Question:
I wonder if anyone has experienced a child's trauma after an accident?
Josh is 8 and fell from the monkey bars at school 3 weeks ago. He broke (not greensticks) 2 bones in his wrist and had a compound fracture of the humerus -- upper arm. The ambulance took him to the Children's (Melb) and he had 3 operations in the first 5 days there, the last one being a big skin graft. That left him with a painful arm and leg. My daughter stayed there with him day and night. He was very brave, we thought.
When he returned to the hospital to have the dressings changed, he became hysterical and it was hours before his mother could calm him down. Normally, he's a sweet, rather quiet, thoughtful child, not given to tantrums. Now he's a changed boy. He upsets easily, sleeps poorly, doesn't eat and has lost weight, tires quickly, gets angry over nothing much, hates Mum going to work and is terrified at the thought of returning to the hospital for further treatment.
It seems to us that he's not just milking the situation. Has anyone experienced an over-the -top reaction like this with their child? Is it possible that he's suffering from post traumatic stress? After all, 3 ops in such a short time would be difficult for an adult to handle.
well Laurie i am no Dr but it seems like he is very traumatised, you would expect the Dr's to have picked up on it to sound's like your daughter should speak to his Dr before it gets worse i would be very worried to Laurie
oh no the poor little thing, i can totally understand why he's so scared though, what a horrible experience. I guess they just need to reassure him that everyone is trying to help him and get him better, and explain to him that it's normal to feel the way he is feeling, and that he will get better. Kids need so much reassurance, no matter how many times you tell them something, you can't take away the fear just with words, they need to be constantly reminded and comforted. Hugs to him, i can only imagine what a horrible experience it was for him. My son is almost 8, he scratches his leg and talks about it for a month. LOL
Thank you both for your comments and understanding. You would expect the doctors to pick up on his emotional state, especially when he became hysterical and daughter had to hold him down to get the dressings changed! Maybe they see this all the time?
[I] My son is almost 8, he scratches his leg and talks about it for a month. LOL [/i] Now that tongue in cheek comment reminds me that this Nana might have forgotten what it was like when little kids got hurt :-)
Poor wee guy that is a lot to deal with what Shmeedy said sounds like good wise words, but I would be telling the doctor about all the changes in this wee lad, could also be the after effects of all the anaesthetic in his system have heard that it takes months to get out of the system
I think I would be mentioning this to the doctor next time.they are probably used to kids being upset when visiting the hospital but if your daughter explains the extent of his fear maybe they will look into it a little further.
It is terrible to watch your child in pain or afraid .lets hope they can sort it all out quickly for you all.
Good Luck!
I hope he recovers soon.and you should find the Drs understanding.
My second eldest daughter (Gemma) got run over by a taxi when she was 7 and I know the hell she went through.it wasn't so much her injuries as what she remembered from the accident and also how the Drs 'hurt' her when they were fixing her up.it was so bad they had to sedate her to take our her stitches.and I have to admit I wasn't much help 'cause everytime she cried I cried.
Yes I would definatly speak to his doctor and maybe even consider some counsiling, he may open up to a stanger as to why he feels the way he does.
I hope your grandson gets better soon.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that counselling might be necessary. Josh has clammed right up and told his Mother that he doesn't want to talk about any of this! (When she suggested that he could take his Xrays for show and tell on his first day back at school, he preferred to take his Easter egg in the shape of a Holden!)
He had the dressings, casts and pins removed yesterday and wasn't hysterical -- but he put up a fair bit of resistance. My daughter said that the doctors were very kind and understanding and didn't view Josh's objections as unusual. The thing is that a number of different people carried out each procedure and there wasn't any one person who saw his reactions in total. If every kid had 6 mothers a day, we'd probably never lose patience, would we?! LOL. The skin grafts on his upper arm look good and he is allowed to use it a little. There's only one problem --- the humerus has rotated a bit and they'll Xray again in 3 weeks to determine if the amount of rotation is acceptable. If not, it's more operations. It WILL BE acceptable. Nana has decreed this! He still isn't eating so before we came home, I took him to a chemist and asked for nice tasting drink to make him stronger. The chemist gave me Incremen and I asked if Josh could have a dose there and then. My devious plan was that if Josh objected to the taste, the chemist might feel sympathetic and not charge me the $36. Josh liked it! Phew!
Good old nan to the rescue, i know you must be terribly worried about your gson i am the same with my GS we have to look out for these kids .
i hope everything goes just right for your Josh
Josh is 8 and fell from the monkey bars at school 3 weeks ago. He broke (not greensticks) 2 bones in his wrist and had a compound fracture of the humerus -- upper arm. The ambulance took him to the Children's (Melb) and he had 3 operations in the first 5 days there, the last one being a big skin graft. That left him with a painful arm and leg. My daughter stayed there with him day and night. He was very brave, we thought.
When he returned to the hospital to have the dressings changed, he became hysterical and it was hours before his mother could calm him down. Normally, he's a sweet, rather quiet, thoughtful child, not given to tantrums. Now he's a changed boy. He upsets easily, sleeps poorly, doesn't eat and has lost weight, tires quickly, gets angry over nothing much, hates Mum going to work and is terrified at the thought of returning to the hospital for further treatment.
It seems to us that he's not just milking the situation. Has anyone experienced an over-the -top reaction like this with their child? Is it possible that he's suffering from post traumatic stress? After all, 3 ops in such a short time would be difficult for an adult to handle.
Answer:
well Laurie i am no Dr but it seems like he is very traumatised, you would expect the Dr's to have picked up on it to sound's like your daughter should speak to his Dr before it gets worse i would be very worried to Laurie
Answer:
oh no the poor little thing, i can totally understand why he's so scared though, what a horrible experience. I guess they just need to reassure him that everyone is trying to help him and get him better, and explain to him that it's normal to feel the way he is feeling, and that he will get better. Kids need so much reassurance, no matter how many times you tell them something, you can't take away the fear just with words, they need to be constantly reminded and comforted. Hugs to him, i can only imagine what a horrible experience it was for him. My son is almost 8, he scratches his leg and talks about it for a month. LOL
Answer:
Thank you both for your comments and understanding. You would expect the doctors to pick up on his emotional state, especially when he became hysterical and daughter had to hold him down to get the dressings changed! Maybe they see this all the time?
[I] My son is almost 8, he scratches his leg and talks about it for a month. LOL [/i] Now that tongue in cheek comment reminds me that this Nana might have forgotten what it was like when little kids got hurt :-)
Answer:
Poor wee guy that is a lot to deal with what Shmeedy said sounds like good wise words, but I would be telling the doctor about all the changes in this wee lad, could also be the after effects of all the anaesthetic in his system have heard that it takes months to get out of the system
Answer:
I think I would be mentioning this to the doctor next time.they are probably used to kids being upset when visiting the hospital but if your daughter explains the extent of his fear maybe they will look into it a little further.
It is terrible to watch your child in pain or afraid .lets hope they can sort it all out quickly for you all.
Good Luck!
Answer:
I hope he recovers soon.and you should find the Drs understanding.
My second eldest daughter (Gemma) got run over by a taxi when she was 7 and I know the hell she went through.it wasn't so much her injuries as what she remembered from the accident and also how the Drs 'hurt' her when they were fixing her up.it was so bad they had to sedate her to take our her stitches.and I have to admit I wasn't much help 'cause everytime she cried I cried.
Answer:
Yes I would definatly speak to his doctor and maybe even consider some counsiling, he may open up to a stanger as to why he feels the way he does.
I hope your grandson gets better soon.
Answer:
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that counselling might be necessary. Josh has clammed right up and told his Mother that he doesn't want to talk about any of this! (When she suggested that he could take his Xrays for show and tell on his first day back at school, he preferred to take his Easter egg in the shape of a Holden!)
He had the dressings, casts and pins removed yesterday and wasn't hysterical -- but he put up a fair bit of resistance. My daughter said that the doctors were very kind and understanding and didn't view Josh's objections as unusual. The thing is that a number of different people carried out each procedure and there wasn't any one person who saw his reactions in total. If every kid had 6 mothers a day, we'd probably never lose patience, would we?! LOL. The skin grafts on his upper arm look good and he is allowed to use it a little. There's only one problem --- the humerus has rotated a bit and they'll Xray again in 3 weeks to determine if the amount of rotation is acceptable. If not, it's more operations. It WILL BE acceptable. Nana has decreed this! He still isn't eating so before we came home, I took him to a chemist and asked for nice tasting drink to make him stronger. The chemist gave me Incremen and I asked if Josh could have a dose there and then. My devious plan was that if Josh objected to the taste, the chemist might feel sympathetic and not charge me the $36. Josh liked it! Phew!
Answer:
Good old nan to the rescue, i know you must be terribly worried about your gson i am the same with my GS we have to look out for these kids .
i hope everything goes just right for your Josh