United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

This summer has not been a good one for us. It began the day after Easter. My son Garrett fell off a climber while my mom was babysitting him and broke his right leg. Ouch. I've never had a broken bone in my life and hated seeing my son suffer through it. Not to mention my mom- she still hasn't forgiven herself and it was a total accident! He did pretty good and got the cast off on June 2nd a few days after his 3rd birthday. Then this past Thursday, he broke it again. This time he was with my dad and my dad is so upset about the whole accident and he hasn't slept well since.He says he's afraid to play with him anymore. But Garrett only he fell like two or three feet onto gravel time, I told my dad he could have fallen off the sofa and done the same thing. I asked the doctor about a bone density test and he told me not to worry about it yet. We asked if this was common for a child to injur himself again so soon and he said no. It just left me confused.
If anyone has any advice on this topic or how to handle hysterical grandparents please let me know.

Thanks.

Wow, Carrie.. your poor son is having one rough time!

Did his leg re-break in the same place? Did his doctor order an x-ray to see if it was healed well before removing the cast? Fractures can be slow to heal if they aren't aligned well or the bones shift or a bunch of different reasons. Unless he broke it in a new place altogether, I would be more worried about his doctor than about his bones. It sounds to me like he wasn't ready to have his cast off.

Kate

The first break was a fracture of the fib & tib. Both fractures were horizontal. This time it is just the tib. About the same spot but a spiral fracture(diagnol istead of horizontal.) He had x-rays at each check up. The day the cast came off I looked at the X-rays and couldn't tell the bones had broke.

Carrie,

That sounds very concerning. How intrusive is a bone density test? I am with you... I would be concerned, too. Is this your regular pediatrician or a specialist? Perhaps a referral or a second opinion is in order, if this doctor isn't worried. It seems that doing something early rather than late would be a smart approach!

Kate

A bone density doesn't hurt. They inject a dye into your vein (arm/hand) then the machine scans the area... that's it. For a leg )or both) it takes about 15-20 minutes. I had one done 4 yrs ago... many many stress fractures from skating and not paying attention to my boo boos!
I would ask about getting the test done, especially if he broke it again at about the same spot.
Marieke (LOBPI)