Now this 2nd cast went smoother in some ways, but tougher in others. They take the cast off the day before putting the new cast on so their skin can breath some and they can get a bath. So we headed up to Shriner's on Tuesday. We got there about 1:00 and they took us into what would be her room the next day. They did all the pre-op work...weight, questions, temperature, etc. Thankfully she has gained some weight..about 1/2 pound. She was 13.6 lbs when she got her 1st cast, this time she weighed 14.08 lbs. Boy, she's tiny! Then the nurses came in to cut the cast off. This is the part that was terrible...obviously they used the saw that they use to cut all casts off. They chose to cut at the smallest part of the cast, which was the front under the chin and around the bottom at her belly button. So we had to hold her down while they did that and the saw was SO loud. Delaney looked so scared. She screamed her little lungs out. It was heartbreaking!! Then they gave us a 72 hour pass, so we could leave and stay at the hotel and come back the next morning. Quick & easy but not fun!
As soon as she was free of the cast I picked her up and just held on tight!! It was so amazing to hug that little body again! She felt so light in my arms and so warm:) I think we got so used to the cast we almost forgot what it was like just to cuddle a squishy little body. She wasn't about to let go of me...she had her arms and legs wrapped around me and her little fists were clutching my shirt for a long time afterwards. In fact, everyone was joking she looked like a little spider monkey all wrapped around me. Of course it was sad that she was that scared, but at the same time it made me feel good that she knew I would protect her.
Anyway, we went to the hotel and took her swimming and then we went out to eat and back to the room to give her a bath...the first tub bath in 7 weeks. Her skin looked better than I thought it would after they removed the cast. She had more dry, flaky skin than I have ever seen in my life. And it was red in some places, almost like a bruise in the shape of the cast. She only had one small scab that was a pressure point on her left ribs. But, all in all, it looked pretty good. So she had her bath and we lotioned her up and we all went to bed.
Her appointment was 6:30 a.m. and she was the second child in line to have surgery that day, but for whatever reason it took longer than expected for the 1st child's procedure so they didn't
take her back until 10. Which is a looong time for a 1 year old to wait when she's tired and starving...so it wasn't to fun. But at 10 they took her back to be casted. By 11 we were in
recovery with her. She did great! So well in fact we were in our own room by 11:30. They immediately came in and petaled and trimmed her cast and by 1:30 we were being discharged. So once it got started it went very fast and she did very well. Mostly we are just sooo pleased with the good news!!! 3 nurses/doctors said they have never had a child only need 2 casts!! We have been very lucky!!
No comments:
Post a Comment