What a way to start our trip...

[maburke]

Can you belive this? We were literally on our way driving out of town Saturday to start our vacation at WDW, staying at Beach Club Villas, when we noticed that the arm of our 5-year old son, who has autism, was swollen and he was favoring it a bit. Well, five hours, 1 urgent care center and 1 Emergency room visit later, he is casted above the elbow with a broken arm! And we are at home, planning to set out about 18 hours later than planned. We thought about giving up, since we had such a terrible experience at the urgent care center, and he screamed so much about the splint they tried to put on. But he seemed okay with the cast that is not too pleasant, but clearly not removable. So we're going to try it. But he can't get it wet! And we're staying at the BEACH CLUB!!! AAARRGGHHH!!! All those afternoons we planned to relax by the pool... Any suggestions for what else to do when the kids need that mid-afternoon break?

Thanks for listening!
Meghan

 

[BCV23]

Ohhh I'm so sorry to hear your news. What a shame for all of you but especially for your son. Glad you're still going though.

For your breaks perhaps you could get an icecream cone at Beaches and Cream and sit on the porch of BC. Or pop a DVD in the player at BCV if you're in a 1 or 2 bedroom. You could go to a movie at DTD. If you're at MK you could take a boat ride to FW and look at the animals, get a cool drink and rock on the porch for a while.

Lots of pixie dust for a wonderful trip and a quick heal!

 

[Nanajo1]

I don't know the name of it but one ortho doc I know tells his pts to get a plastic sleeve at the drugstore to cover casts so they can shower. It is specifically made to protect the cast, unlike the generic plastic bag. Make sure to ask what to do if the cast somehow gets wet. Dry it with a hair dryer? allow to air dry? No matter how hard you try it will get wet. Even if you never get near the pool!It is the lining of the cast that causes the problem when wet. A moist inside can cause skin problems and odors!
Bring a marker to have CM sign the cast if that is something your DS would enjoy.
Here is an extra dose of PD.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a heavy dose of Pixie Dust for you.
Lucky for you that you noticed it before you got down to WDW (a ray of sunshine in your thunderburst of bad luck).
Anyway, does he like riding the boat? Maybe take some trips on the boat just back and forth from BC to Epcot or the Studio. Or the Friendship boats back and forth across WS at Epcot.How about the surrey bikes you can rent at BW (although that's not exactly a cool activity)?
DD is not autistic, but has some similar issues (sometimes very rigid expectations of what should happen and when). We've never taken breaks from the parks, just found a quiet place where she could get out her papers and pens. MK doesn't have a lot of theose, but if you go in the counter service restaurants in any park after the lunch rush, it's usually pretty quiet.
Good luck and hope you have a great time despite the cast.

 

[Poohnatic]

I shattered my wrist a week before a trip to the poconos (I was excited about a pool in winter!) many years ago.

20 bucks and one of the yellow cast covers later, I was good to go. I did have a fiberglass cast and was told I could get it wet, but I didn't that trip. However, a month later I did go in a pool and got it wet. It's extremely itchy when drying, and I think your son would have big issues with that. Heck, my Asperger's son has trouble with just the sensation of his shirt collars every day.

Good luck, enjoy your trip. As we say in this house, you've paid your karma bill...which means the trip should go smoothly.


As far as breaks, we've gone back to the room and taken a tv break. We had a nice relaxing afternoon over at Fort Wilderness one trip-didn't have the DX that trip and that was probably the best day of the trip, because he got a nice visit with the horses. No water is a hard one to deal with, good luck.

Suzanne

 

[SueM in MN]

It's extremely itchy when drying, and I think your son would have big issues with that.

That brings up a good point; it gets itchy under a cast even if you don't get it wet from the sweat, dead skin cells, etc that accumulate under the cast. People are sometimes tempted to stick something down there to relieve the itch. Don't do it. You can loose the item in the cast or get a scratch on the skin that can get infected.
A hairdryer set on COOL can be directed down the cast (don't know how your son will feel about that, but it might be worth a try if he gets itchy). Or depending on your son, you might not want to try it - he might try to do it too and use HOT, which caould burn the skin under the cast.

 

[mamajoan]

Sue is RIGHT ON about the cast precautions.. I have seen too many skin infections after someone shoved a pencil in their cast to relieve the itching.. try not to put baby powder or corn starch in there either.. turns into a nice muck for bacteria to breed.. YUCK!

Cast covers can be great.. take some heavy duty waterproof tape too .. tape the ends to ensure dryness of the cast. Make a seal between the cast and the skin.

God Bless and Have a great trip!

 

[maburke]

Thanks, everybody, for all the advice and pixie dust. We had a great trip, and since it was a day shorter than we planned, we hardly missed the swimming. We did find a medical supply store in St. Cloud that had the plastic cast protector things, but the one we got was a little big and my DS didn't go for it much. We spent about 15 minutes at SAB before he started pulling at it and I started getting worried, so we left. But we had a great time, anyway. And it didn't rain on us!

Meghan

 

[Sharby]

Thanks for letting us know that your family had a great trip (despite its unpromising start! )

It's always nice to get feedback that pixie dust works

 

[JudithM]

Despite the initial stress & changes, I am glad you & your family hada great trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the report. Like the others said, it's good to hear the pixie dust worked!