We've made it through another week with the cast on!!! It was officially two weeks yesterday! We've played everything that I can think of in all areas of the house...
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| We've built block roads to run our cars on. |
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| We've built castles and had fun knocking them down. |
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| We've propped L's foot up and let him enjoy lunch in his play room.
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And then we took a bath....BIG MISTAKE!
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Josh found this cast cover online that says you can actively swim and dive in it. So, we ordered it and when it came in (last Thursday) we put it on Landen's leg, pumped all of the air out so that it was skin tight and let him sit in the shower. It.Stayed.Dry. Landen loved the shower so much that he wanted a bath to play. So, after getting him out of the shower, checking that his cast was still dry, and pumping the air back out of the cast cover, we sat him in a very shallow bath to play. That's where it all fell apart. When we got him out to dry off and put his pj's on...his cast was soaked! So soaked that water POURED out of the heel section of his cast!! After blow drying his cast on cool setting for an hour and a half we realized that it wasn't going to dry out. So, we went to bed, Josh and I physically ill and frustrated with ourselves for even trying it. Josh called the doctor the next morning while I played with a sweet little boy in a stinky, itchy cast. We scheduled an appointment for a cast change that afternoon at 4pm. The tool that they saw a cast off with is loud and scary, especially to a 3 year old. It wasn't fun by any means but Landen did great and was all smiles on the way home...
We had a regular appointment with the doctor scheduled for yesterday, Monday, March 25th. So, Landen and I went out in the wintry mess of snow and 25 mph winds to get there. We waited longer than we've ever waited in the waiting room, all the while I am reassuring a very anxious, scared Landen that they are just going to take pictures (x-rays) and the doctor will come in to talk to us. So, we finally get called back after 20 + minutes, get the standard 2 x-rays taken, and then go back to the room to wait for the doctor. After 45 minutes of my sweet boy begging me to go home while waiting for the doctor, I just about came unglued! Finally, he came in...asked if we had a fresh cast, glanced at it and said "Oh, it's not straight enough at the bottom. I will have my cast guy come in and wedge it so we don't have to put another new cast on." First of all, I have no idea what "wedging it" means but if it keeps us from having to endure another cast change then let's do that. Second of all, if you had either been here for the cast change or left specific instructions for the cast people then we wouldn't have this problem. Lastly, I'm still very upset with myself...I guess if I hadn't let him take a bath, we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. Ughhh...at this point, my migraine is in full swing and I am not a happy mama. But we had to tough it out, the cast guy came in (he's super great with Landen), brought the huge, loud, scary machine and cut a slit in the bottom portion of the cast, while Landen had an anxiety attack and broke out in hives thinking that they were re-casting again! He then stuck a plastic spacer in the slit, wrapped more red casting around it and was done.
However, we weren't...we had to go back for another x-ray and then wait another 20+ minutes for the doctor to come back in and tell us it was good and we were FINALLY free to leave. It was a huge ordeal! I felt like I had ran a marathon. The sitting and waiting with your anxiety ridden toddler who no longer believes what you say because you promised only "pictures and a chat with the doc" is draining. We were both very happy to schedule our next check- up for TWO whole weeks away (where he'll have to have another cast change to get one that goes under the knee only) and go out into the 25 mph gust of snow to our safe truck! We ended up being there for two whole hours which felt like FIVE!
Landen ate his Pop Tart and drank a cup of orange juice on the way home... yet another BIG mistake! Evidently his tummy hadn't settled from the nerves and after I got him into the house he said "Mommy, my tummy hurts" and then .....well you can guess what came next. It wasn't pretty! We got cleaned up, put on his pj's and snuggled on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. After a two and a half hour nap he felt much better. Thankfully!!!
It hasn't been an easy road but we're making it, one day at a time. Landen is now raising his broken leg up as high as his head and scooting all over the house. Last night, he even managed to get himself off of the couch into the floor before we even realized he was doing it! He's definitely hangin' in there!!! Love that boy more than I can tell you.
