Cast Break and Round 2

Cade enjoyed a 6 day cast break that was perfectly timed over the July 4th weekend.  We went to a party Thursday night to see a local firework display.  Friday we hit the KC zoo because the high for the day was 80.  We went to another party that night.  Saturday we made it to the neighborhood pool and enjoyed our first round of pool time together (I snuck Rylan out for some pool time one afternoon while Cade napped, but 1st time for Cade).  Sunday and Monday we hit the neighborhood pool again.  Tuesday we improvised with one last swim at the indoor pool at the gym due to rain.   It felt like a mini vacation this weekend!
Cade had a later start time this morning for cast #2 and we didn't have to be at the hospital until 8.  He did great waiting and was entertained with all of the toys-he even got to play on an I-pad while waiting to go to the OR.  We did everything the same as last time including opting for calm down meds before separating from us (Versed) and anti-nausea meds.  The Versed makes him more confused as to why we are not going with him instead of screaming and crying when we separate.  After about 30 minutes in the waiting room the receptionist called us and told us to go in a conference room and answer the phone when it rang.  Eric remains calm at times like this and I automatically panic and wonder why they are calling us this early.  Turns out they didn't have the fiberglass color he requested and we had to give a 2nd choice.  Ahhhh, relief!  Probably 30 minutes after that I get a call on my cell from the hospital saying something about delivering a reclining wheel chair for Cade.  I am completely confused and ask why he would need a wheel chair since we had not discussed this.  The woman on the other end just says "oh, I'll wait until the doctor talks to you then".  I then panic again thinking they saw a fracture on his X-Ray or that he somehow was hurt during the procedure.  I asked the receptionist if I could get an update on Cade due to the phone call but she thought it was just a wheel chair to get him to the car.  Luckily his doctor came in a little bit after that and told us everything went great.  He was more aggressive with the cast and got more in-cast correction this time.  He didn't give a number but showed us the X-Ray and his spine looks pretty straight in the cast!  I told him about the phone call and he thinks they got Cade mixed up with another patient he has (same 1st name) that has a femur fracture and needs a wheel chair.  Cade was more agitated this time when we met back up with him in recovery.  This apparently is a side affect of the Versed.  Calm before surgery but very agitated and hard to please after, so I don't know if we'll opt for it next time.  After staying for observation for a while we got discharged.  He was doing better on the ride home and much better after a late lunch.  I got him down for a nap and he's been great the rest of the night.  He has a black cast now to go with the batman tape we picked for this cast.  He'll stay in this cast 6 weeks again.  His doctor actually put the same type of cast on another kid right before Cade this morning.  They currently have 4 kids undergoing this type of casting in their practice (he has Cade and the other kid and another surgeon has two kids).  I've been curious how many kids at a time they see with this since you don't read about Children's Mercy KC when researching Mehta casting.  There are other hospitals that have doctors that really specialize in this and primarily work with casting so people travel out of state sometimes for this treatment.  We're very lucky to have a facility in our city with trained doctors and the necessary equipment.  Here are some cast pics and his in-cast X-Ray:

 

July 2nd: Cast #1 done!

Cade had cast #1 removed today.  He made it the full 6 weeks with very little complaints.  We are very proud of him.  We arrived at the hospital at 10 this morning and they removed his cast first.  He was a little scared of the noisy cast saw but did great.  His nurse was awesome.  She used the saw to cut through the fiberglass layer on the outside but then used cast scissors to cut through the 2nd layer which was plaster so that it wasn't as loud and scary.  Other than some grimy dirt, his skin looked really good after removal-yay!  He was very itchy and it took him a few minutes to adjust to it off.  I'm sure it feels weird to go from having something stabilizing your back that weighs 2-3 lbs to suddenly not having it.  We then had an X-ray to check progress and tried the EOS machine which emits a lower dose of radiation than a typical X-ray machine.  The tech was a little reluctant to put Cade in it because it takes a little longer than a regular X-ray and he has to hold still.  It took 2 tries but we got it!  We then met with his doctor.  There was a little bit of correction with this cast which is great!  He originally measured Cade's curve at 42 degrees in March.  In cast he got him to 15 degrees, and now out of cast he is at 37.5 degrees so we are looking at a 4 degree improvement.  One of the sayings I've heard regarding this process is to look at it as a marathon, not a sprint.   It will likely be a long process but very worth it if we avoid or at least delay surgery.  We are looking forward to swimming, baths/showers, and cuddles for the next 6 days.  He will get his 2nd cast on 7/8.  Thank you for the prayers and please continue to pray that this process goes well for him.

 

 X-rays in order: starting 3/17/15 at 42, in cast 5/19/15 at 15 degrees, and out of cast 7/2/15 at 37.5 degrees.