On Sunday night, #2 son (11yo) was playing a friendly game of touch football--in the concrete-floored church gym  --and went down on his left arm.  He came over to us crying, saying he hurt his arm.  He had almost full range of motion, hadn't heard any snapping sounds when he went down, and I couldn't feel any breaks or bumps in the bone, so I figured he had just sprained it pretty good.  We ran home, iced it and wrapped it.  Twenty minutes later he's acting like nothing had happened, though he favored that wrist for a while.

Monday and Tuesday, no real problems, he's still hurt but doing okay, even lifting lightweight items like dishes and thin books and still has good range of motion.  He had a wrist brace from a couple of years ago he was wearing, so we still went with the original Doctor Dad diagnosis.

Last night, I'm looking at his wrist again, and I notice his arm is still pretty swollen, but higher up than the wrist; in fact, the bottom third of his forearm is swollen, but only along the ulna.  I figure after two days without the swelling going down, it deserves a real MD look.

Mrs Limaxray calls me from the doctor's office this morning and says we have an ortho appointment tomorrow; definitely broken, though she couldn't tell me if it's just cracked or powdered.  He's been a real trooper, he's acting like he's perfectly healthy and has been cracking jokes; I swear the kid has no pain threshhold.  He told the nurse it hurt about 2.5 on a 10 scale.  

Man, I feel like an ass.  Last two days, been telling him that he's okay and not that badly hurt, only to find out I should have taken him to the ER that night.  "Oops, sorry about that" doesn't seem to cover it.  The little stinker's already making jokes about how he can milk my mistake for years if he plays it right.

Thanks for letting me vent.  Oh, yeah, and one other question for the docs in the house--I know the "left ulna fracture" part, but what's the "distal" mean?

Happened to me when I was a little older than that.  Didn't hurt that bad.

Quoted: It happens a lot.

yup, when i was 10 or 11, i walked around on a broken foot for over a week.  my parents didn't believe me when i told them i thought it was broken.  after a couple days, it didn't hurt much, but it would act up every once in a while.  my dad finally brought me in for x-rays, and i had a real nice break

seen many cases that xrays were done and showed nothing at the time of incident, then follow up films showed fractures that were more visible after a lot of the swelling went down and the bone shifted revealing the fracture.

Hmmm....guy I know...his daughter had an accident and they take her to a major med center with a good reputation in a large city.  They xray and say she's fine.  Next day they get a call.  ummm  can you bring her back?  The ankle is broken.  Even the pros miss it once in awhile.

When I broke my hand, I didn't realize it was broken until it was too swolen to fit on my mouse.

Quoted: It happens a lot.  Don't knock yourself for it.  I worked in a pediatric ER.  It was not uncommon to receive pt.s with fractures that didn't happen that day.  I'm sure you already know everything will be fixed up & he'll be back up to speed in no time. No reason to feel bad.  Be happy it was recognized & getting repaired. ETA:  Distal means further away from the body.  Proximal is closer.

Yeah, I'm not kicking myself too hard for it, but I do feel a little bad for telling him to suck it up, it's just a flesh wound.  

I'm more worried about how much fun HE is going to have with me after this.  This is the kind of story you tell your friends about how crazy your dad is.  "Yeah, he let me go two days with a broken arm--told me to stop my whining...."

ETA:  I should help him out--tell him we're not going to the doctor tomorrow, we're just going to duct tape his arm to his chest for six weeks until it heals.

Forgive yourself and forgive your son.

Kids don't know that they are supposed to hurt and feel bad!

efxguy

Don't feel quilty. Kids are pretty tough.
When I was around 12 I swung a punch at my older brother (full force) when he blocked it I stroke his elbow. It hurt like crazy but I didn't cry (never let the bastards note you are hurt).

Didn't feel too bad unless I twisted my hand. Three weeks later my parents noticed that my arms was a tad swollen. Yep, broken ulna.

I never told my parents how I broke my arms and yes I had a slave for several weeks, felt pretty good too
ACK

When I was 21 I broke my arm....arn wrestling.  It was this short little, but ripped, mexican guy and 6'3" me.  So I have long arms to begin with.  I just beaten him before and he wanted to go again.  So we go, and I'm tired at this point, and we just sit there straight up and down for 30 seconds or so and I go to push, using my body weight a little, and I think he went to push at the same time and BOOM.  I snapped my humorus bone (sp?) right in two.  Sounded like a gun going off.  My forearms goes one way but my shoulder and upper arm don't move.  It went numb immediately and everyone thought, including me and the paramedics, that it was my elblow that got fucked up.

2 hours later in the ER, after some xrays we figure out i have a broken arm, and by that point all the moving around it was damn near punching through the skin!!!

Got some morphine and a cast for a week.  After a week I had a plastic brace that I wore for a couple months.

Only time I've ever broken a bone.

My oldest daughter at age 2 broke her clavicle falling off a low set of bleachers playing with a cousin. She didn't cry much, and my wife thought nothing of it, until about a week later we noticed she held her arm funny when running, and she would say "ow" when we picked her up under her arms. X-ray showed a fracture, which later healed without any problem.

Don't worry about it. Kids are tougher than we give credit for. That you feel bad about it shows you are a good parent.

Doc H.

Forget about it!

The kid's got another arm.

Seriously, back in the day (~14 or 15), I wrecked my bicycle in a fashion reminiscent of Richard Petty's 1988 Daytona 500 wreck.  Went to the doctor's office, got x-rayed and initially diagnosed with a sprain.  Doc gave me a splint for my sprain and sent me on my way.  That weekend the radiologist called Mom and told her I had a hairline fracture near my elbow.  That Monday, I saw an orthopedic surgeon who showed me the fracture which was clear as day on the x-ray.  How did they miss it at first?  After the orthopedic surgeon poked and prodded around the site of the alleged break and eliciting zero pain response from me, he sent me on my way.  Told me to stay splinted for another week or two and I haven't worried about it since.  Fourteen or so years later, no problems.

Tell your kid to get well.

No biggie. Kid's bones are rather elastic and when they do break, they tend to greenstick which keeps them aligned and without any drastic symptoms.  I had three such greensticks, one on the collarbone, the others in arms.  

I was watching my son play soccer a couple of years ago when one of his teammates fell pretty hard.  Dad runs out and gets him to the sidelines, I ask if he wants a coldpack.  I go to get it and retrieve my EMT kit.  

I get back and dad is telling him to shake it off and get ready to get back in the game.  I asked if he was OK and dad says "He's just being a crybaby".  I asked if I could take a look at it, dad says sure.  No visual clues, but no capillary refill.  Carefully feeling along the arm, I feel a notch.  So I coldpack it and splint past the wrist and elbow.  Dad asked what was I doing?  I got up, walked over to him and told him his son had a broken arm.  It took me awhile to convince him, but he finally agreed to take the kid to a hospital.

When we get home, I had a very apologetic and thankful message on the machine.  Apparently is was broken in a few places but wouldn't require surgery because of a little first aid.

Made my day.....

SRM

Later in life he'll proudly tell the story about how he broke his arm and lasted two days before he decided to go to the doc.

[montypython]It's just a flesh wound.[/montypython]

I broke my index knuckle and didn't see the doc till a month later..

I thought I sprained my ankle once, but I honestly think it was broken.  My friends told me it was sprained.  That was 5 years ago and it still hurts if I sit on it.

You're a horrible man!         He's tougher for it, and it'll make for a war story later.  Don't worry.

i broke  something in my foot a few years ago..

wasnt till 2 days later when i could not go back to work that the doc told me it was broken.. :)

Quoted: Man, I feel like an ass.  Last two days, been telling him that he's okay and not that badly hurt, only to find out I should have taken him to the ER that night.  "Oops, sorry about that" doesn't seem to cover it.  The little stinker's already making jokes about how he can milk my mistake for years if he plays it right. Thanks for letting me vent.

Dont know if it will help but,
My brother walked around on a broken foot for a week before my mom took him to the docs...He was 3 or so at the time.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.  I had a friend that was in a car crash...went like 3 weeks before he knew anything was wrong.  Went to the doctor when his right side of the body went numb on and off.  He would lose feeling in his arm and leg on the right side.  Turns out he had a BROKEN KNECK and didn't even know it.

Damn that really sucks,  Hope the little guy heals up quick and has no long term fallout from it.
I swear to God, kids are the stimulus for grey hair.
Oddly enough I had a broken thumb once for a week I was convinced was a muscle pull or sprain , jammed it good one day during football practice, for the next few days it was real sore and painfull to write with but I iced it every night and it seemed to be not getting any worse. about a week later it really started to ache and swell. Finally My dad stepped in and took me for x-rays sure enoughit was broken, not fractured- broken. Had to be re-set since it had not quite aligned right but about six weeks later the cast was off and never has been a problem since.  Since your boy is so young he will probably bounce right back, his bones are still growing and all that.
Hope he feels better soon. Take him out to his favorite resturant /activity whatever for being such a trooper and to make yourself feel better.

Buy him a Glock to say you're sorry.

btdt my daughter fell out of a tree house when she was 10.  My father was due to visit [he visits once a year] so she didn't let on that it hurt very much.  I gave her some tylenol and she seemed fine.  She even jumped on the trampoline for Grandpa.

The next day the neighbor boy was over and she was favoring her arm pretty badly.  I got after her for this since it didn't hurt last night.  She was putting up a stiff upper lip for the neighbor boy but I could tell it hurt.  I got to thinking, the tree house was several feet up [at least 8] and her wrist was pretty small so I had better have it looked at.

I took her in.  She wheeled my youngest then in a stroller around the doctor's office and I started having 2nd thoughts about it.  Sure enough, her wrist was snapped in two.

You just never know.  Long story short - they're kids, they'll bounce back quickly.  Unless you caused the break yourself don't beat yourself up.

Patty

Quoted: Buy him a Glock to say you're sorry.

Hey, I'm trying to be a good dad, remember?  

I broke my clavicle when I was 5-6 (jumped off a bench).  My parents didn't know it was broken until I woke up screaming about 18 hours later.  The first thing ER docs suspsected was child abuse (I'm guessing because of the amount of time that passed from receiving the injury to going to the ER).

When I was a kid (12 or so) I was jumping a ramp on my bicycle and crash-landed, and broke my clavicle as well. It hurt really bad at the time, but that was right after it happened and I didn't even think it was that bad--it was all internal, so it looked normal. I hadn't had any broken bones or dislocations before, so I didn't know how they would feel. I just imagined that they would hurt more.... mostly I felt stupid for crashing at all. And yes I rode the bike home. :)

Parents didn't offer to take me to a hospital, but I wasn't the type to run for medical help atany injury anyway.

It wasn't until about six hours later that my mother asked me how I was and I remember I said something like "You know, this hurts more than any time I have hurt myself, ever before.... It still hurts as bad as right after it happened."
~

Quoted: Quoted: Buy him a Glock to say you're sorry. Hey, I'm trying to be a good dad, remember?

But why not go for GREAT?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Buy him a Glock to say you're sorry. Hey, I'm trying to be a good dad, remember?   But why not go for GREAT?

I don't think a gift of exploding Tupperware says "I love you" in quite the way I want.....

Sounds like no harm done bud.  Don't sweat it, happens all the tiem.  FWIW, there are not all that many fractures that must be seen emergently with common sense care.  If there is no compromise of neurovascular status many can be treated with rest, elevation and immobilization for a couple of days. The risk is in further injury.

Kids are tougher than they look!

One time back in highschool...


The dorkie freshmen were playing on the vaulting box before the start of gym class. One kid got out of shape and came down face first catching all his weight on one outstretched arm. Kid gets up and arm is 90 degrees at forearm with 3 inches of bone sticking out.


Everybody pretty much knew that badboy was broken...!

My dad did the same thing to me. I was riding my bike and taking a sharp turn, and my pedal caught the ground. I hit the ground pretty hard, and skidded about 15 feet. When my dad came and got me, he said he didnt think my elbow was broken. 3 days latter, I went to a doctor. 2 days after the doctor, I was in surgery and they were putting pins in.....

Okay, back from the ortho clinic.

Simple break, separating the growth plate from the rest of the bone.  He got a short cast (mid-forearm), which I thought was weird--when I broke my arm as a kid, same place (same arm!) they gave me a full cast to mid-bicep.

He got his choice of colors--picked the blue.  Goes back in three weeks for a new cast and a mid-term eval.  Doc was pretty cool--"You can't get it wet, you can't stick anything in it, and you can't use it to beat your brother."

Got done with that, then tried to go back to work, only to find out my office is closed because of a fire at the Pentagon.  Apparently the Executive Dining Room (which I can see from my window by my desk) had a natural gas leak followed by a fire, and they evacuated/closed that entire section.  So, I'm home.  Wouldn't have happened if LX#2 hadn't broken his arm, so I guess I have him to thank for that!

I might have missed someone else saying it, but at least it will buff out  

Oh man.  I thought I was the only one who did this.  I did the same thing with both my sons.  My youngest son walked around with a broken collar bone for a couple days and my oldest son had a broken arm for about 3 days.  It's not that I am a bad parent, I just don't want my boys running to the doctor for every little bump and scratch.  I also checked for range of motion and displacement, and everything checked out fine.  Both were just very small fractures, but I did get bitched at by the wife for those incidents.

When I was a kid, my old man kicked the shit out of me and cracked my clavicle.

Consider yourself a good human being.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Buy him a Glock to say you're sorry. Hey, I'm trying to be a good dad, remember?   But why not go for GREAT? I don't think a gift of exploding Tupperware says "I love you" in quite the way I want.....

Guns don't kB....people kB!

Dont worry, my Dad is an orthopedic surgeon and didnt catch my sisters broken ankle for 2 weeks.

I still remember it,

Sis-"Dad my ankle STILL hurts"

Dad-"So does mine sweety"

I broke my arm during hs football practice once.  It didn't hurt too bad but I couldn't move my wrist any.  So I had a team mate hold my hand still while I moved my arm around.  It worked fine for the rest of practice, but the next day at school i couldn't lift a sheet of paper with it.  Turned out that sort of the cap of the ball on one of the arm bones was broken at the wrist.  I got a lot of crap for showing up at school on a game day with a splint while the swelling went down, so I just took it off and suited up.  Fortunately the game was rained out so my lack of forethought didn't screw anything up.

I played the rest of the season with a fiberglass forearm cast.  It sure was a stinker when it got cut off though, completely black inside.

Aah, those were the days.

Sauce

Quoted: Oh man.  I thought I was the only one who did this.  I did the same thing with both my sons.  My youngest son walked around with a broken collar bone for a couple days and my oldest son had a broken arm for about 3 days.  It's not that I am a bad parent, I just don't want my boys running to the doctor for every little bump and scratch.  I also checked for range of motion and displacement, and everything checked out fine.  Both were just very small fractures, but I did get bitched at by the wife for those incidents.

Well the reality is that women almost always make too big of a deal out of every minor ailment and injury. Don't sweat it. Sounds like you did okay.

I have Xrayed hundreds of kids who didn't need them because mommies wanted them. Hundreds. Maybe even a couple of thousand. No shit. Yeah, I feel real good about that.

I spent 80% of my clinic time with women and their kids, most had ridiculously minor problems if anything at all.  That's how it is.  Except for the wussy men(easy to spot) when I go in and see a man, I pretty much know there is something real going on. They are either pretty damn ill or have a serious injury.

One of my favorites was the goofy chick who came in after ripping her fake nails off (day after she put them on) and wanted me to fix the divots in her nails that resulted.

One came in because, "yesterday, I got a pain in my little finger."
Did you injure it, bump it or anything?
"No"
How bad was it?
"just a twinge."
How long did it last.
"Maybe a second"



Checked her out. Everything was fine. Completely fine. Head, neck, arm, finger, all the way down the line.
ME:  Well, I wouldn't worry about it, doesn't sound like anything serious.

"But that's not normal!"






Seriously, that's how I spent half my days oftentimes.

limaxray,

If your son treats you like I treat my dad, you will never hear the end of it.  I still give my dad a hard time about cutting a tree down on his truck and punching a cow in the head.  Just so you know, cows have very thick skulls and when you punch them your hand swell up and hurts pretty bad, according to my dad.

John