The Cast Is OFF!!!

I hope I can say the worst is behind us. Olivia's surgery was almost 4 weeks ago, and her cast came off today!

We got to the appointment today and the cast crew took us back first. Dave took Olivia to have an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken and everything looked like they expected. Then after Dr. Todd had a chance to look at the x-rays, he came in and gave the thumbs up to remove the cast.

The same man who was the lead on the cast team to put Liv in the cast was there today. It was good for me to "know" someone in the room. Olivia did not like the vibration from the cast-cutter, and was a little fussy about that. Jack and Robin were very concerned that they were going to hurt Olivia, but they explained what they were doing, and they had a guard on the inside so the tool was never going to be close to her. They looked on, intently, just to make sure.

I should've weighed Olivia this morning to see the before and after. I thought it might be that I was getting used to the cast, since she hasn't seemed so heavy lately. It turns out that due to her reduced appetite, she has lost about 6 pounds!!! This is insanely terrible for her, because she weighed only 47 pounds before the surgery. We'll be pumping her up as her appetite comes back. She's had 3 cans of Pediasure today... I'm about to give her a 4th.

There was one sore on her back from the cast. It is on one of her vertebrae, and it is swollen, but the sore part looks like just a surface scrape. Using her communication computer, tonight, she told me that her back hurts. I put some medicine on it, and it should heal in time. Her legs are very tender still, and the combination of those two will make it challenging in the near future.

I think I'm still sleeping in her room, at least tonight, and as long as I need to until she is able to sleep better. I'm going to get her ready for bed.

There is still quite a journey ahead, but I hope the brunt of it now falls on us, and not so much on Olivia. She still continues to be brave.