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We are 2 months out now, nearly as long as we were in the cast.  My son is walking and running again.  He jumps, climbs, and wrestles.  I feel like he lost a little time with his motor skill development while in the cast and recovering, but he is catching up fast.  He was always a little on the timid side anyways.  He still talks about sometimes, mostly because he hears us talk about it.  And we are always on the lookout for potential dangers or signs of injury to that leg, even a rash makes us jumpy, but we’re getting better at letting go.

My son is walking again.  It took 3 full weeks, but he’s up and moving.  His fun and loving personality is back too, which I am so thankful for.  He climbs all over me, his favorite activity which I almost forgot about.  He’s playing and climbing better than ever and we’re having a great summer.  We’re moving on to bigger and better!

We are now 2 weeks post cast and feeling good.  I look forward to a time when I won’t measure time in “weeks post cast”.  My son is trying to walk more each day.  He does pretty well holding my hand now.  He can also stand on his own, pull himself up on things, and scoot around the house on his bum.  He is also eating and sleeping more due to the increased exercise he has been getting.  Thank goodness!

The cast is off.  After nearly 9 weeks my son (and I) have freedom again.  Moments after the cast was off I could sense a change in him.  I knew he felt lighter, happier, releaved.  That same day, he started moving, crawling and rolling around.  By that night, he was wanting to try to walk.  We spent the weekend in the bath, pool and sprinkler; all things that we couldn’t do with the cast.  It was great to see him so happy, back to his usual self.

When something like this happens to your child, an accident with no warning, there is something that happens.  The Blame Game.  Here’s how it works; I was the one home at the time, not my husband.  The rules of the game?  The parent at home apparently gets blamed.  Come to find out, my husband blames me and holds me responsible for my son’s broken leg.  He won’t say it flat out, but he alludes to it; saying that I need to make sure to supervise him better.  Ya, thanks for the tip.  I let it happen; it’s my fault.  As if I don’t feel guilty enough.

With the letdown of the cast staying on for 2 more weeks, I began to think about why we are in the situation.  If I work off the theory that all events are meant to teach us something, then what am I supposed to learn from this?  What is my lesson?

It seems that everyone these days writes a tell all book or memoir.  When I look back, what would my book say?  I am writing, that is to say, living, the great American novel.  What does it say?  Is it a tragedy, a book filled with regret, sorrow, anger?  Or, am I writing a book of triumph, of hope; a love story.  I want my life to be a story of happiness, fullfillment, of gratitiude.  I want my story to be an epistle, letters filled with God’s gifts in my life.  So, what is the lesson?  This cast does not define my life, it is but a paragraph burried in chapter 25.  In the same way, I cannot let myself be comsumed by everyday things that bring sadness, anger, or frustration into my life.  My novel will not include those things.  I will rise above.  I will focus on the gifts in my life.  I will write a story…of love.

The words hit hard, then echoed in my ears. I stared at the nurse, then at my son. I had arrived at the doctor’s office with high hopes of getting the cast off. That was then. “Two more weeks.” She had said it like it was nothing, but it was everything. An eternity. I had already made plans for what we would do in the coming days, cast free. But not now. In addition, the cast is deteriorating. The lining is gone, and he is getting rashes on him bum and legs. He’s itchy all the time. We were sent down the hall to get his cast mended. I took a deep breath, 2 more weeks.

It’s been 5 1/2 weeks and I am soo ready for the cast to come off.  It stinks, especially now that it is summer and HOT!  I am sick of sleeping with my 2 year old.  I wake up with an elbow to the eye more than I can stand.  We have one more week to go until our next doctor visit.  We are supposed to get the cast off then, but they could decide when we get there to wait 2 more weeks.  Some tips for sanity sake:  We used an eyebrow brush to scratch inside the cast.  It’s not sharp, so it won’t puncture the skin (the nurses said to be sure of that) but it scrapes the dead skin off really well.  I also might try an old toothbrush.  I use menstrual pads to pad the cast and absorb wetness.  It has really been great at keeping him comfortable and rash free.  One more week, here’s hoping!

So it’s been a few weeks, and it’s time for our first check up. We took an X-ray at the doctor’s office and waited forever. We finally saw someone (not the doctor, of course) who said the x-rays look great and there’s a good chance we’ll be able to take the cast off in 4 more weeks. Great news! Here’s hoping!

 So far, it’s been trial by fire when it comes to taking care of my son and his cast.  The lining is coming out and is stained with yucky poop.  We try to clean it as best we can.  We’ve started to see rashes develop under the cast so we are using diaper rash cream and maxi pads to cushion.  I have a litte fan that I use to blow air down the cast to dry it out.  It’s going ok, but it takes about 10 minutes at each diaper change with 30 minute changes in the morning and at night.