It wasn't pretty.
As soon as the cast was cut off she freaked out and was crying and saying it hurt so bad and felt wierd. She was begging for them to put the cast back on! They still needed to xray it, so to stabilize it, we put half the cast that had been cut off, back on her and walked her to xray which was another trauma, getting her arm in position. I was worried, but they assured me that this is a normal reaction for a little one after wearing a cast so long. The elbow is very stiff, and the skin and arm feel wierd, stiff, and vulnerable.
They showed me the new xray and were commenting on how "great" it looked, and all the new bone, and how it looks just like its supposed to, and I am thinking, well I guess I will have to believe your 7 years of medical school experience, because to me it still looks very broken and bulgy! They assured me that is normal and the new bone growth looks good and it heals from the outside in and because both bones were broken in half and new bone has to be created to connect the bones back together that it all looks good.
Okay. So then she picks her cast color - Green - and whimpers through the putting on of that, and then cries through the guy molding and squeezing the arm as the cast dries. Pfew!
We got the gortex material inside the cast so she can now bath and swim at her leisure, which is great, since she will be in this cast for 3 1/2 more weeks...10 weeks total in the cast! Would titanium rods have been better? I sure hope the bone fully heals and is strong enough when all is said and done!
We headed to Gma's to swim in her pool and she was being so cautious with her arm, afraid to move the elbow. I just let her go at her own pace, and soon she was swimming in the water and having a great time. I think we are now over this hump...I am sure there will be more trauma when they fully take the cast off in 3 weeks, although she is supposed to wear a removable splint after that. I will just be glad when all this drama is over!
I photographed the whole thing, so here it is, enjoy!
