Three bright, pink casts for three weeks. This time has gone by much faster than we expected. Gracie really hasn’t missed a beat being confined to her casts. I want to write as much as I can remember so she will know just how great she did with her first surgery and as a reminder of how tough she is.
When we were getting our release instructions from the hospital, it sounded like Gracie wasn’t going to be able to walk on her leg cast and would be in pain for several days. The weight of the casts more than doubled her weight. She would be very off balance. Plus, this little girl had close to 400 stitches. Yes, 400! It’s hard to believe that just 36 hours after surgery, she was finished with all pain medicine and the pain medicine she did get after the first night was just tylenol and ibuprofen.
If I had to pick one word to describe these three weeks it would be, “amazement”. I cannot even count the number of times I have had to take a second look at something amazing she’s done…for example, eating Gerber puffs from her toes.
Or when I put a bowl of cheerios with a spoon on her tray and the next thing I know she’s feeding herself Cheerios with the spoon.
Somehow, the other night she actually took her sock off of the foot that does not have a cast! Or the time she starts rolling herself across the kitchen to get to a toy….on just the second day of being home.
Or that same night, she decides rolling is too slow and walks across the room instead. The next day she finds a faster speed and hops across the living room. This was just five days after getting those 400 stitches! She has now learned to move even faster by positioning her body sideways and skipping. Boy has she proved the physical therapist wrong! She has been able to hold up the weight of the casts and find her balance extremely well.
Her drive for independence has helped her with self feeding. Once she figures out a creative way to feed herself with both arms in a cast, she wants to continue to do it herself. All pretzels must go on the side of her cast for her thumb to grip…the same with waffles, pancakes, and pbj sandwiches. Those little thumbs have gotten quite the workout!
Her drive for independence has helped her with self feeding. Once she figures out a creative way to feed herself with both arms in a cast, she wants to continue to do it herself. All pretzels must go on the side of her cast for her thumb to grip…the same with waffles, pancakes, and pbj sandwiches. Those little thumbs have gotten quite the workout!
Gracie has had no trouble sleeping in all of her casts. This is probably the main reason these three weeks have gone by so quickly (for mommy and daddy :) ! I’m sure it would have seemed much longer if she weren’t sleeping well. The casts are a very rough texture, so each night we put a large fuzzy sock over each cast so she doesn’t hurt herself while she’s sleeping. The casts have actually torn up the hard plastic on her high chair so I can’t imagine what they would have done to her skin tossing around at night. Her two thumbs are out of the cast and she tells them night-night and waves them bye-bye before they’re covered with the socks.
Gracie does not take a passie or suck her thumb. She puts the arm of her doggie blankie right to her mouth to self sooth. The first night she had a hard time doing this with the bulky casts but by the second night she figured out how to move her blankie to get it right where she wants it.
The hardest part for Gracie has probably been not being able to play. There’s not much she can do so she has wanted someone to sit by her most of the time to play for her. Actually, that’s probably been the hardest part for me…as I don’t like to sit and play blocks all day….plus doing the normal day-to-day stuff, homeschooling, and keeping up with a busy four-year old boy has definitely been trying. Jonathan and Gracie are not at a point where they can play well together for very long but at least she has a few weapons to defend herself if needed.
The hardest part for Gracie has probably been not being able to play. There’s not much she can do so she has wanted someone to sit by her most of the time to play for her. Actually, that’s probably been the hardest part for me…as I don’t like to sit and play blocks all day….plus doing the normal day-to-day stuff, homeschooling, and keeping up with a busy four-year old boy has definitely been trying. Jonathan and Gracie are not at a point where they can play well together for very long but at least she has a few weapons to defend herself if needed.
Gracie has still been able to keep up with her “chores” around the house too. :) She loves to shake out the laundry when I’m folding it and can grasp the clothes by the edges of her arm casts to pick them up and shake them out. She still helps unload the dishes from the dishwasher by grasping the plastic bowls and cups with her two thumbs and tossing them into the drawer. The first thing she does when she comes in the house is she sits down and take her shoes off and puts them in her box. Now, she sits down and yells, “shoe, shoe!” for one of us to take her shoe off.
It has been in amazement that we have watched Gracie overcome the obstacles from wearing three casts. I know she will have more obstacles and more surgeries. I am so thankful this sweet child will not be enduring these surgeries alone. I pray for her strength and feistiness to continue as she faces the world not with a disability, but with a different ability. She is one amazing Gracie!
It has been in amazement that we have watched Gracie overcome the obstacles from wearing three casts. I know she will have more obstacles and more surgeries. I am so thankful this sweet child will not be enduring these surgeries alone. I pray for her strength and feistiness to continue as she faces the world not with a disability, but with a different ability. She is one amazing Gracie!