Cast Off, Brace On

Savannah's now cast free, and she's wearing her new brace. I am so glad it is all over with, so now we can move forward. We are in for a long 6 months, and I wish it was over already because it is going to feel like forever to me. Here is how things went with getting her cast off today:

When we first arrived, they took an x-ray of her hip while she was still in her cast. I started to worry that something would be wrong, and she'd have to stay in her cast longer. I was nervous waiting for the doctor to come into the room to tell us. Imagine my relief and excitement when he told us she looked great and they were ready to remove the cast.

We took her into a bigger open area, and they laid her on this little bed. She didn't like this because she hates laying down these days. She would much rather sit up. Anyway, when they started the saw, she started crying. She was definately scared of the noise it made. Matt and I both stood there reassuring her that it was ok. I held her hand and caressed her face, and told her that she was getting that cast off and it was all going to be ok. She settled down quite a bit at that point, but fussed some on and off during the whole thing.

When they finally snapped the cast in half, I was kinda grossed out at what I saw. The cotton inside it was yellow and I couldn't understand why. I told the doctor how careful we were not to let it get wet, and that we made every effort possible to take care of it. He told me it was from her sweating, and that her cast looked a lot better than most of them he sees. He told me he took one off once and discovered maggets in it. OMG... I nearly threw up. I could have truely lived without knowing that!

The held her legs in place and cleaned her up, and then they immediately put her into the brace. Then we were sent to get another x-ray, so he could check the positioning of her hip. It showed the hip was not placed exactly like he wanted it, so they took off her brace and adjusted it (the brace) a little. While adjusting her brace, Matt got to hold her with nothing on at all. I wanted so badly to do this, and the doctor wouldn't let me. He thought Matt would be better to hold her legs apart and everything. To be honest, I was littled ticked that the doctor would deny a mother to hold her child out of all that crap like that. I could have easily held her just like he did, so I wasn't really happy about that. I guess he knows what is best for her, but it sure would have been nice to have held my baby without any of that gear on for a few minutes. Now I have to wait 6 more months!!! Once the brace was adjusted and back on her, we had to get another x-ray to make sure her hip was in the correct placement. Thankfully it was this time, and we were released to go home after talking to the doctor.

I thought not getting to hold her was going to be the only disappointment from this trip, but I was totally wrong. We also found out that we were still stuck with sponge bathing her for another 6 months. We were told we could take the brace off her and bathe her if one of us held her legs apart in the tub while the other bathed her, however, he recommended it would be better to just continue sponge bathing her. Matt and I both figured it would be easier to sponge her for now. I was extremely disappointed and sad because I was led to believe that we could take the brace off and bath her normally. Oh well, one of these days, this will all be over, and Savannah will be completely normal again. I look forward to that day more than I can possibly ever say.

I am glad we have that cast off now, and believe it or not, she's already figured out how to sit up in it. Time will tell what else she will learn to do.

Big Day Tommorow

It's been too long since I've posted, but I've just been overwhelmed with taking care of Savannah in her cast. I enjoy keeping this log of her journey, and I need to most more often. I promise to try and get better with my posting.

Tomorrow is the big day. Savannah will be getting her cast off finally, and we can continue on to the brace. I wish this whole ordeal was over, but since I still must face the rest of it, I am ready for the brace. I am also ready to regain some normalcy around here. Being able to change a diaper with ONE diaper instead of FIVE will be a welcome change, not to mention the ability to bathe her again. I know that will make her happy because she loves to splash in the water during bathtime. I miss seeing her play in the tub.

There isn't much else to say. I am nervous anticipating what it will be like for Savannah getting her cast off. I am wondering how she will react to the noise of the saw and everything else. I am just ready for it to all be over so we can just move forward.

Spica Queen

Spica Queen is what I call my daughter since she's been in her spica cast. We are going on a little over 3 weeks since she's been in her cast. We have 16 more days to go before the cast finally comes off. This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I'm ready for the next phase of her treatment, which is the brace.

She will be in the brace until she's 18 months, which feels like forever to me. I keep telling myself that at least she will have a lot more movement in the brace than in this cast she's in now. I am looking forward to that at least. She can also take a bath again, which I am also glad about. She loves the bath, and has missed that a lot. She hates sponge baths and cries during those. It's just miserable for her, and for me seeing her so upset.

I am hoping the brace will give us some sense of normalcy back. There's so many things I miss about her besides bathtime. I miss her crawling and cruising everywhere. I miss the way playtime used to be when she was actively crawling, etc. What I miss the most is being able to hold her close and snuggle because now all I feel is that hard cast. She misses snuggling to me and tries to anyway, but she really can't the way she wants too. I also miss her standing up in her crib when she woke up in the mornings and reaching for me. I miss this terribly, and can't wait for the day she can do it again, and I can hold her close too. I guess there's nothing normal about your baby being in a body cast, or at least not much anyway.

I guess normalcy is over-rated in my house these days. Things like a simple diaper change with one diaper is not normal here anymore, although I'm ready for it be normal in this house again. All these different size diapers are overwhelming, not to mention my 11 month old wearing a pad at night. I know it's for extra protection through the night, but it still feels weird. Feeding her has definately changed since we can no longer use her high chair. She can't fit in it with her cast, and I don't think she'll be able to fit with her brace either. I was feeding her in her beanbag until a man that works with my mother made her a special table. Now she gets to sit at her table and eat... not to mention play now. That table has been a life saver in this house.

Everything has changed with her, so any normalcy the brace will bring back will be welcomed. There's not a day that goes by that I don't hate seeing her in that cast. There have been days I've wanted to cut it off her myself. It's been very hard to deal with at times, but I'm making it through one day at a time.

The support that I have received from family and from friends (online and off) has been amazing. I can never express how much I appreciate all the moral support, prayers, the gifts of diapers, shirts, stuffed animals, and the friend that made the special table for her. You all have changed the quality of life for my daughter, and you've made this process much easier for me and for Matt.

Life Changing

It's been awhile since I've posted. We've been so overwhelmed with taking care of Savannah, and lately she hasn't been sleeping well at night. Being sleep deprived makes it really hard to function and post as much as I'd like too. Only one major thing has happened since I've posted last, and it has totally changed Savannah's quality of life while in the cast, not to mention mine and Matt's.

A man that works with my mother made a special table for Savannah. He hand-made this table, and designed it so she could play like a normal baby. It's the most wonderful thing seeing her play in her new table. She's so happy, and she's able to play normal again. Words can not express what it is like for a parent of a child who is disabled (whether temporarily or permantly) to see their child given the chance to be a normal child. Seeing her playing in her new table has brought tears to my eyes (Matt's too) more times than you can imagine. This man, whose name I will keep private, has changed my daughter's life more than he is probably aware. He has single handedly given her the ability to play and function like a normal baby while she is stuck in that confining spica cast. We are also able to feed her in it. Her appetite has also increased and is better than normal since we've had the table. There are no amount of words that I could say that could adequately thank this man. I just hope he knows how much we love the table, and how he has changed the life of a little girl and made her very happy.

I am going to update this post later with pictures. I'm just behind.