Our New Cast...

Well, it went better than I could have imagined today! Mabel, although she woke up earlier than most days, was in a great mood. She didn't even seem peeved that we weren't feeding her breakfast and that we popped her in the car at 6:00 in the morning.

At the hospital she was all smiles - again I felt guilty thinking that she had no clue what was going on. She had a great time waving at all the adoring nurses and doctors as they came by her cubical to talk to her. When the doctor asked if we had any questions, we did, "Can we keep the cast?" Both he and the anesthesiologist laughed, "why would you want that?" I told them that I worked very hard to keep that darn thing clean and I wanted my prize! I got to carry her into the OR again, this time wasn't as scary as the last time probably because the mystery was gone and no real surgery was involved. The nurses in the OR were very nice and assured me they would wash her up good before they put the new cast on. She didn't cry as much when they put the mask over her face, but it felt like forever before she fell asleep. Then it was out to the waiting room for us.

The cast change took about an hour. The doctor came to talk to us in the waiting room. He came over and told us everything looked great with her hip. He said he didn't move the hip much, but checked it and it was much more stable than before. He was very happy with how it was looking! Then he said, "That was by far the cleanest spica I have ever seen!" He went on and on saying that he never saw a cast so well taken care of, it looked like the day he put it on! He even bowed down to us! Ahhh....the satisfaction! That is exactly what I was looking for!!!

We were taken to the recovery area, fearing a repeat of last time. I was sure I'd find a crying Mabel, but instead a very peacefully sleeping angel. They said that we could wait until she naturally woke up. We sat and watched her, she did so good! What a good girl. We peeked under the blanket they put on her to see the new cast. It was very similar to the old cast, but with a very exciting improvement, the waist was much lower! Our prize...a clear view of her belly button!!!! Also her right leg is a little more free and the left leg, although the cast seems thicker, the ankle is more exposed...maybe shoes are in Mabel's future? Then a little boy was moved into the recovery cubical next to us, poor little guy was crying so loud. I could see the pulse on Mabel's monitor starting to go up as the little boy kept crying. Oh, this is it I thought, Mabel hates to hear babies cry, it makes her cry. She started to wake up and I jumped up and when she opened her eyes I said "Hi baby!" She smiled! I was able to nurse her and she was very happy. We were then transferred back to our cubical in pre-op and after an hour they took out her IV. She was in a great mood, smiling and impressing all the adoring fans on the nursing staff.

At home I made quick work of the cast after a failed nap attempt. I spent two hours with a hair dryer drying where she got pee on her new cast due to the poor diapering they did in the OR. They basically just placed her old diaper on her...I could teach them a thing or two! I got the cast nice and dry, petaled with moleskin around the diaper area and all the edges and applied waterproof tape on the inside. Now we will live with this cast a few days and I'm sure we'll discover the trouble zones - like the spot above her left hip on the old one. I will master this cast too! I want to impress the doctor again so he knows it wasn't a flook!

So, after a very long day, Mabel is in bed right now hopefully on her way to a good nights sleep. I am catching up on most everything, like making her birthday invitations! And feeling pretty good about how well we all dealt these past 5 weeks and how the next 7 hopefully will go just as well.


My trophy...a very clean Mabel shaped cast! Physical evidence of these past 5 weeks of hard work. You know it is funny how huge it looked on her - now I see it and think how tiny she is! Its all about perspective, I've learned that lesson more ways than one!