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.