This is Part 4 in a Series of articles documenting our experience with the first broken bone in our family. In Part 1 my son broke his arm, in Part 2 we had the bone reset at the hospital, and in Part 3 we covered the changes to our daily routine.

In this article, I want to cover the healing process for my son’s broken bone. It was full of surprises for me and I want to share my experience so you won’t be caught off-guard like I was.

Follow-Up Appointment #1

Our first follow-up appointment was one week after the break.

When they originally put the cast on my son, they split the cast down the middle on both sides and tied it together with tape. This allowed the cast to expand and contract with any swelling to ensure it didn’t cut off circulation to his hand.

One week later, they were no longer worried about swelling. Now they wanted stability and protection, so they put a second layer of fiberglass on the cast to immobilize my son’s arm as it healed.

They also took an xray of my son’s arm with the cast on. They were just checking to make sure the bones had settled straight. It looked a little off to me. I pointed out my concerns, but the doctor assured me that it was good alignment. The doctor asked my son a few questions to make sure he was feeling okay and scheduled a follow up appointment for three weeks later.

Follow-Up Appointment #2

The next appointment was four weeks after the break.

The first thing they did was cut off the cast for an xray. My son was uncomfortable without the cast. It was obvious that the arm did not feel stable yet.

The xray was not encouraging. As a father, it gave me a pit in my stomach. I had been expecting healing and straight bones. Instead, the xray showed that the bones were still clearly broken and they had settled slightly off from where they had originally set.

I (politely) peppered the doctor with questions. Was the alignment really good? Was the overlap really acceptable? Did we need to reset the arm to ensure it healed straight? Was she sure it was looking good?

The doctor was great. She took time to answer all of my questions. She pointed out that the angle of the bones was good. She pointed out that the overlap was well over 50%. She pointed out that the bones had begun to mend and there was new bone growth surrounding the break. And she reassured me that the arm would heal straight.

After hearing her explanation and getting a second opinion from my sister (who is a physician’s assistant), I decided to trust the experts.

We washed my sons arm with soap and water. (It had started to smell.) And then they put a new fiberglass cast on his arm. We scheduled another follow up appointment for three weeks later.

Follow-Up Appointment #3

The next appointment was seven weeks after the break.

They cut off my son’s cast again. They took an xray again. This time the new growth was clearly visible. There were large knots of new bone forming around the old bone.

This is how a broken bone heals. Cells called osteoblasts add lots of new bone around the break, forming a big knot. Then over the following months, other cells called osteoclasts break down the excess bone, leaving the straight, fully-healed bone.

The doctor was pleased with the progress and decided it was time to move from a cast to a hard brace. The doctor said that we needed to wear the brace all the time for the next three weeks. During that time, my son could remove the brace for showering, swimming, sleeping, and doing his daily mobility exercises for his wrist.

The doctor said we should ease back into using the arm normally. Start out by only lifting five pounds. Then, next week, move to ten pounds. Then fifteen pounds the week after that. He also said my son was fine to run again.

After those first three weeks, we could use the hard brace less and less, but the doctor did recommend continuing to wear the brace when my son was playing sports or rough housing. Basically, we were now on the downhill slide back to regular functionality.

And the doctor said we did not need to come back for a follow up appointment. We walked out of the building and were officially done with doctor visits for the broken bone! It had taken 7 weeks, one trip to the hospital, and three follow-up visits, but we had made it through!

To celebrate my son being so brave and stoic throughout the entire adventure we went out to eat with the family to celebrate. And that was our adventure with our first broken bone as parents.