First day of school and broken wrist advice

[zoemariesmamma]

I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this or not...my little girl had a bike wreck yesterday and broke her wrist. It was finally set and put in a temporary cast at about 1 am this morning. She starts to school on Monday. Right now she is still in a lot of pain (and has been sleeping most of the day because of the meds). I know that all kids are different, but was trying to gauge whether we would make it to school on Monday or not. I just want to prepare her. I was also thinking we could try a half day (but not if she is still on prescription meds.)

So for anyone who has had a broken nine year old...what are our chances of going to school Monday morning?

 

[stsomewhere]

I would send them to school.

My kids have broken ankles, arms, wrists, etc.

 

[laughinplace199]

DD broke her right arm in 3rd grade and her left arm in 4th. She went to school with no problems.

DD's pain went away once the cast was on. She may have taken Motrin for 24 hrs or so, but that was it. But your DD may be different since you said she was on prescription meds.

Ask if you can get a waterproof cast - it makes bathing so much easier. Also, if the dr gives her a sling, have her use it at school. DD didn't use hers at first, but that cast gets heavy after a while and the sling helped her feel more comfortable.

 

[ktaggie]

I think it depends in pain level.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would send her if she's not too terribly uncomfortable. Once she gets the cast and a sling, it will feel a lot better. Maybe go to the school and check in with her at lunchtime to see if she needs some Motrin or Tylenol. If she's in a lot of pain, you could check her out for the rest of the day. I'm sure the teacher would understand. The first day is so important in terms of getting established in the classroom. I would send her, at least for part of the day, if you possibly can.

 

[SalemsFairyGodmother]

My daughter (4) broke her leg at the end of May and was in terrible pain and on prescription meds around the clock while she was in her temporary cast (2 days). When she got a permanent cast on her pain completely went away and she never took another dose of pain meds. All kids are different but they bounce back so quickly from these things. Hope your daughter feels better soon! I think it was harder on me for my daughter to have a broken leg than it was on her.

 

[Glennie5]

My daughter broke her arm on the monkey bars the first day of school when she was 7. We kept her out of school the next day and then she went right back. I went down to check on her during recess and the principal told me they found her on the monkey bars again hanging from her good arm with her arm in the cast dangling by her side. Kids that age bounce back fast.

 

[zoemariesmamma]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. She really wants to try to do school tomorrow...so we are going to try. She is still pretty swollen I don't think that she will get her real cast until Wed or Thurs. I have to talk with the doctor tomorrow morning. I told her if she feels like she can't do it I will pick her up right away.

 

[Glennie5]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. She really wants to try to do school tomorrow...so we are going to try. She is still pretty swollen I don't think that she will get her real cast until Wed or Thurs. I have to talk with the doctor tomorrow morning. I told her if she feels like she can't do it I will pick her up right away.

It will make a huge difference once she gets her cast on. My daughter was in a lot of pain but once the cast was on she said the pain was gone. I hope your DD has a good first day back to school.

 

[3happydancers]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. She really wants to try to do school tomorrow...so we are going to try. She is still pretty swollen I don't think that she will get her real cast until Wed or Thurs. I have to talk with the doctor tomorrow morning. I told her if she feels like she can't do it I will pick her up right away.

So sorry to hear about your DD's accident and I hope she feels better soon! I was wondering how severe the break was (if you don't mind my asking).

My neighbor's son broke his foot/ankle in 2 places before the end of school. For us, that was around the first week in June. His break was so severe that he is still on crutches with an air cast on. We start school right after Labor Day and he was told that he will have the air cast until October. I know his experience is not the same as your DD's but I just wanted point out that the amount of pain can also be due to the type of break she had.

Give her a big happy face on her cast for us!

 

[zoemariesmamma]

So sorry to hear about your DD's accident and I hope she feels better soon! I was wondering how severe the break was (if you don't mind my asking).

My neighbor's son broke his foot/ankle in 2 places before the end of school. For us, that was around the first week in June. His break was so severe that he is still on crutches with an air cast on. We start school right after Labor Day and he was told that he will have the air cast until October. I know his experience is not the same as your DD's but I just wanted point out that the amount of pain can also be due to the type of break she had.

Give her a big happy face on her cast for us!

She broke two bones in her wrist she had to get a reduction? I think they called it to put the bones back in the proper place before they casted. We were at the hospital for FIVE hours and then they sent us to a children's hospital across the river (about 20 minutes away) because they were concerned with the amount of space between two other bones and thought she might need surgery...children's hospital said that was not the case. She was broken for 12 hours before she even got the temporary cast. Her fingers are still pretty swollen. She has a cast that is cut down one side to allow for the swelling and we are supposed to watch that her fingers stay pink and warm...if not we are supposed to crack the cast open and bring her back in.

Some of her pain is from other injuries, her bike fell on top of her, she is about sixty pounds. She also tore a chunk out of her foot...it couldn't be stitched because she basically just has a hole in her foot. I think she is just also sore. I know that I fell on the ice once and felt fine that day but my whole body was sore when I woke up the next day.

 

[Nicolepa]

My daughter broke her wrist when she was 10. She has a VERY high pain tolerance. she was out for two weeks. Missed a week of school. (the second was spring break).

This is a girl who after breaking her wrist, walked two blocks home, with the dog in her other hand. She did not she a single tear until at the hospital when she started to go into schock from the pain. (there was a delay getting her pain meds due to an egg allergy)

They also wouldn't cast for a week and didn't want her at school until the permanent cast was on.

 

[WantToGoNow]

If she is too uncomfortable then I would keep her home otherwise let her go. They could always call you. That said when my dd8 was 5 she broke her middle finger in a batting cage - it was actually a partial amputation and had a lot of stitches including the finger, nail bed and nail. She was in so much pain she was drugged for days and she missed 4 days of school. She went back 1 day and ended up in the hospital for a week with a bone infection.

My ds11 has had a broken finger, a broken arm, 3 broken feet, 2 sprained wrists, a sprained knee and a sprained ankle - all in the last 5 years and never had to miss school because of them.

 

[3happydancers]

She broke two bones in her wrist she had to get a reduction? I think they called it to put the bones back in the proper place before they casted. We were at the hospital for FIVE hours and then they sent us to a children's hospital across the river (about 20 minutes away) because they were concerned with the amount of space between two other bones and thought she might need surgery...children's hospital said that was not the case. She was broken for 12 hours before she even got the temporary cast. Her fingers are still pretty swollen. She has a cast that is cut down one side to allow for the swelling and we are supposed to watch that her fingers stay pink and warm...if not we are supposed to crack the cast open and bring her back in.

Some of her pain is from other injuries, her bike fell on top of her, she is about sixty pounds. She also tore a chunk out of her foot...it couldn't be stitched because she basically just has a hole in her foot. I think she is just also sore. I know that I fell on the ice once and felt fine that day but my whole body was sore when I woke up the next day.

Sounds like she took a nice fall. How did today go? (You are right about feeling sore the day after. I also fell on ice once, took a hard fall but felt worse the next day).

For what it's worth, I am a teacher assistant and see many children return to school after breaking bones and receiving stitches. Some fair well while others are clearly uncomfortable and could use a day or two of rest.

 

[Melct]

My DD fell off the monkey bars when she was 5 and broke her wrist the first week of school. She was in moderate pain when the temporary brace was on. A couple days later once she got the permanent cast on she was in no pain at all. I would say it depends on her pain level if you should send her to school or not but I am sure she will be much better once the permanent cast is on.

So sorry your family is going through this. Accidents with kids happen all the time, part of growing up I guess but it is still hard when it happens to your kids.

melissa

 

[zoemariesmamma]

Sounds like she took a nice fall. How did today go? (You are right about feeling sore the day after. I also fell on ice once, took a hard fall but felt worse the next day).

For what it's worth, I am a teacher assistant and see many children return to school after breaking bones and receiving stitches. Some fair well while others are clearly uncomfortable and could use a day or two of rest.

She did well...I think her foot bothered her more than her wrist did. She came home and laid on the couch for the rest of the day but did make it through the whole day. I had lunch with her and offered to take her home at that point because her fingers were pretty swollen but she wanted to stay and said that she was not in much pain. (She described it as a two, before the guy had the tear in his eye---from the chart in the ER...lol.) The swelling as whole has gone down...you can tell from the way the cast fits up by her shoulder...but her fingers are still pretty big. I hope we will be able to get her real cast on Thursday, not sure what they will do if the swelling is still there. My sisters and I never broke a bone and neither has my hubby so this is all new to me!

 

[zoemariesmamma]

So today I start to change the bandage on my little girls foot and notice that there is quite a bit of swelling and it is bruised pretty bad. I called my sil who is a peds doctor and she says that it may be fractured and went unnoticed at first because of the "distracting injury" with her wrist. We are going to get an x-ray tomorrow. I feel terrible that I didn't notice it before. She has been hobbling around but I thought that was because of the abrasions. What a first week of school!!

 

[3happydancers]

So today I start to change the bandage on my little girls foot and notice that there is quite a bit of swelling and it is bruised pretty bad. I called my sil who is a peds doctor and she says that it may be fractured and went unnoticed at first because of the "distracting injury" with her wrist. We are going to get an x-ray tomorrow. I feel terrible that I didn't notice it before. She has been hobbling around but I thought that was because of the abrasions. What a first week of school!!

I just came on to ask how things were going and found this! I am so sorry to hear your dd may have more injuries. Honestly, don't be too hard on yourself. A week went by before I learned my daughter's wrist was broken. She had no bruising or swelling nor did she fuss. It wasn't until she complained that she hurt when she tried washing her hair. Also, my mom took a bad fall a few years back. She went to the ER and was diagnosed as having bruises and broken shoulder. Well, 1 month later, she gets a call from the hospital stating after additional reviews of her x-rays they found she had a broke hip and a second break of the shoulder.

Please keep me posted! Sending some your way!

 

[Fjobe]

What happened with your daughter's foot?

I felt so bad for her reading about the pain she was in that first day.

 

[ARmomof2]

My daughter broke her elbow the next to the last day of school. She was embarrassed to go out in her cast. I bought baby legs (leg warmers) and made covers for her cast. She had one to match almost everything. It helped her to feel better about the cast. She got lots of great comments everywhere she went! It also kept the fiberglass from scratching her and snagging her clothes.

I hope your daughter's pain is better, and she heals quickly.