Casts on Both Legs - Ideas for Response to Questions?

Just tell em he was pretending to be Evil Keneivel and broke both his legs!!
Or that he kept pretending he could fly so they put the
casts on to keep him anchored!!
Or "he was trying to see the parade and got stuck oin his tos, so they ar fixing that.

That should help with nosey people.

Actually a simple answer and then change the subject: Lik "He tends to walk on his tos, so they are fixing that. and Thanks for asking."
No need to get into the cerbral palsy thing.
J.

A. when I was 14 years old I was delt with one big problem. I was in a tractor accident, where I lost my right leg. I rode a school bus where children would not let me sit with them. Thinking they would catch what ever I had. The way I over came the problem was to make jokes about it. Because I know how other children are. Questions are good, stairs are not. I would rather have some one come up to me and ask what happened than sit back and laugh at me, which has happened to me. Its not fun at all. So I guess my advice is to you have him explain why he has the cast on his legs. Be honest with children they learn more that way. Good luck...

I say have fun with it. If you can, draw pictures of cereal boxes on his casts and tell people they are "cereal casts" for correcting his walk. Or he could tell people he needed a new kind of walk. Or write on the cast why. A while ago, I had surgery on my face for TMJ (lock jaw) and my face blow up like a balloon. I was embarrassed, but I decided to just have fun with it, as it was easier to laugh about my situation then to worry what everyone else thought. Its hard to be different like that, Good Luck!

Hi A.
I think you got some really good advice. Have you asked your son what he wants to tell people he may have a way better answer that sounds really cool and if his answer is accceptable he will remember it much easier than one he dosen't like. Good luck to you haveing a child in casts is very diffucult on you. congratulations on your baby. :)T.

is he creative???? I am a pretty sarcastic person, so I would let him decide what he wants to tell people. If someone asks, they obviously don't know him so let his imagination run wild. Perhaps he was swimming in FL and was wrangling alligators? Or maybe you were moving and he had to jump on a train before you left without him?? I know you might think this is a little rude, but seriously, isn't it rude to ask a 6 year old why he has casts on his legs? It really is none of their business! Good luck, I know it won't be easy for either of you.

He could say it as simple as the casts are to help me walk straight. Kids don't care for details anyhow. I had double casts to correct my pigeon toed walking in 3rd grade. I had to learn how to walk again after a long period of being in a wheel chair. I do not remember having too hard of a time dealing with it. My friends thought it was fun to push me in my wheel chair and helped me decorate my walker or crutches for hollidays. I guess it's how you approach it. I remember getting so much attention during that time I felt special. lOL! I still have explaining to do at the lake or pool if we meet anyone new since I have very long bilateral hip scars and everyone wonders what they are from and I still only give a simple response that I had surgery as a kid to correct my walking. People are usually satisfied with that. :)

Hi A.,
My 18 month old was in casts for the first 8 weeks of her life (born with bilateral clubfoot), then in shoes that were connected by a bar for 2 months, and then when she was about 10 months, she had casts again for 6 weeks. when she wore her shoes with the brace, we had a funny response ready when people asked: we said she was a Pro-Snowboarder in training (because the angle they held her legs were like snowboarding. when she was in casts the second time sometimes if someone asked what happened to her legs i would just say "snowboarding" and nod and roll my eyes a bit like 'kids nowadays, whew' which was funny because she wasn't even a year old. they were confused but that's what was funny.

If we were going to be out in crowds a lot sometimes I had her wear leggings over them, people don't notice as much, and if they are really cute they tend to smile instead of cringe from seeing big bulky casts. not sure if you little boys casts will be too big, but check out http://www.babylegs.net/ there are some cool funky designs for boys too.

I really hated when people felt sorry for her (ooooh poor baby, what happened?) and once got advice to tell them that she was a LUCKY baby, lucky that she has such good doctors who can "fix" her feet.

It sounds like it may be a very challenging time for you and your son, if there is anything I can do or you need advice or to vent, please contact me. Remember that time goes by so fast, and just keep looking forward to the final result!

Ali

Hi A.,

I think you received some really good answers from the group that will help your son respond to his classmates etc! Here are my thoughts for what you can do when you are out in the community with your family:

I have a disabled sister and grew up having to deal with strangers asking our family questions that really werent any of their business. I ran across an article one day in Dear Ann/Dear Abby. Her advice to answering a question that you dont want to answer is simply to Smile, and say "Why do you ask?" :0)

Good morning A.,
My name is D. and 29 years ago, my daughter was born with mild club feet. She wore casts from the time she was 3 months old past her 1st birthday. In fact she learned to walk with the casts on. Yes, you will get alot of funny looks, however, if someone should ask just tell them they are for correction purposes. You do not have to go into great detail to explain yourself or the reason for the casts. People are going to form their own opinions anyway and your friends and family will already know why they are on so my advice to you, don't worry. My daughter has grown up to be a healthy woman with 2 daughters of her own. The only problem we had with the casts were her legs were so small in the begining, the casts kept falling off so the doctor had to put them above the knee for a while. It won't last long and i am sure you will find the questions and funny looks easier to deal with as you go along.
Congrats on the new baby and if you have any other questions regarding the casts, give me a jingle. ###-###-####.
Best wishes,
D. W.

How about

"The doctor is straightening my legs or toes"

"It's to make my legs stronger"

something along those lines

How about "The doctors are fixing my legs."

Hi A.,

Our son had a cranial cap when he was about 7 month old and I got a lot of questions, I think most people thought he had a brain/head injury. Nothing serious happened and we, were just rounding out his head. Simple as that. Of course my son was so young he ofcourse didn't have to answer.

But I think if your son just told people "My doctors are helping me walk better" it would be a simple enough response for him to remember, and give people enough information, with out getting into any personal detail.

Hi A. K
My son went through that same surgery last summer he is now 7. When people asked we just had him tell him that so he could walk flat footed. When people are asking a child they usually don't need to know details & I know my son or his brothers are very open to what happens to him. Don't worry what people are thinking & usually they won't ask a child they will ask the parents.

He could just say "they're corrective casts to straighten out my walk." Good luck!

how about "there was something wrong with my legs and the doctor is fixing them"....simple and straight to the point....

Hi A.,
How about, "the casts are to get autographs."Just trying to help. I used that response when I broke my knee in school and usually they were so busy signing they forgot.
or
"My legs were growing so fast they needed a rest."
God bless your family !

A.,

How about, "You should see the other guy!"

L. :)

Hi A. -- I think it's very smart of you to foresee this problem! It seems to me that if your son is only 5, you probably have given (or will give) him a fairly simple explanation of why he'll be wearing the casts, and his innocent, untutored answer might serve him best. People will ask YOU what the problem is, and you may want to be the one prepared with the pat answer!

Also, it may help if your explanation to your son is in terms of "Isn't that neat?" instead of even hinting that there's something "wrong" with the way he walks: "You have such a special doctor that he's found a way to help you walk even better! Isn't that neat?"

Very best wishes -- L.

I am sure you want this to be as positive an experience as possible for your son. You could tell people: "These are my lucky casts that will straighten my legs and help me to run even faster." I hope this helps give you some ideas.

Seeing as kids have limited memory for long technical medical terminology, I would suggest something as simple as, "They're fixing my legs (so I can walk better)." It will be up to you to decide how much more information to share if more is requested, because it is up to you to decide how much information you actually want to share. I do think, however, that this is perfectly sufficient for your son, and most kids would leave it at that.

Im sure the most asked question will be" did you break your legs" and he can reply "no.. I have Mild CP and this is a method to help me walk with out problems". I just hope the kids arent to mean to him cause he is in casts when they see him, which kids are often prone to doing. Best of luck to you and your family