I was super excited for this post-op, and because of that, I was inevitably a little disappointed. Rather than a true post-op, this turned out to be more of a wound check.
We arrived bright-eyed and bush tailed, and with two whole minutes to spare! lol
Amy was quite determined that she was getting her cast off, despite me telling her multiple, multiple, multiple times that there was no way that was happening. I suppose a girl can hope though, right?
Now, this appointment was originally scheduled for Friday the 20th, but little stinker here keeps moving and shaking, and trying to stand on that leg! That is itself is no bueno, but the fact that the cast is split on both sides makes it even worse. Remember, her cast is completely cut through on both sides of the cast. (Why? To enable her leg to swell as it needed to post-surgery, and to allow swelling without pain.) The only thing keeping the cast all together is that thin, stretchy, black Coband. Therefore the most important thing about today was putting on an overlay – another layer of fiberglass to permanently keep the cast together.
We saw Dr. Frick, and had a quick talk about her pain, (minimal) her mobility, (getting better!) how much longer she was going to be in a cast (3 more weeks) and what was going to happen at her next appointment. (x-rays, cast removal, and getting back into her butterfly brace!)
He also checked her hip dressing, which he said could now come off, her thigh and toes, and got a couple tickles in for good measure. He also gave Lucky a nice pat on his horn, for being a good unicorn.
Then we met Damien, the cast tech at Sunnyvale. You can see in the pic below how open her red cast is, it’s pretty loose. His job was to clamp it back together. Dr. Frick decided that since the cast saw is so incredibly traumatic for Amy, that he would use a more flexible fiberglass casting material. It’s applied in much the same way, but you don’t need a saw to cut it off. A strong pair of scissors will do. It was actually created for infants, so you don’t need to use the saw on them. This made Amy really happy! (Too bad it only comes in white. Boo.)
The end result… not so pretty. (I think it looks like a drunk elf knitted a Christmas sock, but Amy says it looks like a candy cane. So that’s what we’re going with! LOL)
The important thing is that her cast is solid on her leg again. 3 week countdown! Cast removal on 1/6/2020. Why so early? Dr. Frick says the most important thing we can do to build bone is weight bear. So, we need to get her up and on her feet as soon as we can. I meant to discuss PT with him. Damn. Okay, next time. For now, we’re outta here!
As soon as our next appointment was scheduled, we headed home, and the drive was long. L-O-N-G. Amy (and her hip) couldn’t take being in her car seat any more, so we took a break at McDonald’s and had an ice cream. Wouldn’t you know, they had a play place, and she begged to play. I told her she could as long as she was careful, and if it started to hurt, she had to stop immediately. Lord, this girl, who couldn’t even transfer out of a wheelchair or wipe her own butt today, do you know what she did? See for yourself.
She never ceases to amaze me.
After climbing up that tower and going down the slide about 8 times, she was finally tired, and back in the car we went.
When we FINALLY arrived home, she asked if I would take her dressing off of her hip.
It ended up hurting too much for me to remove it, so it was a team effort. We took turns peeling the sticky dressing away. Now, she says it feels MUCH better without all that bulk!
Yikes, that incision doesn’t look small, does it? Eek! Anyways, these steri-strips will stay on awhile longer. We are supposed to leave them on until they fall (or wash) off of their own accord. Probably another week or so. I am very curious to see how this scar will look and fade.
Looking forward, Amy has a Christmas party Tuesday, another Wednesday, and will return to school for the class party Friday. Then it’s Christmas week, and all that entails, then on the Epiphany, back into a brace. Busy, busy holiday week. I think we’ll start it all with a shower tomorrow, with a garbage bag over her cast, lol!
