After almost seven weeks of waiting and being totally inconvenienced, Lauren got to have her cast removed. She never had a plaster cast, but rather a tape cast. They are very similar, but her arm and hand were splinted and then a special tape was wrapped around it. The middle layer was bandaged, and then the outer layers were Coban tape that we had to change almost every day. By the last week her poor arm was just a modgepodge of whatever Coban tapes we had left. Boy the thing was very nasty looking and smelled horrible!
Lauren was very apprehensive about having the cast removed. She had nursed her arm and was very protective of it. She was very scared the morning we went in to see the orthopedist, and she kept saying "I want the sleep medicine so that I will go to sleep and won't be scared." Sorry kid, but there was no way you were puting your mama through the worry of another round of general anesthesia!
Lauren had a pin in her finger and when they took it out, I about lost my breakfast. Blood squirted out everywhere and even got on my clothes. For a mom with five kids, I have an incredibly weak stomach. Lauren cried a lot and I tried to keep it together so that MY fear didn't rub off on her even more.
Her hand and arm looked like it belonged to a zombie. And her fingernails that had been inside he cast were about half an inch long! I was not prepared for how gruesome it would be when they took everything off. Lauren was way more brave than I was.
After lots of waiting and x-rays, the orthopedist seemed very pleased with how it turned out. He said that in three months she will go back in and he'll evaluate things and see where we go from there. Dr. Hutchinson sent us over to the Orthopdeic Hospital to get splinted. After watching how a splint is made, I now believe that it's an art more than a science. Lauren chose purple over pink, which surprised me. Before her splint went on, the therapist had her do some special hand exercises and she showed me how to do them with her at home. Well, Lauren has yet to allow me to do the exercises with her. She is still nursing that hand and refuses to move her fingers. I can't say I blame her! The great news is that her splint is removable and she can swim in it!!! We were so happy to hear that! I have to change the dressings every time she bathes or swims and although I'm not crazy about doing that, if it means we can swim and live life as we once did....I'll take it!
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