DS broke arms, need help with summer plans!

[Unicornhamster]

DS5 had a freak accident this week and has broken both of his arms. We had a lot of plans for over the holidays all of which are just not feasible anymore. The casts he’s in are shoulder to wrist on both.
I am gutted for him but really don’t want him to feel he’s had a crap summer. I have had to cancel all his summer camps and now I am pulling my hair out thinking of ways to get him out of the house over the next six weeks.

I also have 3 month old twins so I need to take them into consideration when planning. Any one have any suggestions? Not just for summer plans but also any tips for making life easier for him?

Hi OP. I sympathise, my daughter broke both her wrists very badly when she was five, and had to have two long heavy casts, so I know how you feel.

Lots of good advice above, but what I would say to you is if it's just happened, you're both in shock. Take a few days to deal with that and the immediate practicalities, such as what he is going to wear and things will soon settle down. You will be surprised how relatively normal things become and how you learn to cope with doing things differently where necessary.

I suggest picnics as a useful way of occupying him and getting him out the house, weather permitting, if not find somewhere to sit under shelter. Not only do they occupy them but you get them fed at the same time and they don't really cost much. Bonus!

By the end of the six weeks my daughter was to be found outside playing carrying buckets of water around. Good luck, you'll get through this.xxx

Have a look at equipment you can borrow to make life easier. The red cross will lend you a wheel chair, I know you said ds can walk but he is going to be more tired and might not have good balance to start with. An electric toothbrush has a bigger barrel to hold than an ordinary toothbrush, you can get quite cheap ones han tun on battery.

Take up ALL offers from friends, school mums.

Cinema could be good, there might be an open air one, theatre could also be good. Is he old enough to geocache?

A floor piano / dance mat?

Can you get to a beach? Drawing patterns in the sand with feet.

How about being a tourist in your home town/city. Think this is London so great for this. Visit places you would if you were a tourist (perhaps with wheelchair). Trips on different forms of transport- boats, trains,dlr etc.
Maybe get him an Alexa, can operate that for stories, songs, games etc.

Check if you have a British Red Cross nearby, you cant rent wheelchairs for 6 weeks at a time and they just ask for a donation in an envelope when you return it. Some mobility hire shops charge ££££ at least this way it goes back to a charity

I've just reread, with the toileting, if he wears joggers and no underwear he could probably use a dressing stick. I know you would probably still have to wipe his bum but it could give him some independence. They cost about £5.

Also let him experiment with his feet, I can pick things up from the floor using my feet. If I spill something, say a glass of water, I drop the towel on the spill, wipe with my foot and then pick up with my foot. I have problems with my back, my carer says I have, "crazy monkey feet".

Cinema
Boat trip - barge, boat taxi, punting
Safari park
Museum
Sea life centre
Bit of an odd one but hire an open top car on a sunny day and go for a drive!!
Soft gentle football
???exercise bike??!

poor ds - and poor you!

will he stay in full casts or will he get shorter ones?

finger paint to paint with feet (preferably outside)
cornflour&water, again with feet.

Poor ds. Have they said how long he will be out of action, kids bone can heal quite quickly compared to adults.

You could do geo caching / Pokemon hunting. If you get a wheelchair lots of museums, train journeys ?

At least to start with he’ll need help with getting dressed, being fed and taken to the toilet, so he might not actually want to go out and about too much, and be seen having his mum helping him.
Hiring a wheelchair is a great idea, my teenage son had to have surgery on his feet and we opted to have them both done at the same time to minimise his time off school ( 3 weeks) we hired a wheelchair from a local charity Shopmobility it was based in a local shopping centre and you could hire one for a day ( free or for a donation) or hire for a week at a time very low cost (think it was £15). Museums we have a great open air one near us, libraries, galleries are great as they have lifts and disabled access our libraries have lots of events and reading challenges going on over the summer.
Some of the disabled toilets you need a key for it would be worth getting one so that you can all fit in for you to help him with toileting and be able to keep your twins safe as well. There’s a place local to us that you can buy one, i’m not sure if that’s the usual way to get one.
My son broke one of his arms but high up so didn’t have a cast, this also bought problems because he didn’t have a visible sign of his injury and got bumped into. It happened during term time so he had to go to school after about 3 days, but couldn’t wear uniform, stayed inside at break time, was given permission to use the lift, got the use of a laptop and we had to scribe his homework so actually apart from being at school to reduce the boredom it would have been easier if it was during the holidays.
Sleeping may be uncomfortable for him one of those big V shaped pillows would help support his shoulders and stop the drag of the weight of the casts.

These are all amazing tips, I am so glad I started this thread. He broke both his elbows so will have full casts. They said the right one would heal quicker about 4 weeks but the left one is a particularly bad break and will take 6-8 weeks. Even just one hand will make life easier for him though.
I will get onto the Red Cross today for the wheelchair and I have ordered some waterproof cast covers so he can get a bath.
He’s very good with his feet luckily so has managed to play a game of “shut the box” this morning. We have a lot of the things mentioned already at home so Alexa, Netflix and national trust memberships. Also local cinema and theatre!

I feel much more calm already

Oh you poor things! I know my kids like the following things and are arm friendly...

Visit Castles/monuments- get a Cadw/English Heritage pass and there's lots of things on during the holidays like falconry displays, knights re-enactments.

Anywhere they have a treasure trail.

The beach... ice creams and very shallow paddling?

Movies!

The aquarium - Primary times often have kids free with adult vouchers

Science museums, especially ones with planet shows etc so he can sit and watch while everything goes on around him

The library summer reading challenge - you could go once a week, get new books and free stickers for the chart. Go for coffee after.

Picnics!

Play dates - you have 3 month old twins, you must have some friends who'd be happy to help out!

Good luck OP xxx

My friend's son had this a few years ago. He was about 10. It was during term time which brought its own problems. The thing about going out and walking was that the weight of the casts was a problem in his neck. He'd wear one in a sling and try to keep the other free but it was not comfortable. So I'd imagine that things like going to the zoo might be good but he'll be far more tired and grumpy afterwards than would ordinarily happen, so factoring that in may be handy

This is a really good point.

He will also be tired as his bones are knitting together and that takes resources. He will be more tired than usual.

It’s also really important to feed him the right kinda off food to promote bike growth.

Btw when I was in a shoulder to finger cast my mum got me a second hand games consol. To start with I couldn’t manipulate it but it was a great incentive to get the fingers working! So I played a LOT of sonic :-)

A few more ideas
Kids week in West end. Free tickets for children for the big shows.Think it’s August.

Learning a language- get an app or children’s course online

Puppet theatre barge- regents canal

Reading recipes for you to make together, doing what he can but being ‘head chef’

If you struggle with borrowing a paediatric wheelchair, consider getting a McLaren buggy major instead. It'll be easier to manoeuvre and fold up into your car boot. You might be able to buy one on eBay and sell it again afterwards.

He'll probably be tired as his body is healing and everything takes more effort, plus sleeping may be more uncomfortable. If he can't get out of bed, is there a way he can he call you at night without having to shout and wake the babies?

To add to the tips, try a sports bottle with a long tube, like cyclists use, so he can at least drink independently. Let him go barefoot and use his feet as much as possible.

PP have covered all the ideas I had on activity front, but depending on his height (if he's really tall it may not work!), when DN broke both her ankles at a similar age Dsis found a buggy was easier to manage for going out and about than a wheelchair.

If you need ideas for sourcing a buggy: if school has broken up yet, ask them to contact the local special schools in case they have a spare, or ask the local support group for parents of children with disabilities (again, school should know who they are, or they may have a Facebook page) whether anyone has one their child has outgrown that you can use.

Lots of trips to National Trust places and parks - running about on grass could even be done barefoot and build his confidence back. Ds broke both bones in his arm at that age and the first week was tough but after that he was pretty much fine, even having a good go on climbing frames. Luckily our family holiday that year was to Devon so he got an appt for his checkup while we were there.

Does he like singing? Sometimes there are music workshops over the summer.

Audio books. Pod casts.

The lighter weight casts should help when he gets them; I think you'll find they are somewhat waterproof too which opens more possibilities. Though I wonder if going to the beach might be an invitation to getting sand trapped under the casts - if beach trips are a realistic option for you, maybe ask for any tips when he is next seen!

When he gets the casts off, he will need quite a bit of physio to get his elbow movements back. Board games could be quite good for this when only one arm is freed (and before that with him telling you where to move things).

I see someone's already suggested singing groups - absolutely! Children's music groups are likely to be accessible to him even if they have a lot of physical activity, marching to the beat - stepping while sitting on a chair if he's too tired; percussion instruments he'll probably manage, drum rather than glockenspiel! If holiday camps were your previous plan, I do hope you can find something he can still go to like this.

Actually that's something else you might be able to do at home. See how many made up instruments you can create in ways that he can use. eg a shaker designed to hook over a cast.

hope you have a great summer despite the changes of plan!

Can your DH take extra dependency leave from work at all to help with entertaining DS? Could a relative come and stay? This is a lot for just you to shoulder with 3 month twins.

A late addition here and more a tip. When I had an op and wasn't supposed to sleep on my sides, they told me to sleep on my back with a pillow under my knees. It somehow signals to your body that you can't turn so you don't wake up from trying and bring in pain. May be useful for your DS.

Poor thing. Lots of places like historic houses have free wheelchairs - you don’t have to prove you need them IYSWIM. A few places near us have ‘bare feet walks’ which could be fun for him.

You could do the feet painting on old sheets in the garden.

Movie night in the garden with friends.

When friends come round make them not use arms too - or play some games where they wear a blindfold and DS and friend have to work together to do a trail, make sandwich lunch etc.

Some cycling tracks have sit down bikes or doubles where you only use your legs.

Maybe he could record some bedtime stories, nursery rhymes or big brother tips for the twins when they are a bit older?

zoo trip
trip round a maze