OMG Son Broke his arm today

[brighteyes]

So I'm off work today and go to pick up my poor DS today from school and he's walking like his shoulder is disclocated and crying
He got tripped at school (by a girl) so I rush him to the dr and get an xray, and sure enough, it's BROKEN. BROKE BROKE BROKE. My poor baby
He is 11 but poor thing, he's been crying since I picked him up. He's in so much pain and all I can do for him is give him tylenol.
They can't put it in a cast cause he broke it up VERY close to the shoulder,so he has to have a sling only which is not doing very much for keeping it still. And I was soo stressed I don't know if this thing stays on while he's sleeping or what. Can't remember how long he said it would take to heal or anything.
Have to go see the ortho specialist next week.
Good thing our trip isn't till aug 17th. It will be healed by then, I hope. If not I have insurance in case I need to postpone it. I think this will cover it, I have to check with my TA though.
Does anyone know how long a broken bone takes to heal? And if he should keep the sling on while he's sleeping? I know the dr said he will be in pain for awhile?? I feel like such a bad mom cause I know everything he said to me I can't remember. I know it's only a broken bone, but my poor son is in so much pain.
And to make it worse, the school did not even call me!!! He told them he didn't need them to call me but it was obvious he was in severe pain and trying to be brave, but he looked like something out of a movie with his arm stick straight not able to move it all, so they gave him ice. I am soo mad right now. Am I over-reacting in thinking they should have called me and let me at least know so I could make the decision if I needed to take him to the dr. and not have him sit there in class crying for an hour??

Steph

 

[mickeywho?]

The school should have called you - absolutely! Make sure you speak to his teacher and the principal about this as soon as you can.
I've had a couple of casts myself over the past few years but I've no idea about the sling. My friend's little guy broke his collar bone a few years ago - no cast - just a sling. He was running around after a week or so - being gentle with his arm - but other that that you never would have guessed it was broken.
You could probably call your local pharmacy to see what pain killers to give him or even Telehealth to see what else you can do. Good luck to you both tonight - I don't think either of you will get much sleep!

 

[F4disneyfan]

So I'm off work today and go to pick up my poor DS today from school and he's walking like his shoulder is disclocated and crying
He got tripped at school (by a girl) so I rush him to the dr and get an xray, and sure enough, it's BROKEN. BROKE BROKE BROKE. My poor baby
He is 11 but poor thing, he's been crying since I picked him up. He's in so much pain and all I can do for him is give him tylenol.
They can't put it in a cast cause he broke it up VERY close to the shoulder,so he has to have a sling only which is not doing very much for keeping it still. And I was soo stressed I don't know if this thing stays on while he's sleeping or what. Can't remember how long he said it would take to heal or anything.
Have to go see the ortho specialist next week.
Good thing our trip isn't till aug 17th. It will be healed by then, I hope. If not I have insurance in case I need to postpone it. I think this will cover it, I have to check with my TA though.
Does anyone know how long a broken bone takes to heal? And if he should keep the sling on while he's sleeping? I know the dr said he will be in pain for awhile?? I feel like such a bad mom cause I know everything he said to me I can't remember. I know it's only a broken bone, but my poor son is in so much pain.
And to make it worse, the school did not even call me!!! He told them he didn't need them to call me but it was obvious he was in severe pain and trying to be brave, but he looked like something out of a movie with his arm stick straight not able to move it all, so they gave him ice. I am soo mad right now. Am I over-reacting in thinking they should have called me and let me at least know so I could make the decision if I needed to take him to the dr. and not have him sit there in class crying for an hour??

Steph

Be very carefull of this type of break a girl at work broke her arm like that snowboarding and the sling did nothing for her to help heal it she ended up having surgury to repair the bone with a plate. Sorry this isn't meant to alarm you or scare you just make sure to watch it closely and have it x rayed every couple weeks to be sure it is healing. Our youngest daughter broke her leg on teh growth plate just below her knee when she was 3. We had no idea it was broken she cried for about 5 minutes and after that nothing she complained it hurt but nothing more. We took her to the hospital and the Dr was pulling on it and twisting it and not a peep out of her. He sent her for x rays as a precaution and it was a clean break right through teh bone he was suprised she didn't make a sound or anything when he was yanking on her leg with the break she had. Just mae sure he tried to keep it imobalised and have it checked often so as to avoind an operation.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Ouch - your poor little guy!!

I broke my elbow a few yrs ago now and it was also in a place that they couldn't put a cast on it - I had to use the sling and I took it off to sleep - might be different though with the shoulder. My arm hurt so much that there was no way I was going to move it!

I'd call telehealth about pain management - I've always been told that Advil/motrin works better in injuries because it works as an anti-inflamitory.

Good luck and I hope your little guy feels better soon.

 

[brighteyes]

Thanks guys,

Oh and did I mention in the first grade someone pushed my son and he broke his finger and they said he was fine!! His finger was 4 times its size when I came to pick him up! So yes I am going in first thing in the am to raise hell, I am so upset.

To make matters worse I tried to adjust the sling because his arm was too low again, so i took it off and couldn't figure out how to get it back on properly so I ran to the pharmacy and got the fabric kind and he says it feels better but he is still in so much pain.

The doc said not to give him advil or motrin as it is an anti-inflamatory which can cause bleeding, and with a break there is usually a little bleeding at the site which could worsen, so he said the best thing is tylenol.

I work at the clinic i took him too, and they called the oncall orthopedic surgeon and he will see him next week to follow up and see how it is healing. I am not a nurse obviously or I would have known how to put the sling back on. They showed me, I guess I was just too upset to focus.guilty: Looked easy enough at the time, but this one is more sturdy.

But he did break the arm at the top, just below the growth plate in the shoulder. So the doc said it would hurt for a while - not encouraging news. My son is more upset that he cant hold his kitty to cuddle No love for sylvester the kitty for a while. I am hoping I can find someone to wrk for me tomorrow as I am not feeling to encourage that my son will not be at pain all day at school and if he is that they won't call me.

Thanks guys.

Stephanie

 

[grover]

oh boy..poor little guy!
nothing for pain-that can't be right!

our son broke his wrist at tae kwon do..he was in a cast for just over two months if i remember correctly..but they took it off to do xrays every couple weeks to make sure it was healing okay. he was then restricted in activity for another couple months (ie no tae kwon do).

he did see a ortho specialist..hopefully when you go you will get more info..

 

[brighteyes]

sorry for the bad grammar in that last sentence, just trying to finish up quickly. lol

steph

 

[brighteyes]

Oh my goodness, too many of you with broken bones!!

grover --- that is a LONG time, is he ok now, did he eventually adjust? did it heal ok?

BitsnBearsMom---ouch! that sounds very painful. I put him to bed with the sling, just to be sure with pillows all around him so he cant move. He looks like ET in the closet scene with all the stuffed animals around him lol.


F4disneyfan ----Wholly cow!! is your daughter ok? i mean did she have to have surgery. Poor thing. How is she?


mickeywho?---hopefully my son will adjust, so far, NOT so good. He says he's not only physically in pain but emotionally, cause his life "Sucks" now as he puts it! LOL I told him nothing you can do about it now, so just make sure you keep it still, so it doesn't get worse. That did not make him feel better. Now he will have to find something else to do but play video games. Guess it's time to get out the board games and the disney movies.

Thanks guys for all the info. I did not know about requiring surgery if it did not heal properly so I will make sure he does not move that arm.

Steph

 

[Disney_Mama]

My DD11 just had the same break Thanksgiving Weekend. She did it falling down from a lift at cheerleading. She was sore for the first few days and then it was like nothing happened. We had to go back and get x-rays a few times because they said the fracture was impacted. Not good! This can lead to surgery. Then the next x-ray said everything was healing just fine. Our Dr. told us to keep her arm out of the sling from time to time so the weight of her arm would keep the bone straight. She never slept through the night without her arm coming out of the sling. Don't worry too much. Kids bones heal very quickly. It was only about 3 weeks and she was back to cheering. Good luck and I hope your Ds heals as quickly as my DD did.

 

[Kazzy1548]

Wow, brings back memories.

My DD broke or arm 2 years ago, on mothers day (great gift). She was playing in the backyard and came into the house with her arm making an S shape . I still have nightmares about it, couldn't even look, My DH had to take to the hospital and she needed to operated on after. But today she's fine (She just doesn't try to go down the slide standing up anymore. ).

Kazzy

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Wow, can I relate. He may actually heal a lot more quickly than you think and I'll tell you why.........

My 18 just broke his RIGHT arm on Feb 28 in the EXACT same place! He was standing at school (high school, graduates in June) beside the bleachers and a LARGE kid was impatient and jumped from the side of the bleachers to get to the ground, and landed squarely on him drilling his shoulder into the gym floor. His arm is broken in the exact place your son's is and he too, could only wear a sling for the same reasons. For him, it posed many a dilema as he is in Physics and Chem and couldn't write with his hand. He also couldn't drive anymore or take his final grade 8 piano exam for his high school credits.

The bigest surprise is how quickly it has been healing! He still went to work (cash at a Shoppers Drug Mart), and did the exercises he was given. He took his sling off 2 weeks ago as the velcro no longer held it and he felt comfortable and confident. He has been driving for 3 weeks now, and even went rollar blading on the weekend. You would not know anything happened.
We leave for Disney in 3 weeks, and he will be doing everything. This is a great surprise.

The first week he was on T3's for the pain and you will probably find in a few days after the sling has been on, he will begin to have pain eminating from the elbow area. My son actually found this to be the most painful, but we spoke to an Ortho, and it is actually normal nerve reactions to the sling and ice and moist heat and ibuprofen proved to help tremendously.

Give him hugs and love. The upside is he should be able to go in a pool in around 4 weeks, and it will also help with the healing (other son broke his elbow 3 years ago at the end of JUne and had pins in his arm, he was 8, and the pool was his best rehab)

Any questions, just PM me and I'll try to help!

 

[FayeW]

I hope your son is feeling better this morning. I would be at the school screeching today for sure.

 

[JustPlaneCrazy]

Stayed at POR Mar. 27 to Apr 7. In the first 48 hours of our trip DD age 8 was climbing a fence up near the Castle. When she tried to climb back over her foot caught and down she went. Took her to First Aid and they said they didn't think her arm was broken as she had full range of motion. She didn't even really cry when it happened. They wrapped it up in a tensor bandage and away we went. She did not really complain the rest of the day. We kept it well iced when back in the room. Within the next 48 hours she developed the worst case of stomach flu. The poor thing was so sick. We decided we better get her arm looked at and took her to a clinic at LBV. There they x-rayed her arm and it was the elbow that was fractured. They put it in a splint and arranged for a consult with and orthopedic surgeon at Celebration hospital for four days later. At the consult, they decided to leave it in the splint to fly home the next day. Then when we got home she was put in a cast. It should heal nicely we were told. The last two days of our trip I came down with a nasty cold which has now lasted about 12 days!
Not the best trip to WDW but managed to get most things done. My DH an I took turns taking DS age 10 to the parks while DD was laid up. We never did see any of the dream makers the whole 12 days we were there!

 

[brighteyes]

Well after sleeping from 4 am till 7 am I called work and said there is no way I was sending my son to school like that and I wouldn't be in I took my son to school to speak to the principal who was busy. I left note with the secretary that I would like to speak to her about a few concerns I had. So she just called with saying we are very sorry and we did offer him ice and he was able to move his lower arm.
I told her that him not being able to get up when he fell might have been a clue that he was hurt and it is not an 11 yr old's job to know if I should be called. Had I been called he would have told me how hurt he was. Not to mention the first time in grade 1 his finger was broken and they told him he was fine. I said that maybe that had something to do with the fact that he didn't want to push it that he was hurt after being in the office for a second time that day and they just gave him ice. She said well he could move his lower arm, but not the upper part? I said maybe that should have been another clue to call me.
Not to mention the girl who tripped him on purpose nothing was said to her yesterday. I don't see how that fits with zero tolerance. My son was suspended before for vandalism in grade 2 for throwing his left over jello at the outside of a portable but this girl nothing is said to her? I just dont get it.

Steph