Potential broken arm day before we fly to Spain

[afrikat]

My 9 year old son just came back from sports camp with what looked like a broken wrist. It's swollen and he can't move it, he's in alot of pain. He got hit really hard by a football. My partner has taken him to A&E but we are due to fly to Spain tomorrow for a week long villa holiday with 5 other families.

We are going to ask about a split cast if it's broken, has anyone managed to fly 24 hours after getting a cast?? He obviously won't be able to swim if he has a cast and that's what the kids do most of the day 😭

So worried for him and devastated about the holiday, don't know what to do

Ah good to know thanks

Oh dear What terrible timing
I hope you can enjoy the holiday.
A half cast may be because it's swollen

Take today's prize for poor parenting

why thank you @LakelandDreams 🥇

I took medical advice from my DCs consultant orthopod. Are you also medically qualified?

OP DS broke both his ulna and radius at the wrist. Pretty awful sports injury, blue lighted to hospital, reset under anaesthetic. They kept him well drugged up for a day or two and he was in a lot of pain initially but within a couple days he was absolutely fine pain wise.

Bones heal incredible quickly at 9yrs old.

Due to having four very sporty kids who also ski, I’ve dealt with 7 broken arms and 2 broken collar bones over the years. IME they improve very quickly.

good luck!

As others have said check you insurance. My DS got sick the day we were due to fly so we cancelled and rebooked another holiday, and claimed from the insurance for the cancellation.

When I was reading t&cs if we had gone on holiday he wouldn't have been coverd for the sickness he had, as we knew he had it when he flew. Does that make sense. So if anything more happens with your sons arm or he's in pain etc, you might not be covered.

My son broke his arm this summer. We got a Bloccs cast cover, and it was brilliant! He was able to swim on holiday. Highly recommend, we got from amazon. The reviews are brilliant and it really works.

I second what @DancingNotDrowning has said about pain. My daughter (also 9) broke her wrist recently. The first night she couldn’t sleep for pain. We gave regular pain relief for the first couple of days. Day three I gave her some paracetamol in the morning and she didn’t ask for any more after that. I did keep offering but she said it wasn’t sore any more.

Good idea to alternate ibuprofen and paracetamol. Be mindful of the maximum dose allowed in a 24 period and try to space it out so there is something you can give if he wakes in the night.

depending on which country you are going to, you can use UK amazon membership to order from Amazon.es and Amazon.de to get quick deliveries of specific items. Just remember to delete the address when you go back home otherwise you will forget and have things delivered to your holiday destination.

Pharmacies in Spain had them also, incase you need a back up out there

That's what I've just ordered! Glad to hear it worked for you. He's really upset at the thought of not swimming so fingers crossed he can at least splash about

Ouch that's alot of broken bones! Thanks for the info. He seems to be doing ok at the moment

Good to know, thank you. I thought about ordering 2 but they are pretty expensive 🤔

Ah brilliant thanks

We've spoken to insurance and it's covered but we had to pay ALOT 😭

Thanks, will keep on top of the pain and leave some for the night for the next few nights

Might also be worth considering propping the arm into a comfortable position for him to sleep. A pillow or a cushion might help.

If he complains that his arm is rattling about within the cast and hurting, be aware of what is called knocking. He may need a smaller cast once his swelling goes down as the arm starts to move inside the cast. It's a well known thing, and I had to be replastered twice for it. It may not happen at all, or not until you are home again, but you might want to be aware

Hope he is doing ok, and that you manage to have a good holiday.

Yes I am medically qualified.

You may well be - but if a consultant who is actually treating my child said something is fine to do, I’d probably be fine following his guidance without thinking it’s poor parenting.

Sorry to hear this OP. You need to call your insurance company in the morning and notify them of his injury, as if he has to go to hospital for any other reason or needs the cast redoing or something, they won't cover you if you haven't notified them of a change in health circumstances. It's now a pre-existing condition so you have to tell them.

GHIC only covers so much and Spain has expensive healthcare so better safe than sorry. I hope the little mite isn't in too much pain and you manage to enjoy your holiday in the end.

I went on holiday with 2 broken wrists. I got the blocc covers and was able to swim and snorkle, one wrist was almost better mind

Thanks, we notified them tonight and paid a small fortune to add it on!

Thanks, not heard of that. Will keep an eye out

That's great to hear. Really hope he can swim it's his happy place

He will be in a lot of pain. My little boy broke his arm and was up all night crying despite calpol. Also they put a temp cast in for swelling then you have to go back the next day ( it was 2 days later for us) depending on how busy they are and get the proper cast on. They dint just sort it all in one night.

Make sure to take the cover to the beach, and put it on before you get out of the car. Definitely don't want sand getting under the cast.

Then you should probably be a bit more cautious about contradicting the advice of a consultant that actually has care of their patient 🤷‍♀️