From drop-ins to wipe out........

Tom waiting for his x-ray

It was going to happen at some stage.  There's no way you can have a skateboarding son and not expect there to be broken bones.  Admittedly we've already had the stitches in the eyebrow incident so potentially we're a little unlucky and I'm really hoping that there's not going to be a third incident as I can't imagine don't want to imagine what could be worse than a fractured arm.  Anyway, we were going for a little skateboard and scooter into Manly.  On the first hill Tom lost control, tried to jump off his board as he has done a thousand times, and did an impressive forward roll with his left arm in an awkward position underneath him.  He got up screaming and his arm looked all wrong - it was almost like he'd lost the bones in the bottom half and I wasn't convinced he was able to move his wrist.  So it was off to hospital and the x-ray showed an impressive green stick fracture which essentially means the bone has been bent resulting in a fracture - I wish I could take a photo of the x-ray because it's fascinating to see a bone bent like that.  His arm is now in a cast - he was given laughing gas whilst they put the cast on because the doctor wanted to "manipulate" the bone to straighten it and that was a highlight of this particular hospital trip.  Tom was sucking on the gas for all he was worth (I did check whether there was some kind of regulator to control how much he was getting!) and then falling about laughing for no reason - the nurse had to arm wrestle the tube from him eventually.  


So on the face of it a broken arm isn't really a drama - it will take 4 to 6 weeks to heal and then he'll be back to normal.  However, we leave for Fiji in 9 days time and the doctor was adamant that there will be no swimming for Tom.  Can you imagine 10 days on a tiny island surrounded by beautiful sea and with 2 swimming pools to choose from and a 6 year old who's not allowed to swim?  The best suggestion so far has been cling wrap and waterproof sticking tape - I'm pretty keen on that option.  The nurses in the hospital were a bit more pragmatic than the clearly childless doctor (I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion but he looked quite young and no sensible person with children would suggest keeping a young boy away from water whilst on a tropical island) and have told me that it is possible these days to get some kind of fibre glass cast with a special lining that allows kids to swim.  First thing Monday morning I'll be phoning round to find out whether we can get one of those!  


Sadly Tom had his first rugby training on Friday which he absolutely loved so he'll have a little hiatus before he's able to play again and during his last skateboard lesson he mastered drop-ins (where you balance the tip of your skateboard on the edge of a ramp and then drop down onto the ramp) which he was pretty pleased about.  However, I'm sure it won't be long before he's back.  One helpful ambulance man at the hospital suggested that the good thing about a broken arm is that it doesn't stop you skateboarding!

The kids trying on 3D glasses

I had my second surf lesson on Friday which again was hugely enjoyable.  It was a completely different experience from the previous lesson because the surf was much more manageable and so we were able to paddle out on our own, line up our boards, choose which waves to catch and then jump up on our boards.  I think I managed to stand up about 6  times which I was pretty pleased with.  I can see why people love it but it's hard work and I imagine that the only way to improve is masses amount of practice (no surprise there) which I just can't see myself doing.  

PS The young doctor has just phoned to say I need to phone his boss on Monday, they want to see us on Tuesday and they're going to operate, under general anaesthetic on Tom's arm on Wednesday.  Apparently they want to put a much bigger and stronger cast on his arm (they obviously got a good sense of what Tom is like!!).  The slightly more dramatic news is that they think it's probably not a good idea for us to go to Fiji.  Jules is currently on the phone to Amex working out our cancellation/deferment options...........