I am DEVASTATED

[stepmommyof1]

I took my stepson back to the dr today and dr told that he won't ever heal completely!
Stepson had broken his collar bone , and it's pretty much all healed.... except ... he has this funny nasty bump on his collarbone where the bone healed wrong or something I don't know and , the dr said it wouldn't go back to the way it was. You cannot see the bump through his shirt at least, so no one will have to see it I guess ( hes not the type to go around without his shirt on anyway). But without his shirt it is really obvious and I just feel so bad he has this permanent, visible thing now.
Also the poor baby can't even lift his arm up high or it makes a noise (the kind of noise like if your knees crack).
I'm just devastated. Did the hospital do something wrong when we took him in that made it not heal properly, or does this just sometimes happen?

 

[*sarah*]

That's terrible, I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

[oumagic]

I am 38 and broke my collarbone when I was 17 and I was told the same thing. It does not cause me too many problems. I still play catch with my son and play golf and swim and everything I want to do recreationally. What happened in my case is that the end broke off of the clavicle and left a bigger gap there and some jagged ends. It has calcified and smoothed over as I have gotten older but it still creaks and cracks when I move it around.

They say now that I will probably develop arthritis there as I age and it does bother me on occasion now, but Alleve takes care of the pain. The doctor told my parents the same thing when I was young (that it would never heal) but he also said to just think of it as a scar on the bone. It is just like a scar you would get on your skin. He said that while it would never heal, it was not going to be life-altering. I have no idea what kind of injury you stepson has and it could be worse than what I had, but I just thought I'd share.

 

[stepmommyof1]

Thanks...I just feel so guilty (I didn't do it, but I just feel bad he got hurt)...at least you can't see the bump through a shirt, but it's AWFUL that he's permanently damaged in some way, and it's awful that his collarbone is not normal looking anymore, like he is disfigured and I hope he won't have bad self esteem because of it. I've told him it doesn't look that bad but...he's not real phased about how it looks but he doesn't like the limited movement of his arm. I'm glad it wasn't worse, I mean other peoples kids have way worse problems I know, but every time I see his chest I want to cry

 

[stepmommyof1]

It happened to you when you were my son's age,17, and you ate 38 now, how long did it take before you got arthritis?? I'm wondering if he would get that soon. I don't know what to do to help him. He sometimes says it hurts and he's still supposed to take it easy, he has pain meds but I wish that more could be done. I hate feeling helpless when he's hurting.

 

[skiingfast]

I have scars, a nagging injuries. While it hurt bad once, it's not too bad now. I'm sure you son will get over it too.

 

[satorifound]

I broke my collar bone in third grade and have always had a slight bump. It aches when a storm is coming in.

 

[ssuriano]

I broke my collar bone in a bicycle accident almost a year ago; to this day if I spend too much time on the bike I get shooting pains in my shoulder.

 

[stepmommyof1]

Oh no everyones experiences sound so awful!!! I'm so sorry for you all...I wish there was a better outcome.

 

[oumagic]

It happened to you when you were my son's age,17, and you ate 38 now, how long did it take before you got arthritis?? I'm wondering if he would get that soon. I don't know what to do to help him. He sometimes says it hurts and he's still supposed to take it easy, he has pain meds but I wish that more could be done. I hate feeling helpless when he's hurting.

I actually don't have arthritis yet, they just think I will eventually by looking at my last X-rays. After my last shoulder injury, (slipped down some stairs last year and pulled something) they took pics and asked if I had previous damage to my shoulder. After I told them about it they said it looked like I had an old injury and that I may develop arthritis someday. Every now and then it will bother me after I play golf or something but an alleve or ibuprofen and I am all good. I wasn't trying to make you worry more but rather let you know that 20+ years later and I am pretty much fine.

 

[stepmommyof1]

Thanks

 

[PirateFish989]

I haven't had any experience with a broken collar bone, but when I was 17, I had corrective jaw surgery where my lower jaw was cut and moved back and then allowed to heal for 6 weeks (my jaw was wired shut). Ever since then I have had a "bone bump" on the lower right side of my jaw in the back towards my ear. You can't tell by looking at it, but if you feel it, it is very obvious. My surgeon said that this was normal and that it may get smaller. After 4 years, it hasn't changed at all. It doesn't bother me, but I have noticed that when there is a change in the weather, usually right before it rains, it starts hurting. I'm sorry your stepson has the bump in his collar bone and I hope that as time goes on his range of motion in his arm gets better. For about a year after my surgery, my jaw wouldn't open as wide as it could before the surgery, but after using my jaw and working on improving its range of motion, it is totally normal now. My jaw does creak a little bit when I move it in not-everyday directions (side to side). Best of luck to your stepson's recovery.

 

[phorsenuf]

The more you make an issue out of it the more he'll be self-conscious of it. Let it drop and move on.

 

[stepmommyof1]

Phorsenuf, thanks I think you are right. He's not happy about it obviously but he's not upset about it like I am. I have cried about it and he says "it'll be okay don't worry"

 

[satorifound]

I do believe my lump got smaller as I aged. I broke my collar bone in 3rd grade.

We all have our little things that are different about us. My son fell off his bike at age 11, now he has an 8 inch scar going up his belly. He is proud of it. LOL Calls it a badge of honor.