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#1
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Two broken arms :-O
Somehow we got through 9 years of raising boys with no broken bones.
Then last summer Ryan broke his finger. Well, Matthew decided to do something about our low bone-break-count. He cracked/buckled a total of 4 bones in his forearms! (In each forearm, right near the wrist, the larger of the two bones is buckled and the smaller one is cracked.) So, now he is in 2 (temporary, for now) casts, each going from his hand to above the elbow, and he can't do anything for himself. For at least 6 weeks. Give us strength! He can't get either hand close enough to his mouth to feed himself. He currently can't write at all, but I am hopeful that the permanent casts will allow enough finger flexibility for him to hold a pencil. On the bright side, I no longer have a conflict with the two boys' soccer games. :-/ If you have a child who might be prone to do so, tell him/her that when climbing a baseball backstop, it is *not* actually a good idea to turn around and try to climb down with your back to the fence so you can see where you're going better. :-O --Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01) |
#2
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Two broken arms :-O
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#3
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Two broken arms :-O
Gracious, I feel for you. Casts are a pain. At least he can pick a
neat color and they aren't as heavy as the old plaster ones. How long will the permanent casts have to stay on? We went through a dislocated elbow/broken arm with surgery last summer. What a deal! We were very blessed with a good pediatric orthopaedist. Good luck with the necessary activities. It took my then two year-old quite a bit of time to get the hang of going to the bathroom and eating. With two casts it is going to be twice as hard. Fortunately, at 2 she only had to have the cast on for 4 weeks. A note to you and to other parents with kids in casts for the first time. The removal can be quite traumatic. They use a saw connected to vacuum cleaner to cut the cast material. Always make sure the person doing the removal shows the child (on his/herself) and then on the child's other hand or leg that the blade will not cut skin. The noise is bad enough, but the idea of a blade is pretty awful. Karen G |
#4
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Two broken arms :-O
Robyn Kozierok wrote:
So, now he is in 2 (temporary, for now) casts, each going from his hand to above the elbow, and he can't do anything for himself. For at least 6 weeks. Give us strength! He can't get either hand close enough to his mouth to feed himself. He currently can't write at all, but I am hopeful that the permanent casts will allow enough finger flexibility for him to hold a pencil. Ouch! So how's school going to work out? If you have a child who might be prone to do so, tell him/her that when climbing a baseball backstop, it is *not* actually a good idea to turn around and try to climb down with your back to the fence so you can see where you're going better. :-O We will keep that in mind. Lesley |
#5
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Two broken arms :-O
Anyone know of any kind of special utensils that might be available to
allow a person to feed himself with an arm casted at a 90 degree angle? Thanks! You may find stuff for disabled people in a medical supply store, but you might also do ok with a long wooden spoon. reading shouldn't be too tough-- a book holder will help so he doesn't have to hold onto the book himself. something like: www.3000giftsandmore.com/book_holder.htm - Blanche |
#6
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Two broken arms :-O
Yikes, Robyn, I'm so sorry!
When Henry broke his leg and was in a cast on both legs, toe to waist, it was mostly a matter of accepting that there was not much he could do for himself. Of course, he was much younger. It sounds like he's an adventurous sort (given how this happened), so I'm betting he will creatively figure out how to do lots of stuff. You'll also find what types of food he can eat no-handed. For example, when I am alons I still practice a childhood habit of eating the first few kernels of popcorn out of the box by touching my tongue to them and just lifting the popcorn out (it will adhere to the damp tongue). My nephew had both arms in similar casts at about 12 yo. IIRC (we do not live close to them) they never found much they could do to accommodate him; they just had to resign themselves to doing it all. Good luck to all of you! -Dawn Mom to Henry, 10 |
#7
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Two broken arms :-O
In article ,
LFortier wrote: Robyn Kozierok wrote: So, now he is in 2 (temporary, for now) casts, each going from his hand to above the elbow, and he can't do anything for himself. For at least 6 weeks. Give us strength! He can't get either hand close enough to his mouth to feed himself. He currently can't write at all, but I am hopeful that the permanent casts will allow enough finger flexibility for him to hold a pencil. Ouch! So how's school going to work out? For now, the other kids are taking turns being his "scribe". His school program happens to be very flexible, and not especially writing-intensive, so it seems to be OK. He's dictating some things, doing others orally with a teacher, etc. Still, we're all hoping he will be able to write/draw a bit on his own once he gets the fiberglass casts. The problem right now is that he has a half cast held on by tensor bandages, and he has a whole width of tensor bandage going around his little hand, making it hard for him to bend his fingers. --Robyn |
#8
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Two broken arms :-O
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#9
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Two broken arms :-O
In article ,
chiam margalit wrote: Serious bummer. Like you, I was recently knocking wood that I had yet to be in an emergency room in my 10 full years of parenting, but that ended with a child shutting another child's hand in the sliding door of the minivan by accident. Ow! We got a striped pink and purple cast. It's lovely. YOu can request multi-colored ones, and one sample at our children's hospital was a delightful plaid. :-) Oh my, we might be there all night if they offer multi-colored casts. He has decided in advance on one red and one blue. As for feeding oneself, there are always chicken nuggets and other large chunk food, which can be eaten right from the plate, doggie style. We prefer to call it "puppy style" :-O And one of my kids has perfected eating with a fork between her toes, so you might want to try that out. It's disgusting but fascinating, in a weird way. I don't think Matthew is as flexible as your daughter I'm afraid he might break something else trying to do that at the table, though we might let him try it on the floor. Thanks, --Robyn |
#10
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Two broken arms :-O
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