We’re back!!!!!
Yes it has been a long time. Kinda nice. Lots of catching up to do since the last cast.
Cast #4 had a very short life span. Lasted about 4 weeks if that. 3 days after the cast was put on, we had to go back to CHOA (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta) and have it cut open on the top and make the belly hole a lot bigger since Alex could not digest food and let his stomach expand. About a week later he started uncontrollably crying. I figured it was teething it wasn’t. After going through the list of what could be wrong, and not finding anything I had called my Mom. Immediately she heard his cry and said it was a pain cry. She asked me about his cast. Wow, how did I miss that?
I guess that I try to rule out everything before jumping to the cast. I immediately called the doctor. Thank God for the 24 hour hotline. The on call doctor agreed the cast must be cut off. Now living where we do, I had the option of going to our local hospital or driving 1.5 hours to CHOA. Now common sense would say local hospital, except it takes forever. They do not care what his specialist says, they want to evaluate on his own, we have to go through the ER and wait about 4 hours. It was 10pm at night and I was home with my 2 year old. I could not just pack everyone up.
So I had seen on YouTube a video on how to cut the Mehta cast off. I knew that many parents had cut off their child’s cast. So I called Mom and Dad and said to bring tin snips, we need to cut it off. About 20 minute later, they arrived and in 30 seconds, bye bye cast.
I felt so bad for little Alex. He was bruised and sore. It is so hard to tell with this kind of cast where they apply pressure since the outside looks straight. Poor Alex was so exhausted that he passed out.
Since we were going on vacation to Las Vegas and to a waterpark we had opted not to have the cast back on. We were going to give him a cast break, to help his skin, learn some developmental milestones and eating more table food.
So our journey begins. Loved having my squishy baby back, we made the most of it. It was weird to have to buy him clothes since all he would wear was shorts. It was fun to pick out pajamas and matching outfits and even a swim suit. It’s the little things that you appreciate. Alex loved the feel of his skin. I didn’t realize that he had not felt it since he always had a shirt on. We would have bath time instead of sponge baths.
So just a few pictures of Alex’s 1st Birthday cast free.
Alex enjoying vacation!
Alex loves eating table food.
Alex has learned to stand and start to walk alongside the couch.
When we got back home for vacation, we knew the squishy Alex would not last forever. We called to get an X-ray to see how his curve was doing. It was 47 degrees. So not great, but not horrible. We decided it was time to have the cast back on. So here we are, cast day #5.
We enjoyed our last bath!
A little rough, a little sad. Maybe this cast was harder on me than him? I keep having the feeling that he is going to have a hard time adjusting to the cast since he has been out of it for so long. I am praying that he will remember how to stand and walk. I know we still have some warm weather and hate we can’t really be outside now. But I know it is for the best.
So what is the design for cast 5? We thought Georgia Bulldogs would be fitting. So we will see how this next cast goes. Not sure how many more there will be. We just need to be patient and diligent and see how it all plays out.
Until next cast,
Love,
Alex and Mommy
ajourneyoflifeloveandfaith 