Thursday Day 8, 1 full week and follow up day: X-rays look like she’s healed completely! Dr says she’s healing well and that her splint can be removed in 2 weeks’ time (3 weeks total)! Wow, I’m so happy…they really did mean it when they said kids heal fast. I read somewhere it like 1 person working on building a house (adult bones) or 5 people working together (children)…and the younger they are, the more people working on the same house! Good to know…Dr. also said it will heal back stronger than before as that’s the nature of bones, and that 95% of no growth plate problems. He said don’t even worry about it. Great, all good news today!
Day 9 – Day 16 (Week 2): Nothing eventful thank goodness! Just bouts of itchiness but that’s about it. Went by relatively quickly and just so glad we are only 1 week away from cast removal. Ari moves her arm like there is nothing wrong at all… not sure if it’s fully healed but every day as I watch her play my strength as a mommy comes back. She is back to driving me insane again which makes me happy in some strange way. We have also ventured out a bit further to play such as the hallways of our hotel…but haven’t been outside at all because it is now June in Dubai and the heat has reached a scorching 42-48degrees! 1 minute in the heat will make Ari start sweating and sweating=itchy, so inside we shall stay.
Day 21: Splint Removal & More Stress for Mommy: I can’t believe the day has come already! I think I am more excited than Ari to have it off. Last night she was a bit itchy, though the itchiness has subsided this last week, so I cut 20% of the bandage and pulled it back from her wrist to slightly below her mid-forearm. That was the night before… today thinking that my daughter out of her splint for good, I realized that the first 3 weeks of her injury was just step 1. Though the pins were removed today because we will be flying on an airplane on Sunday (1 more week would have been better for my peace of mind but glad the pins are out). Taking out the pins only hurt her for a second and she cried probably due to people touching her, it was relatively a painless process compared to the surgery. I worried way too much about the pin removal as all I could think of is that they are inserted into her arm and touching the bone and they have to pull it out. There were holes in her arm however from where the pins were inserted and they were a lot bigger than I thought. Let’s hope they heal properly and aren’t visible. Will have to take a photo of them… they are probably at least 1-2cm in diameter.
After removing the pins, they had to put a new splint on her to immobilize it a bit so more healing could continue. 3 more weeks and we will have another X-ray! Boo… at least she’s on the right track to healing. Let’s see if I can take another 3 weeks of trying to hold down a 3 year old and get her not to hurt herself anymore. I just want her arm back to normal.
Upon further research on toddler fractures I found a great site today: http://freemedicles.com/art-chhealth-95.html and http://www.foothealthfacts.org/footankleinfo/Bone_Healing.htm
How does bone heal?
A cast protects the broken bone, preventing movement of the aligned ends until healing has progressed sufficiently.
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All broken bones go through the same healing process. This is true whether a bone has been cut as part of a surgical procedure or fractured through an injury.
The bone healing process has three overlapping stages: inflammation, bone production, and bone remodeling.
Fractures are like any other wound – if they are not protected, they will not heal properly. However, most bones will have healed in four to six weeks in the toddler age group. A broken bone goes through several stages as it heals:
•Initially, There is bleeding with swelling and pain around the fracture. Cells calls osteoclasts get red of the old dead bone.
•After a few days, chondroblast cells form new bone called soft callus. Callus is made of blood vessels, fibrous tissue, cartilage and bone.
•Hard callus appears after two to three weeks. This may form a lump that can be felt under the skin. On an x-ray the fracture line will no longer be visible, but a cloud of new bone will have appeared around the fracture site.
•Remodelling is the final stage of healing. If the bone has healed out of shape, it is now restored to its original shape. This remodeling takes around three months for toddlers, while it may take several years for older children and adults.
Stay tuned for final x-rays and splint removal and photos and more soon! Can’t wait for that day to happen.
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