Broken arm...we are supposed to leave in two weeks

[JAMIESMITH]

My daughter was playing football with some other kids at school at recess on Friday. She caught the ball, but another kid knocked her down and fell on top of her. The school nurse called and my husband took her to our family doctor. The doctor has scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic doctor on Tuesday, but he believes she has a buckle fracture near her elbow.

I'm devastated because we are supposed to be flying down to Universal for the very first time in two weeks, over fall break. We haven't been on a family vacation since January of 2015 and this will be our first trip since our two-year-old was born. My husband wants to cancel. He's already not enthusiastic about Volcano Bay. He thinks the baby will be a lot of trouble on our trip. He also thinks we could use the money for some home improvement projects and to repaint his truck. I don't know what to do! I've been planning and saving for this trip for over a year, but I don't think it will be a lot of fun if we have two kids who can't ride the bigger coasters or the water rides.

I know I can get a refund on the hotel. I think I can get a credit with Southwest to use within a year. I'm not sure about the tickets we bought through UnderCover Tourist. They are the buy two day, get three day free hoppers, but they aren't shown on the website anymore. We got a really good rate for Royal Pacific and I can't find anything even close at a time that won't require our older daughter to miss a whole week of school.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

[macraven]

Wait until your daughter sees the doctor Tuesday
You’ll know then if the trip is off for this year

I’m crossing my fingers you don’t have to cancel the vacation

Sending you hugs and hope your girl is not in pain or discomfort

 

[bumbershoot]

It’s only Hulk, at the themeparks, that you can’t ride with a cast. https://www.universalorlando.com/webdata/k2/en/us/files/Documents/universal-orlando-riders-guide.pdf

VB says casts have to fit comfortably on the ride. https://www.universalorlando.com/we...-guide-for-rider-safety-and-accessibility.pdf

I would probably drop VB from the plans, though. But then I don’t love waterparks. My son, who does like waterparks, had less of a good time on trip to Great Wolf Lodge than he would have had without the cast.


From experience, just get a cast cover that has a pump to make it waterproof. We got the kind that is incredibly tight and it cut off circulation. The pump kind is better.

We didn’t go to a water park, but Florida has rainstorms AND rides like Jurassic park where you want to keep it dry.

Apparently “waterproof casts” just have a different lining that dries faster. The outside isn’t different. And the outside of my son’s case got squashy as time went on. So I personally wouldn’t bother with a waterproof cast. Just get the blue cover with the pump to suck out the air. My son swam in my brother’s pool for a week visit and his cast never got damp using that thing.

SW credit is good for a year from when you booked the flights. Not from what you cancel.

Babies are no more trouble than they are at home, but the adults certainly get to have more fun. If you’re a family where you’re home caring for baby, hubby might not realize that you probably need some different surroundings. That said, babies are no LESS trouble on vacation than at home, either lol.

But universal has nice baby swap areas, they are actually quite kid friendly, and I personally would still go as long as the rest of the family will have fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

And I want to mention that we went to UO when my son’s arm was in an L shaped cast from shoulder to wrist, and he still had fun. At that time dragon challenge still existed and he couldn’t ride that, but Hulk was closed for refurb anyway, but he still had a great time.


I don’t know about the buckle fracture part, but all the kids I’ve know with elbow fractures have small casts and are out of them much faster than my son was. But maybe the buckle part makes a difference.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Wait until your daughter sees the doctor Tuesday
You’ll know then if the trip is off for this year

I’m crossing my fingers you don’t have to cancel the vacation

Sending you hugs and hope your girl is not in pain or discomfort

I wish they would have made us an appointment for Monday. The waiting is killing me!

She's taking extra strength Tylenol every few hours, but she's actually handling it pretty well. She had a friend over yesterday, and I think the company helped take her mind off it.

VB says casts have to fit comfortably on the ride. https://www.universalorlando.com/we...-guide-for-rider-safety-and-accessibility.pdf

I really thought Volcano Bay would be out altogether. I'll definitely take a look at this. If I could put the rest of my family in the lazy river, I'd love to do at least a few big slides.

From experience, just get a cast cover that has a pump to make it waterproof. We got the kind that is incredibly tight and it cut off circulation. The pump kind is better.

I have been looking at these on Amazon!

We didn’t go to a water park, but Florida has rainstorms AND rides like Jurassic park where you want to keep it dry.

Apparently “waterproof casts” just have a different lining that dries faster. The outside isn’t different. And the outside of my son’s case got squashy as time went on. So I personally wouldn’t bother with a waterproof cast. Just get the blue cover with the pump to suck out the air. My son swam in my brother’s pool for a week visit and his cast never got damp using that thing.

All of this is great information. Thank you!

SW credit is good for a year from when you booked the flights. Not from what you cancel.

That's a bit of a bummer. I'm really not seeing anything that works for us to reschedule it.

Babies are no more trouble than they are at home, but the adults certainly get to have more fun. If you’re a family where you’re home caring for baby, hubby might not realize that you probably need some different surroundings. That said, babies are no LESS trouble on vacation than at home, either lol.

But universal has nice baby swap areas, they are actually quite kid friendly, and I personally would still go as long as the rest of the family will have fun.

We both work, and I'm taking online college classes. I'm not saying my husband doesn't help out, but most of taking care of the kids does fall on me. I need a break! He's not big on travel. I actually paid for most of the trip with credit card miles so it wouldn't impact our normal budget.

And I want to mention that we went to UO when my son’s arm was in an L shaped cast from shoulder to wrist, and he still had fun. At that time dragon challenge still existed and he couldn’t ride that, but Hulk was closed for refurb anyway, but he still had a great time.

I don’t know about the buckle fracture part, but all the kids I’ve know with elbow fractures have small casts and are out of them much faster than my son was. But maybe the buckle part makes a difference.

From what I understand, the buckle means that it didn't break all the way through. They said it looks like it "V"ed the bone.

 

[bumbershoot]

We both work, and I'm taking online college classes. I'm not saying my husband doesn't help out, but most of taking care of the kids does fall on me. I need a break! He's not big on travel. I actually paid for most of the trip with credit card miles so it wouldn't impact our normal budget

I’m sorry that despite working outside the home and taking classes you’re still the go-to parent. That’s rough. All the hugs to you. And yes you DO need a vacation.



Glad the break doesn’t seem to be all the way through.


My poor kid broke his radius and ulna whole at a dance convention out of state. The ER could only set it and put a hard splint on. He had to fly home like that (we upgraded to First so there was less possibility of him being bumped around. And it took days and days to get into an ortho. Weirdly he only took normal ibuprofen for a few days and then was done with it. I’d have wanted the good stuff!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We went last year with my daughter in a splint for a broken wrist (just out of the cast). It is only hulk that doesn't let you on in the two theme parks (if it fits - no problem for a wrist break, not sure about the elbow). I don’t know about how workable VB is but a friend of my daughter spent all afternoon in a pool with one of those inflatable cast protectors. No issues with it.

Fingers crossed for you

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Thank you all! The good news is that there is no visible break, but the doctor wants us to come back in a week if she is still in pain. I'm not sure what our family doctor saw on the x-rays Friday, but the orthopedic doctor isn't seeing it. We elected to cancel our current reservation and rebook for January 18-23rd. Our original reservation was through hotels.com and had to be canceled by this Friday. By starting our vacation the Saturday before Martin Luther King Day, she will still only miss three days of school.

I am hoping Tony Hinds will be able to move our reservation. I was able to change our flights with Southwest. Undercover Tourist is allowing me to mail our original tickets back for a 95% refund and I will purchase new ones that won't expire before January. I booked our new reservation at Hard Rock Hotel. I could swap back to Royal Pacific for about the same price. I'm on the fence, but I do at least have a room booked.

 

[macraven]

You'll enjoy going in January, it won't be hot and it won't be freezing cold in Orlando when you go.

You can cancel Tony Hinds by sending him an email and request the new date for his services,

 

[JAMIESMITH]

You'll enjoy going in January, it won't be hot and it won't be freezing cold in Orlando when you go.

You can cancel Tony Hinds by sending him an email and request the new date for his services,

We went to Disney the last week of January in 2015 and it was so cold! I'm hoping we will be lucky enough to have warm enough weather to try out Volcano Bay.

I sent him an email a few hours ago

 

[macraven]

I took one of my sons to UO first week of January in 2014.
Cold......dressed in layers most of the trip.

Late January 2016 or 17? it was warm.

I'll take warm anyday over cold.

 

[bumbershoot]

Winter in Orlando is anyone’s guess as to the weather. Layers. Bring everything lol.

Glad to hear about the arm.