Today was supposed to be a big day...Shaun's cast was coming off! The five of us were SO excited. Wearing a cast is the pits. When the person who's wearing the cast is an active teenage boy, it's REALLY the pits. I've never worn one myself, but this is Shaun's 3rd or 4th cast (is it terrible that I can't remember?) so I kind of know what I'm talking about.
Being the mother of a teenage boy who needs help bathing due to wearing a cast is the pits and also downright awkward for everyone involved. I was really relieved when Shaun opted to sponge bathe instead.
But today, it was coming off! Yay for regular showers, wearing two shoes, and a whole host of other things getting back to normal. Here is my excited boy on the way to the doctor's office.
Once we were at the appointment, my first clue that things might not be going as we had anticipated was that the nurse said she needed to look at her notes to see if the cast was ready to come off. She left and stayed gone a pretty good while. Another lady came in next, the nurse practitioner, who we'd never seen before. For the record, she was very nice and knowledgeable. I really liked her until she presented us with our dilemma: Shaun's foot wouldn't be ready to go without support for 2 more weeks. She really wanted to leave the cast in place until then, but she needed to check the incision and he has an appointment tomorrow to be fitted for a brace that he'll wear until December. So our options were to leave the cast on and reschedule the brace appointment, or remove the cast and put another one on that the brace people remove tomorrow so that they can measure his foot. We opted for the latter.
Another lady came in with the cast saw. This was what Jordan had been waiting for. Ha ha! She began sawing away. And sawing some more. And grunting in frustration. Finally, I asked if something was wrong. And she told me that the saw wouldn't saw through the cotton that was between the "mended" cast and the original cast. Remember when we had to have the cast repaired because the heel had a hole? I was so confused at first and then she explained that a cast saw will only saw through hard surfaces... not cotton or fabric or even skin. Very good to know, I suppose. The boys and I learned something new. She called in for help and changed the blade on the saw and between the two of them, the "mended cast" finally came off.
The saw lady left the room again to put the original blade back on the saw. And when she plugged the saw in again, nothing happened. There was a short in the electrical outlet. It had been just fine ten minutes earlier. We searched the room, found another outlet that was behind the chairs Jordan and I were camped out on and had to rearrange the furniture. Finally, finally that cast was off. The saw lady washed off Shaun's foot, the nurse practitioner came back in to assure us that the incision was fine, and then the saw lady began to put Shaun's foot in another cast. He was thrilled, as you can see here.
She put the cast on, broke it apart, put it back on, taped it up, and sent us on our way. And it only took about two hours. Sigh.
Tomorrow we go back to Lawrenceville and prayerfully the casts will come off for good. He'll wear a boot until the brace is ready, about two weeks.
Shaun was a good sport about the whole thing, considering. He was even able to laugh about it. Laughter makes everything better, after all. :)
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