smelly towards the end, the skin will be paler after the cast comes off, and that the itchiness will drive him bonkers. My antics of describing how I'd take a wire hanger and unbend it or use a fly swatter handle (again wire) to try and scratch made him laugh.

When one of my daughters was 2 she fractured her femur, one of the worse things about being a parent is watching your kids suffer.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/chrisa62401/jess_brokenfemur.jpg

Dang, that sucks. Only had one boy in a cast so far. Broke something in his elbow when he fell off a swing and hit the fence on the backswing.

Dang, that sucks. Only had one boy in a cast so far. Broke something in his elbow when he fell off a swing and hit the fence on the backswing.
Wowie, that sounds not good.

Trampolines as typically setup at homes are exceptionally dangerous. Much less so if dug into the ground so there is 3-4 less feet to fall if you miss the bed.

But that is more work, and few do it.

Glad to hear he is OK and that you in part held him out becaseu you did not trust him to be careful at school. And for that matter that yuo called it an owie. Glad to hear some kids still grow up without being wrapped in cotton wool as the Brits say.

Ouch, I hope he heals fast.

My sister-in-law just posted a photo on FB of my 17-year-old nephew with a cast on his wrist. He injured it last weekend while break dancing. I guess the dance lived up to its name.

The last broken arm I had (had four in my young wild boy days) it took them three cast replacements before they finally took it off for good. Seems 14 year old boys are hard on plaster casts! Swimming with them was especially hard on them :)

fasthair

Trampolines as typically setup at homes are exceptionally dangerous. Much less so if dug into the ground so there is 3-4 less feet to fall if you miss the bed.

But that is more work, and few do it.

Glad to hear he is OK and that you in part held him out becaseu you did not trust him to be careful at school. And for that matter that yuo called it an owie. Glad to hear some kids still grow up without being wrapped in cotton wool as the Brits say.
He has an appointment on Tuesday to get a cast. Kept him home not only because I know my boy, but also leery of him being jostled in the hallway or some of the other kids poking and prodding at it. Doing the best we can to minimize making things worse until the cast is on.

TUESDAY? Five days? Why so long? I thought you had to cast it within 24 hours or the ends of the bones start to heal? Wouldn't cause them not to fuse properly if bone tissue and such start to mend itself with nothing to mend TO?

I'd question that.

The ER claimed that it wasn't a bad enough break for them to have to deal with and gave a referral to a local bone Dr.- which is more than 20 miles away. We have insurance (some kind of plan from United), but it's one of those 'can't afford to use it' scenarios. As a result, we have no PCP to act as gate keeper or bird dog on our behalf.

Trampolines as typically setup at homes are exceptionally dangerous. Much less so if dug into the ground so there is 3-4 less feet to fall if you miss the bed.

Meh. My daughter broke her arm and never fell off. Note about trampolines: Do not have dissimilar sized people jump simultaneously. My daughter was coming down as a teenager was coming up. Snap.

TUESDAY? Five days? Why so long? I thought you had to cast it within 24 hours or the ends of the bones start to heal? Wouldn't cause them not to fuse properly if bone tissue and such start to mend itself with nothing to mend TO?

I'd question that.
I broke both bones below my wrist once and wore a splint for quite a few days before I got my cast. I don't remember why thought, such a long time ago.

I broke both bones below my wrist once and wore a splint for quite a few days before I got my cast. I don't remember why thought, such a long time ago.
That spiral compound fracture that I mentioned having when I was a child? I crawled around the apartment like a 3 legged dog for 2 or 3 days before my mom decided maybe I wasn't just faking.

No one thought I actually broke my arm but they took me to the hospital to check. I had a hair line fracture in one and the other it broke half way through and was bent up if that makes sense. My parent's friend was like you can still bend your wrist so you should be fine.

O man, that sucks. Local kidoes haven't broke anything yet. The older one got a small cut once, got one stitch.

I think my girl might have a few accidents before she reaches adulthood. He jumps around all the time.

Update: He now has a cast on his arm and he picked blue. He has regained use of his fingers, so he's excited to be able to play video games again. He goes back in three weeks for either a shorter cast or just a splint. And he hasn't taken or asked for any pain meds today. :)

Ahh the novelty of a new cast. Give it a week. That bad boy will itch.

Oh did you tell him about all the hair that's gonna grow on that one arm? He's gonna think that's hella cool!

Edit: By "bad boy" I meant the arm, not your son...

He was over at a friend's house jumping on their trampoline and landed wrong. Came home in tears and holding his arm close to his body. Luckily, the 'grandmother' who lives in that house came over and explained what happened and offered to take us to the E.R. Called my wife at work and she made near record setting time meeting up with us.

X-rays revealed a 'clean' break in both bones, lower right arm, between the elbow and wrist. He's in a splint for now, they gave him some Lortab for the pain, and sent us on our way. He's chowing down on Little Caesar's cheese pizza and drinking a soda while watching tv. Wife is now on her way to get the Rx filled at Walgreen's and I got to call the bone Dr. first thing in the morning to schedule a visit to put a cast on the boy.

This was his first time going to the hospital and was a little apprehensive at first. By the time we left, he was miffed that he didn't get a sucker.

What the hell evr happened to going to the hospital with a broken bone and getting xrays AND a cast right on the spot?!

The last broken arm I had (had four in my young wild boy days) it took them three cast replacements before they finally took it off for good. Seems 14 year old boys are hard on plaster casts! Swimming with them was especially hard on them :)

fasthair

How old are you?

They have had fiberglass casts for about 45 years and they work jsut fine for swimming.

I remember because the Year after I gradutated High School Taft won the first of 2 Los Angeles City Championships in Swimming. For the second of those one of the guys on the team had knee surgery and trained all of the High School season in a fiberglass cast. Got it off just in time for the League meet where he won the 50 and 100 freestyle. Did the same in the City meet.

A cast will be a badge of courage for your son.

Just be sure the bones are setting correctly and he will be fine.

My tomboy youngest daughter was on a first-name basis with the staff at our local ER. I was afraid they were going to report me for child abuse.


Some cousins of mine were like that, they were so active but would fall over anything and were also on first name terms with their ER.

They were placed on the At Risk Register but their parents were the most loving folks going so nothing ever happened.

He'll be great once his mates have signed his cast, hope he isnt wary of the trampoline once he's fit again but no doubt he will lap up the extra attention he'll be getting.

He'll be great once his mates have signed his cast, hope he isnt wary of the trampoline once he's fit again but no doubt he will lap up the extra attention he'll be getting.
I wish he would be wary of them- he was jumping on the same damned one he broke his arm on the night before he got the cast :twitchy:

And I got a call from his school about two hours ago or so. Apparently he 'fell' off a swing and landed on the arm. He claims to be okay, but I did have to ride my bike down there to take him his pain medication. Knowing my son, though, he probably jumped from the swing and didn't realize how that cast was going to affect his trajectory and landing. :notamused:

A wee bit heavy and overbalanced him I bet.

I have to retract my earlier statement concerning the swing. After he got home and I questioned him further, he claimed that he was pushed off of it and landed flat on his back. The impact sent shockwaves through his body and set his arm a throbbin'.

he was pushed off of it

Is a fibercast back swing going to be in his reume tommorrow? :innocent: