broken arm/WDW?

[bethifoody]

Hi.

My 5 y.o. ds has a mild fracture of his left arm. He's not in any pain or anything, but this morning was 'gifted' with a nice, fiberglass cast that needs to be kept on until 8/29... which is well after our surprise trip to WDW (8/18-23)... I don't have any time planned for TL or BB, and now will have to minimize pool time too, in a general attempt to minimize wetness. I know those things. Is there anything else I need to think about? This is our first family trip to WDW & I think it's the first time we'll have traveled w/ anyone w/ a cast on...

Any advice/info will be appreciated!
TIA!
Beth
CR, 8/18-23

 

[okeydokey]

Is the cast above the elbow? Will he wear a sling? I ask because this will change his ability to hold onto lap bars during rides, or to grip things while entering and exiting rides. When I was at the World with my above the elbow cast, these things did hamper me a bit. When my cast was replaced with a short arm (below the elbow), life returned almost to normal.

 

[bethifoody]

Is the cast above the elbow? Will he wear a sling? I ask because this will change his ability to hold onto lap bars during rides, or to grip things while entering and exiting rides. When I was at the World with my above the elbow cast, these things did hamper me a bit. When my cast was replaced with a short arm (below the elbow), life returned almost to normal.

No, it's a short-arm cast. It starts just below his fingers (allowing for free movement of his fingers - those knuckles are above the cast) & goes to about 1-2" below his elbow. We do have a sling from the ER, from when he had his splint on; definitely something we should take then?

Thanks for your input!
Beth

 

[mariettadisney71]

Sorry to hear this, it stinks when kids are now limited and I know heat adds to the frustration. Is the cast waterproof? You mentioned not going to BB or TL and not too much pool, but it will be hot down there during you time slot. Find out if you can get an "air cast" to put over it for use in the pool and not to mention the rain that could potentially happen. Check with the doctors also about using a power under the cast to help with the sweating, itching and odor.

 

[disney6family]

He won't need his sling with a short arm cast (this from much experience) Does he have a buckle fracture? If so, it should be almost healed by the end of your trip. With only a week to go until he goes back to get his cast checked, you could decide about pool time at the end of the trip. If your son is one who will listen - you could double bag his arm and duct tape all around the bag and the area where the bag meets his arm. This kept our 10yo's cast dry this week in our pool. He was told no underwater diving, and try to rest your arm on the floating things in the pool when you can. I watched the whole time and he did pretty good, but he is much older. His arm was totally wet by the time he was done (2 hours), but the cast inside was dry. He gets it off next week and after several weeks with it on, he was fine.
Also, he is able to ride most rides, but I would be careful on those that jerk alot. If it is an actual fracture and not a buckle, I would avoid things like BTMRR, EE. If it is a buckle, that bone is not broken all the way through and it should be fine and it won't 'unset' itself.

 

[bethifoody]

Sorry to hear this, it stinks when kids are now limited and I know heat adds to the frustration. Is the cast waterproof? You mentioned not going to BB or TL and not too much pool, but it will be hot down there during you time slot. Find out if you can get an "air cast" to put over it for use in the pool and not to mention the rain that could potentially happen. Check with the doctors also about using a power under the cast to help with the sweating, itching and odor.

I agree - it totally stinks! I feel bad for him; he doesn't know we're headed to WDW, so he can't feel bad for himself. lol...

It's a typical fiberglass cast, w/ cotton batting inside, so I don't believe it's waterproof. I was told to cover it well when bathing/showering. I couldn't mention the trip to her as he was in the room (obviously!), but maybe I can give them a call back at another time to ask...

Thanks!
Beth

 

[bethifoody]

He won't need his sling with a short arm cast (this from much experience) Does he have a buckle fracture? If so, it should be almost healed by the end of your trip. With only a week to go until he goes back to get his cast checked, you could decide about pool time at the end of the trip. If your son is one who will listen - you could double bag his arm and duct tape all around the bag and the area where the bag meets his arm. This kept our 10yo's cast dry this week in our pool. He was told no underwater diving, and try to rest your arm on the floating things in the pool when you can. I watched the whole time and he did pretty good, but he is much older. His arm was totally wet by the time he was done (2 hours), but the cast inside was dry. He gets it off next week and after several weeks with it on, he was fine.
Also, he is able to ride most rides, but I would be careful on those that jerk alot. If it is an actual fracture and not a buckle, I would avoid things like BTMRR, EE. If it is a buckle, that bone is not broken all the way through and it should be fine and it won't 'unset' itself.

Yep, it's a buckle fracture. The dr. told me it was no big deal, really, happens all the time. We'd just have to cast it, & 4 weeks would be plenty of time to heal.

I was told to wrap it & keep it dry when bathing, & no mention of swimming. (DS doesn't know we're headed to WDW as it's a surprise, so I couldn't mention the trip.) What they told me to do w/ the bath is essentially what you've done in the pool... Hmmm... I think I will call the orthopod & see what she says...

Thanks a bunch for your advice & good words!
Beth

 

[disney6family]

I forgot to mention that when we bagged it up this good it did make his fingers very sweaty - but he gets it off next week so we are not too worried about it at this point! That's why I thought if you scheduled it towards the end of your trip it might be better.
BTW, we just did scout camp and it poured like the late pm TStorms at Disney are prone to do. He just covered up with his poncho and he was good to go, just a little damp around the top and bottom from the time it started raining until he could back to the pavilion where his poncho was. So make sure you take a poncho or garbage bag with you to the parks for this eventuality - or is that certainity?

 

[bethifoody]

I forgot to mention that when we bagged it up this good it did make his fingers very sweaty - but he gets it off next week so we are not too worried about it at this point! That's why I thought if you scheduled it towards the end of your trip it might be better.
BTW, we just did scout camp and it poured like the late pm TStorms at Disney are prone to do. He just covered up with his poncho and he was good to go, just a little damp around the top and bottom from the time it started raining until he could back to the pavilion where his poncho was. So make sure you take a poncho or garbage bag with you to the parks for this eventuality - or is that certainity?

Well, I'd given a little bit of thought to the whole rain ponchos thing. This cast has made it a certainty that we'll have them on hand. Now, having previously lived in the Kissimmee/St. Cloud area, I can tell you an August afternoon rainshower is an ALMOST certainty - more adequately phrased as highly probable, rather than certain... LOL!

 

[kmjmom]

You could visit drycast.com to see their cast covers. I have not used the swimming one, but I had to use the shower one and it was amazing. I enjoyed nice long showers and my leg reamined totally dry! Mt Orthopedist recommended the site. Have a great trip and good luck!

http://www.medcareproducts.com/castcovers/products.asp?dept=1127

 

[bethifoody]

You could visit drycast.com to see their cast covers. I have not used the swimming one, but I had to use the shower one and it was amazing. I enjoyed nice long showers and my leg reamined totally dry! Mt Orthopedist recommended the site. Have a great trip and good luck!

http://www.medcareproducts.com/castcovers/products.asp?dept=1127

Thank you for posting that link! I checked it out & ordered a drycast swim for my ds. Hopefully this will make our hot summer & his desire to go swimming (be it at home or WDW!) more tolerable for him! Thanks again!
Beth

 

[Stephres]

My DS broke his arm the week before he started kindergarten. The only thing he had trouble with was snapping his pants after going to the bathroom. I put him in elastic waisted shorts while he was in the cast. Good luck in Disney: I'm sure he'll have a great time anyway!

 

[Yensid_MD]

Our friends son just broke his arm. He had a short cast and since it was summer they gave him a swimming cast which was perfectly fine to get wet, go in the pool etc. I had never heard of it.

 

[jenrein]

Our friends son just broke his arm. He had a short cast and since it was summer they gave him a swimming cast which was perfectly fine to get wet, go in the pool etc. I had never heard of it.

My daughter had two casts- at the beginning of last school year. As soon as she got the first cast off, she broke her finger on her other hand the next day. She was given the option of a water proof cast- it felt a little wierd the material, and she is super picky like that (her socks...the little line of thread freaks her out!) so we just went with the old fashioned one and bagged her up good.

 

[bethifoody]

My DS broke his arm the week before he started kindergarten. The only thing he had trouble with was snapping his pants after going to the bathroom. I put him in elastic waisted shorts while he was in the cast. Good luck in Disney: I'm sure he'll have a great time anyway!

See - these are the things I just wouldn't think about! lol... Thank you for that little tidbit. I'll be sure to pay attention to 'wardrobe issues'.

Thanks again!
Beth

 

[bethifoody]

Our friends son just broke his arm. He had a short cast and since it was summer they gave him a swimming cast which was perfectly fine to get wet, go in the pool etc. I had never heard of it.

I've never heard of it either & it's not an option I was offered. Heck - they didn't offer anything to me; all they did was ask Peter (my ds) what color he wanted, & then proceeded to tell me how to take care of it. Shrug... Oh well... I'm pretty good at "adapt & overcome"!

 

[kmjmom]

Thank you for posting that link! I checked it out & ordered a drycast swim for my ds. Hopefully this will make our hot summer & his desire to go swimming (be it at home or WDW!) more tolerable for him! Thanks again!
Beth

You are very welcome! So glad I saw your post. I hope your trip is magical!

 

[CantWaitToGo2007]

I've never heard of it either & it's not an option I was offered. Heck - they didn't offer anything to me; all they did was ask Peter (my ds) what color he wanted, & then proceeded to tell me how to take care of it. Shrug... Oh well... I'm pretty good at "adapt & overcome"!

I was going to suggest something like the swim cast cover, but I see someone beat me to it. I work for an orthopaedic doctor (I'm an x-ray tech) and we have the water proof casting material at our office but we very rarely use it. The lining is very uncomfortable, your son will be much happier with the regular cast. Putting powder down the cast for when he is sweating doesn't help. In fact it just makes a breeding ground for bacteria. I'm sure the doctor probably told you, but should the cast get wet (I'm talking soaking/dripping/fell in the pool wet inside, not just a little damp at the edge) it will need to be taken off. Wet cast can break down the skin in less than 24 hours. We had a kid come in a few weeks ago that had fallen in the lake and didn't tell his parents for 3 days. When we took off the cast layers of skin on the bottom of his foot came off (I know gross). I hope I didn't scare you with that last fact. Have a great trip enjoy the pool, water parks and wet rides

Nanette

 

[bethifoody]

I was going to suggest something like the swim cast cover, but I see someone beat me to it. I work for an orthopaedic doctor (I'm an x-ray tech) and we have the water proof casting material at our office but we very rarely use it. The lining is very uncomfortable, your son will be much happier with the regular cast. Putting powder down the cast for when he is sweating doesn't help. In fact it just makes a breeding ground for bacteria. I'm sure the doctor probably told you, but should the cast get wet (I'm talking soaking/dripping/fell in the pool wet inside, not just a little damp at the edge) it will need to be taken off. Wet cast can break down the skin in less than 24 hours. We had a kid come in a few weeks ago that had fallen in the lake and didn't tell his parents for 3 days. When we took off the cast layers of skin on the bottom of his foot came off (I know gross). I hope I didn't scare you with that last fact. Have a great trip enjoy the pool, water parks and wet rides

Nanette

Thanks, Nanette!

That wet cast scenario just sounds nasty! I'll be sure to make sure it stays dry, that's for sure. Being 'in the field', do you have any suggestions to help him survive the sweaty, itchiness of it all?

Thanks!
Beth

 

[CantWaitToGo2007]

If he gets an itch he can knock on the outside of the cast. That will usually make the itch go away. Don't stick anything down the cast. If he sticks something down the cast to reach an itch it could scratch him. A scratch in itself doesn't sound so bad, but a scratch in a sweaty dark cast....breeding ground for infection. Kids are usually pretty ok with having cast and adapting to them, it's us adults that have a hard time being stuck in them

Walking around all day with his arm hanging down could cause his fingers to swell a little. If that happens just have him elevate his arm and wiggle his fingers for a little while. That will get the circulation going again and reduce the swelling. I wouldn't have him wear a sling. That will usually just give him a sore shoulder.

On rides I might have him sit on the outside edge so he doesn't accidently hit someone with the cast on one of the bumps.

Nanette