Ideas for Child Who Fractured Leg

Hi. I just broke the sesamoid bone in my right foot and thought it would be the cause of a stay on the couch summmer! Wrong! I thought it would be best to go on line and find something I could use to actually go swimming. I found it! There is a item called "Dry Pro" It's a cast protector that you can use to go swimming! It works. I found the cover for my foot at Oak Dell Pharmacy @ the corner of Babcock and Medical. The cost is approx. $37+tax. You can also order online. You can bath, shower, and swimm with this item! Yea! It's a latex boot or leg cover. It comes with a pump that creats a vacume seal for your injury. It protects the injury and allows you to get wet! I have been swimming 5 times since I broke my foot and this really works. In addition there are cast protectors that you can buy at the HEB that will allow you to shower with ease. It is a ring with a vinyle seal bag that goes over the injury. Gone are the days of plastic bagging an injury. Hope this will help and your summer will not be lost! My daughter thanked me over and over. She was so happy our summer swimming would not be affected by my broken foot. Good Luck.

Oh, your post brought back so many memories of when my daughter broke her leg (clear through) playing soccer at recess! Oh my.

She loved watching videos of herself when she was younger. Also, we looked at and compared pictures of all of our family when we were younger.

She is an arts and crafts kind of person so we found all kinds of things to glue together that told a story or described herself or anyone else she could think of. She couldn't wait to give the artwork to people.

My daughter was in 4th grade and had a project due. We lowered the ironing board to the level that she was able to sit at so we could iron stuff on a collage. Your daughter won't be interested in ironing but she might like the uniqueness of having the ironing board at her level to do a project in front of the TV, outside or wherever you are. I put a heavy chair on the opposite end so she wouldn't accidentally tip it over.

She might also like having a make-shift tent made that she can sit in by herself or with the two of you. My daughter loved having a place to go where her brother wasn't allowed.

My daughter loved making beaded necklaces. Maybe Fruit Loops on string licorice would be fun.

I gave my daughter sponge baths on a plastic table cloth we laid on her bedroom carpet (softest spot we could find). Her full cast was too big to cover effectively.

Someday you will look back on these days with a smile...

They make rubber sleeves to go over casts and splints. You get them at the orthopaedic shop next to your ortho. They cost about $40, but are very worth it. My son had surgery on his arm 3 days before going on vacation with his grandparents. I got him one of those sleeves and he was able to go swimming and bathe. You put a large sock over the extremity, slide the sleeve over and suction all the air out to make it a tight seal.

Good luck!

when my daughter fractured her leg, we bathed her at the sink, sat her down on the counter and just used a washcloth to clean her up. if you try this make sure to put a towel under her to catch most of the water. all she did when her leg was in a cast was color and watch tv, did some crafts, things like that. eventually she started to get around with the cast better and could walk around a play pretty much like normal. hope this helps a little.

Board games are a good way to entertain kids. My kids like Candyland, Go fish, Guess who, Operation and Chess! My son started learning last year when he was four, maybe your daughter will like it too. There is also Tic Tac Toe, puzzles, connect the dot coloring books that she might like also. I hope she gets better soon. Good luck!

This is a great time for Arts and Crafts! Get a book about preschool activities - there's quite a few - and have fun. Also try Lakeshore learning store. My son loves their puzzles and stamping activities.

As far as the bath goes - check with a medical supply store or call a sports physical therapy center. Back when I was in a cast for 4 months (20+ years ago!) I was able to use this latex cover that sucked onto my cast like a rubber glove. It was hard to get on and off but no water got in! I'm sure there has to be something way better now.

Best of luck!

I am so sorry your child was injured. It is so scary.

On May 26th there was another mom with a child who was going to be in a cast for 8 weeks. She was given great advice.

My sisters children always seem to be in a cast. They are dare devils.

She had the kids casts wrapped in saran wrap and electrical tape when they would bathe. One time she had to put one of those all plastic lawn chairs in the tub so her son could prop his leg on the side of the tub. She had a hand held shower head so she could control where the water went.

She also used a wagon to pull the kids around since the stroller was not always easy to use with a leg cast.
It is amazing how well a child will adjust to the cast.
They figure out how to get around pretty quickly.

Activities? Lots of games, videos, dress up dolls, coloring,painting, paper mache, how about some of those yarn kits that you sew with? Doll house, puzzles. Go to a craft store and check out their projects.

This is also a great time to work on fine motor skills. Have your child organize your button box, have her separate coins, organize your junk drawer together..

Cut out pictures from magazines and glue them onto poster board or shoe boxes.

The exact same thing just happened to me with my 16 month old son - but not @ NASA. I just ordered a Drycast Swim from this website:

http://www.medcareproducts.com/castcovers/

Hopefully it works because we have a vacation coming up where we will be out in the water for the majority of the time and he loves the water!!!

I understand completely!
I had to have knee reconstruction as a result of a fall from the bottom tier of a balance beam of all things when I was 10. So funny that such a little thing or something so simple could cause such an injury.
One thing my mother did was that she had massive amounts of pictures that were not in photo books yet, and we began making a scrapbook starting with my baby pictures. I am not sure how old your daughter is who broke her leg, but this might be something she can help with if not do mostly for herself. It would keep her creativity and her hands busy and give her something to be proud of when she is done.
Good luck and I hope she feels better.

H.

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