Our first obstacle was the snowstorm. Boston did a terrible job at snow removal. Some places you had to use the oncoming lane because there was no lane. In that respect I was more than happy to let Daddy do all the driving. We arrived at the hospital a little bit after 6am and I took E up to day surgery. E's hospital gown made me laugh because it was suns that were throwing up and pooping rainbows. Kind of creepy actually. This time I got to stay with E as they put her to sleep and it was heartbreaking. Basically it sucks either way you do it so I have no good advice there.
I met up with Daddy and Big Sis in the waiting room. Big Sis was excited because the nurses had given us a mylar princess balloon during the wait in day surgery. In my exhaustion I forgot to pack the ipad or even a coloring book so a trip down to the gift shop was in order. Major Mommy fail right. Thankfully it was correctable. We waited and waited and waited and I swear I was finishing getting that ulcer that must have started with the last cast. Finally a liaison came to tell us that E was taking so long because the ortho was not happy with the first cast and decided to do a second. Once that was done the ortho came out to talk to us. This time there was no xray to share but I am ok with that. I want to limit radiation exposure as much as the Boston ortho wants to. The ulcer started back up when it seemed like we were waiting forever but it turns out that they petal casts while still under to avoid the screaming we had with the first cast. Someone should have told me in advance so I wouldn't have been so nervous! I specifically mentioned petaling of the cast as well but at least we know it for next time.
I was the only one allowed back to recover because of the flu restrictions Big Sis had to stay with Daddy. E was sleepy this time which is better than angry screaming for sure. I fed her, collected moleskin from the nurse, we signed the papers and we were on our way. This cast is much tighter in the waist than our previous casts but a different ortho is a different style. I dislike how Boston petals casts. They put the moleskin stuck over the shirt not under it. That would probably be good for a big kid but when you have a kid that could get things like poop or vomit on their cast it is easier to clean without having to remove moleskin from fabric. I know this because of today's activities. (Side note: our recovery nurse was great).
At home E was sleepy and cranky for the rest of the day and her voice/cry was hoarse from the breathing tube. Then in the evening I noticed one of the straps was no rigidly attached. Ug. So we went back today to have it looked at. The ortho said it doesn't matter. I wish if it didn't matter that he didn't make a cast with straps! Apparently there is a lot of controversy over the strap vs no strap situation. So we are stuck with one broken strap (the other doesn't look too hot either) for the next 5 weeks and 4 days. We took that opportunity to get the cast trimmed on the bottom. The way it was on the bottom dug into E's chubby thighs and made diaper changing nearly impossible because we couldn't get the diaper up the back so she had plumber's crack. Not a good situation. It is much better now. All three casts have had to be trimmed on the bottom. They need to know that E gets around by scooting on her butt so if the cast digs then it will make a sore on her thigh for sure. She was also having trouble bending to pick things up. This was nothing like the first cast which was so long she couldn't sit at all. I am wondering if the cast tech forgot to trim that first one at all. After we trimmed it I switched the petaling to the type I like with the moleskin under the shirt. This way if I need to clean the shirt I can remove the moleskin more easily (it sticks like crazy to those darned shirts!).
I am going to work of a post of what liked better at each hospital because each had their pros and cons soon.
Vomiting Rainbows:
Recovery:
The width between my fingers is where the strap is not rigid:
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