Zachary went in earlier this afternoon to get his cast removed and have another x-ray to verify his arm has indeed healed correctly.
Bone growth was excellent, and he’s well on his way to full recovery. No second cast needed. All clear, he’s OK, and we can go home and be normal again!
Though his radius still looks crooked in the x-ray, we’re told that it will straighten back out fully on its own, growing and shedding bone as necessary to adjust to the correct positioning. At his age, we’re told that takes 3-4 months or so. The bone growth is very obvious in the x-ray; you can see a large mass of new growth covering the areas where the break occurred.
The skin on his arm is a little bit chapped and dry, but that will resolve itself in no time as well with a bath and some lotion.
One other thing we’ll be watching is whether he goes back to being a right-handed eater like he was before the cast; he’s gotten pretty used to eating as a lefty lately, with both his hands and with utensils.
We went out to eat after his cast removal, and he kept raising both arms and dancing to the music. I think he’s happy to have his arm back. He’s still being a little bit guarded with it, but it’s just become habit these last few weeks from not using it fully; he’ll get over that quickly. He was giving high-fives and scratching his head and ear at dinner… and quite pleased with himself. Yay!
Michelle 12:01 pm on November 19, 2011 Permalink
My 2 year old daughter sustained a fracture to both the radius and ulna & she just had it removed this week. Her bone healed in a bit of an angle as well & you can tell by looking at her arm. The Doctor says this will correct itself. I was researching & ran into your blog. Did your son’s angular bone correct itself? Thank you for your help!
Stacey and Alex 14:14 pm on November 19, 2011 Permalink
@Michelle: Glad to answer, thanks for writing.
Zachary’s arm seemed to heal straight enough. There was extra bone around the breaks, but we were told bone grows and disappears as needed, and even the bulk of the extra bone would eventually go away. Any (mild) angular issues would also correct themselves, we were told, because the bone knows how to grow, and it also reacts to stresses when being used that help it know which way to grow and change to stay strong (and straight, as necessary).
My guess (and I’m no doctor) is the angle, if minor, will correct itself just fine over time. My wife (also not a doctor) just informed me that we were also told a more major angle might require a re-break and re-cast, but such a thing is really rare. Hopefully your daughter’s angle is slight enough (whatever that means technically), and will heal just fine. Good luck!