Our Olympian

Day one was a bit shocking.  Although we hardly expected to come home from the hospital and race straight to the park, we weren’t entirely prepared for Zachary’s reaction to his newly recovered freedom.

The doctor was called.

“This isn’t right.  Something is very wrong.  He’s screaming bloody murder at the mere suggestion of moving.  He only lies on the couch and wont let us touch him.  He wont sit up to eat, or allow us to change his diaper.”

She responded,

“It can take months.  This is normal.  Kids learn to love the cast.  It becomes a part of them.  They are always unhappy with me when I take it off.  Every day, he should show some improvement, but it takes a long time.”

That evening, after a scream we hadn’t heard since that fateful day in Central Park, I begged him to tell me if he really was in pain or if he was just scared.

“I’m just scared.  I can’t move my leg.  It will break”

We talked for a while about how his leg was healed and would not break. Hours past his bedtime, he drifted off to sleep in his favorite “spica” position, missing his protection.

Accepting that this would be a longer road than we anticipated, we called it a night ourselves.  He’ll move when he’s ready. We’ll take our cues from him.

This was his progress by the end of Day Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-91Uxnwkelc

Still a long way to go, but at this rate, he’ll be competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics!

Have a click!

Spica Cast Saviors

Many a stressed parent has found  my blog through the search engine term “spica cast”,  so with three and a half weeks under our belts, making us the Official Experts, I am adding two more must-haves!

The first item has absolutely saved us during this hot and stifling July.  It’s a scooter board I ordered from Amazon for $20 and had it on my doorstep the next afternoon for an extra $3.  The best $23 we’ve ever spent.  Seriously.

Scooter Board (click for the amazon link)

For live action footage of our little trooper scooting away, click on the picture below for a 53 second video.

He may not the the fastest in preschool this September, but he’ll have the most upper body strength!

Also, a wonderful family contacted me recently offering this hand-made Spica Cast Chair for free!  As we only have Six! Count them, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, SIX DAYS LEFT,  we felt that it should go to a little guy or gal facing a longer bout of “spica-ed” time ahead.

Here is the message from this generous family:

“There’s a buckle that keeps him attached to the seat, and the underside of the tabletop is painted with chalkboard paint.

 

It’s the “big bean chair” on ivyrosespicachairs.com.  And Stephanie, who builds the chairs was super.  We learned about the chairs on a Thursday, one day after getting home from the hospital, ordered one on Friday, and she built it and shipped it by Monday.

 

Esten loved the independence that the chair allowed (and so did we of course).

 

Hope things are going smoothly as you near cast removal.  The last week seemed long and slow for us.

 

Best,

 

Russ, Sunna, Esten”

Had we known about Stephanie at ivyrosespicachairs.com this would have been added to our list of life-savers for sure.

With their permission, I am attaching a short slideshow of their adorable little,

now healed guy in his chair.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As I said, they are offering this chair for free should anyone stumble upon my blog and need it.  Leave me a comment here and I’ll put you in touch!

Thank you, Russ, Sunna and Esten!

Spica Newbies….Good luck! You can do it! We’re cheering you on!

update:

This amazing chair went to another family within a few weeks of it being posted.  Now, that family is spica cast free and would like to pass it along again!  Leave me a comment here if interested and I will connect you.