We arrived on time to our 11:40am appointment only to be told the doctor was running 30 minutes behind schedule. This is shocking news. Everytime we get to there, we are told the doctor is behind. Thankfully, I came prepared. We had lunch right before we got there and I made sure everyone had charged iPads. Harlow played games on her iPad while Derek & I played Battleship on our iPads (he beat me 2 times in a row - darn!). So while we were playing about 30 minutes passed and the front office receptionist yells out to the waiting area that the doctor is now running 1 hour and 20 minutes behind schedule. Talk about annoying! I understand this is the best hospital in the area, but really get the timing a little better. We kept waiting because there was no way I was leaving that office with a kid in a cast! Finally, at almost 1pm we got called back!!!! YAY!!!
We get back to the room and right away the nurse started to cut Harlow's cast off. They just have a little hand saw. Nothing to big and scary but it is a little loud. Harlow took it very well. She did fuss a little but no screaming or thrashing around. She was very tired as 1pm is normally her naptime. He got the cast cut off without any problems. He cut up the sides of each leg and then up her hips, so it could just pull right off in two pieces. Shockingly, she wasn't hardly dirty at all (not too stinky either). She didn't realize it was really off right away. I got out the soapy wash cloth I brought along and wiped her down. Putting a normal size 4 diaper on her skinny little butt was so weird! Putting her pants on was a little hard because she wasn't ready to move her legs from the position they were in for twelve weeks. We got them on though - pants for the first time in 3 months!!
The nurse came back in and took us to weigh & get her height. She weighs 20lbs and is 34 inches tall. She lost over 5lbs while in her cast. Before her surgery she weighed 26lbs. With the last cast being tighter around her belly she wasn't eating as much, so I know she'll gain it back quick now that she is free.
Next, a man from Orthotics came in with her new brace. There really isn't much to it. It has a plastic mold around the back of her hips and her back. The rest is just some foam as padding and some velcro straps. It keeps her legs in a similiar position as the cast did, to give them more healing time but also time for her to adjust to the cast being gone. She has to wear the brace for basically 24/7 (except bath time) for 3 months. Than she will go back and as long as everything looks good she will only have to wear it to bed for a year. When we were leaving she said "Where's cast?" We replied, "Your cast is gone." She says, "Cast all done!"
Once we got home she was pretty eager to start playing with her new found freedom. She can walk with her hands and feet on the floor (like a bear), but not just on her feet. Once she starts building the strength up she'll be able to walk on her own again. She got in the bath tub for the first time since getting the cast on. She was so excited! She played for a good 45 minutes before she was so pruned she looked like a raisin. Once I got her out and dried off she was asking to get into her bean bag. She was sound asleep by 6:30pm!
To finish off this great day, Derek brought me home a $5 Phillies lottery ticket tonight and I won $100! The craziest part is today is the 18th and almost all the winning #'s on the ticket were 18's! My psychic did say 8 is my number for the year :-)
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| Getting her cast cut off. You can see how little the saw is. |
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| CAST FREE! |
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| Just got her new brace put on. |
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| Front view of the brace. |
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| Back of cast. |
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| Trying to stand up! |
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