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

For the first couple of days try and keep the pain relief topped up - we alternated paracetamol and ibuprofen. Was fine as long as we didn’t leave it too long between doses.

Spain give out 600mg tablets of ibuprofen and the max here is 400mg so just check the strength if you buy any out there. I remember asking the pharmacist the dosage as I’d never seen 600mg.

Yes good point!

Thanks, we will check that

Spain has superb public healthcare, free at the point of delivery. There is also a BUPA-like private system, but as in the UK, the public hospitals and health centres do the heavy lifting. Funding and waiting lists are considerably better than the NHS.

GHIC covers both emergency and ongoing care, which will include in this case checks and maintenance/repair of DS's cast. The main thing it doesn't cover is elective treatments, so you can't just decide to get your varicose veins done while you're on holiday. Apart from that it gives like-for-like healthcare rights, the same as in your home country, for any EU (EHIC) or UK resident in 30+ countries. In particular, there are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

(GHIC also doesn't cover repatriation, because that's also not something that the NHS covers. So travel insurance is still a good idea. But when the insurers quibble, GHIC will usually provide cover. Spanish public hospitals and clinics accept it with no quibbles.)

I cannot believe any consultant would recommend swimming for a week in a wet cast and then just change it later. Bacteria can develop quickly under the cast and literally eat away at the skin. I simply don't believe the OP.

DD broke her wrist the night before a Holiday, she had a full cast straight away (we weren't flying) and we got a blocc cover. She managed the whole holiday swimming and on the beach as usual. The only issue was the number of times she almost knocked herself and her little sister out before she got used to the cast 😅

Where on earth did I say a consultant recommended swimming for a week in a wet cast?

given your lack of comprehension skills I assume your medical qualification is a first aid certificate?!

Thanks, really hoping it works out for him

Really hope you are on your way and DS isn't too uncomfortable.

Hopefully after a couple of days he'll be used to it and you will all have a great time

You said 'one DC used it [a cast cover], one didn’t preferring just to get his cast wet. It was absolutely disgusting but we took him to get it changed when we got back from holiday'. When challenged you said you took your consultant's advice. How else should this be read?

Where on earth did I say a consultant recommended swimming for a week in a wet cast?

given your lack of comprehension skills I assume your medical qualification is a first aid certificate?!

That was literally your counter argument to pp saying it was irresponsible. If your consultant didn't recommend it I'm not sure why you brought them into the argument.

A group of friends were going skiing. Two youngest begged for one last practice at the dry ski slope. One girl broke both wrists! A friend was the orthopaedic consultant at the local hospital. Told her to come back in the morning with her ski poles. Set both wrists so she could ski 😂😂😂 a great holiday apparently.

We made it! No one at the airport batted an eye at his cast but we did keep getting fast tracked which he loved. He's doing brilliantly. Getting to the villa tomorrow and the sleeve will be arriving for Sunday so hopefully he'll be able to get in the pool 🙏

Leave him at home...............

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Perhaps now you could point out where I said anything about swimming for a week with a wet cast?

Glad to hear this OP.

@DancingNotDrowning

Yes twice had broken arms on holiday.

order a blue plastic sleeve off Amazon today and he’ll be able to go in pool.

one DC used it, one didn’t preferring just to get his cast wet. It was absolutely disgusting but we took him to get it changed when we got back from holiday

Your post ^

@seedsandseeds again, perhaps you could point out where I said anything about swimming for a week with a wet cast?

I said I took consultant advice. Which was that occasionally getting the cast wet wouldn’t hurt and we’d change it on his return. No “recommendation”; no “swimming for a week”

but you and a couple of posters projected presumably because you also have a very important first aid cert and were pissed that I was “wasting NHS resources”. Which I wasn’t.

BTW the cast didn’t disintegrate; his arm wasn’t destabilised; the breaks healed perfectly; there was no flesh eating bug/skin infection/irritation and despite the bad parenting award conferred upon me up thread DS has lived happily and healthily to adulthood.

How long did you go on holiday for?

Oh give up!

Unless I also provide you with a
complete breakdown of which of our hotels had pools, what days DC used the pool, how long he was submerged etc etc that is utterly irrelevant.

DCs consultant was fine, my DS was in fact fine and no NHS resources were wasted

@DancingNotDrowning how long passed between the original cast and the new one?

@seedsandseeds You seem extremely over invested in this 😂

Since we’re asking questions, what are the medical qualifications that you have that make you think you - a person who has no facts, details or history and who has never examined or spoken to my DS - know better than an experienced consultant who did have all of those things?