Cast Week 2

Here are a few pics from the week. I am happy to say we are getting the hang of this cast thing.

Will loves to sit at the table on the back porch and play. He was all grins this day!

Having a snack while chilling on the couch!



Playing computer to pass the time.

Playing on the car aisle at one of his FAVORITE places......Target!



This little boy loves to swing.  Luckily, we found a swing to accomodate him at a local park. He was a happy boy!

Will is NOT a napper, but now that he has to ride in the car laying down, he tends to doze off. He sleeps so well this way, it is tempting to let him sleep here at night...lol!



Super Gigi Saves the Day (well week really)!

So it is Wednesday and this week has been wonderful. My mom (for those of you that don't know her personally, she is the best mom/gigi/person in the whole world) is here for the week to help out. She has been a life saver. She is able to handle Will like a champ. It is a win-win situation for all involved because she gets to spend precious time with her grandson and it frees me up a little to get some things done around the house. The laundry is finally caught up, the sheets on the bed are changed, and it doesn't look like World War 3 in my house.

Another plus is that we have been able to get out of the house. Will loves to ride in his wheel chair and we visited Target, Publix, and Super Suppers yesterday. Daddy also took us out to dinner at Chuy's last night. So, we haven't been stuck at the house all week like we were last week and it makes a difference in us all.

As difficult as this whole situation is, I have been forced to slow down and really spend quality time with my son. I am anxious for the cast to come off, but I don't want to wish these days away because we can never have them back. We are on the last few weeks as a family of 3 and then our lives change dramatically. I am trying to remind myself that you have to cherish even the hardest times because time is fleeting and precious and once it is gone, it is gone.

I am currently sitting here typing this while watching my mom and Will paint while watching Cars. He is having such a good time explaining what he is painting and learning to rinse the brush before getting another color. He really is learning a lot of new things because we are trying a lot of activities we would normally not do. We are usually on the go all of the time doing playdates, going to school, or running errands, so we don't get a lot of at home time just to paint, play, etc... I think that will change after this experience because he needs this time with mommy.

Week 1 in the Cast

Well, I had the best intentions to blog daily, but that went by the wayside pretty quickly. It is just going to be impossible with everything going on, so I have decided I will do at least weekly and if I have a minute here or there, I will post one mid week or so.

We have been in the cast a week now. It has been a learning experience, but now that we are in a routine it is not too bad. The first few days at home were tough at times. Will was still in pain and on pain medicine so he was definitely not himself. Loratab does not put him to sleep, it makes him silly. He was talking like crazy and just plain cuckoo. The valium made him sleepy, but those of you that know Will knows how well he fights sleep. Soooo he ended up just being kind of cranky unless we could get him in the swing or get him to sleep without him realizing what we were doing.

We had both sets of of grandparents here over the weekend to help so that helped out ALOT. Will spent a good bit of time in the swing and went on several wagon rides. On Monday, we recieved a reclining wheel chair and that has been a lifesaver. We go on daily walks, sometimes 2, we have been able to get out and about.





We acutally got out and about some as well. On Thursday we went back to the orthopedist. Will got to try out the new harness and loved riding laying down in the back seat. The doctor visit went really well too. The xrays looked great (better than usual) and so we were told we could come back in 4 weeks rather than 5. We go back on May 5th and if things look good, the cast may come off. This would be wonderful because that means we would have 2 weeks before the baby is due rather than only 1. We are praying hard that this is the case.

On Friday, Daddy took us out to lunch at Boscos. We sat on the patio at Boscos and enjoyed our lunch in the sun. It was so nice to get out of the house and do something "normal" for the first time in a couple of weeks.

The only strange/scary thing that happened this week was on Wednesday. Will called me to come and get him up out of bed. I walked into his room and he was nowhere to be seen. I panicked for a minute then realized that he had just called out so he had to be in here. That is when I saw his little casted foot sticking out from under the footboard. His bed is about a foot and a half away from the wall on one side in his room. Somehow he got himself in the floor, landed on pillows, turned to his back and then scooted down as far as he could go. It is pretty amazing he was able to do this. Needless to say, we now have some new bedrails in place. 

He has recieved some very sweet care packages. The first to arrive was from our dear friend Jonathan and Paula Bell. Will calls them "Aunt and Uncle Brother Bell." They sent him and AquaDoodle,  a new Thomas computer game, 2 coloring books, and a sticker book. It was a big hit and Will thinks it is super cool to write with water.  

Will is still doing great. Our only issue is sleep. He is not sleeping well at all. He is not in pain anymore, but he just cannot get comfortable. He is used to cuddling up with his "Cuddle, Quacky, and Ralphy," but he can't because of the cast. He has to sleep on his back propped with pillows. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable he must be. We are making it, though.

Now we are down to 4 weeks (hopefully) left in the cast. Having a child in a cast like this is kind of like having a newborn. You are so careful the first few days, then you realize that it isn't going to break. We are getting the hang of moving him around, bath time, bathroom routines, etc... so it is getting easier. His Daddy can cart him around like it is nothing.

I Wish It Had Been an April Fool's Joke

Friday morning began like any other morning. Will and I got up, settled down upstairs and had our breakfast while watching one of his favorite shows, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Next, he climbed up in my lap and cuddled for a bit, then it was time to start our day. We had big plans to meet some dear friends at Monkey Joes for some fun playtime. Well, that was not to happen.

While I was finishing my cup of coffee, Will began to play with Neely. He has a toy, one of the large tops with a handle that you push down to make it spin, and she is terrified of it. He loves to chase her around with it because she acts so crazy. As they were playing, he was running around the upstairs carrying the top. He went to turn and fell down and his leg landed on the top. He immediately rolled over and began to cry. I saw it happen and assumed it was a fall like any other and told him to shake it off. However, I quickly knew something wasn't right because his cry was not the usual cry...it was more of an "I am in PAIN" grunting cry.

I went over to check on him and noticed his little thigh had swollen immediately. I tried to stand him up and that wasn't happening. Thank goodness Daniel was working from home that day. I called him up to take a look. He always tries to look on the bright side and said, "It is probably just a bad muscle bruise." He sat upstairs holding Will for awhile to get him calmed down. Will did ok calming down, but every few minutes, the poor thing would just shake and cry out. We would later learn that was his muscles contracting to try and accomodate the broken bone.

We decided to take him to the ER at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital just to be on the safe side. Thank goodness we did! When we got there they immediately took us back. The first thing they did was put in an IV to get him some meds for pain. The little guy was brave...mommy, not so much. I had to leave the room. Once they got the morphine in him, he was able to relax and deal with the pain.

Being a brave little boy.

We waited for a while for them to have a space in xray for him. One of the doctors came in to talk with us. He told us that if it is broken there would be two possibilities due to his age. He would either be in a spica cast or they would do surgery and use flexible pins to help set the bone. Either option sounded awful to me. We just prayed it wasn't broken.

I was not allowed to go because I was pregnant, so Daniel accompanied him back to the xray room. They were gone about a half an hour, but when they returned, Daniel already knew the diagnosis. He told me it was broken and the tech had said, "It's a doozy." My heart dropped and the tears started. About that time my mother-in-law showed up, thank goodness. She stayed with us while we waited for the next step. They told us it would be a spica cast. It was a tortion fracture and very common. In fact, they said it is not rare to see 3 or 4 a week during the summer. They showed us the xray and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was broken diagonally all the way through. I cannot imagine the pain my sweet boy must have been dealing with.




The xray image they showed us


They had to put him under to set his leg and cast him. Daniel and I went back to pre op with him and stayed until they rolled him back. Then we just had to wait. The pediatric orthopedist came out and talked with us. Will had done wonderfully and they were pleased with how things looked. We went back to see him and by that time my parents had showed up. We were able to go home that day. Thankfully, we had 2 sets of grandparents who were willing to help all weekend.

The first night home was great. He got some rest and was relatively pain free due to the meds. Daniel and I, however, were completely overwhelmed.

I plan to post **hopefully** daily, even if it is just a word or two about our day. I want him to be able to look back later and read about this ordeal. This is just one of those things life throws at you sometimes, and it could ALWAYS be worse. I passed several children fighting cancer and other very serious things which helped me to be thankful that this injury will heal relatively quick and our life will go back to normal. There are parents and kids out there who don't have the same certainty. I will remind myself of that often during the next 6 weeks.