The Cast Is Off!

After 8 loooooong weeks, Harper's cast was finally removed.

Looking back, those 8 weeks sure did fly by, but at the time, they seemed like 8 months. There's nothing more emotionally wrenching than seeing your child in pain or injured. It's an awful feeling.

The first week and the last week were the 2 worst weeks. During the first week, it was like having a toddler all over again. Harper needed help to do just about everything. She couldn't get dressed by herself, she couldn't take a bath by herself. She could barely get herself a snack. Learning to cope with the temporary use of one arm was not easy.

During the final week with the cast, we were on vacation in Florida, surrounded by several swimming pools and the Gulf of Mexico. Although we bought a waterproof cast cover, it didn't fit properly and so, it wasn't completely effective. And so, Harper spent much of her time out of the water during a vacation where she otherwise would have been water logged by days end.

It was on this past Tuesday that she bounded out of bed excited for the day ahead. Excited that the cast would finally be removed.

When she arrived at the orthopedic surgeon's office, the cast was removed first. There were no guarantees. An x-ray had to be taken to be sure the bones had fused properly. Another cast was not like but was certainly an option at that point.

Always the model patient.

As soon as the assistant removed the cast, Harper was astounded by how much lighter her arm felt. The assistant took her for her x-ray, and she quickly returned and couldn't stop staring at her arm.

We waited patiently for the orthopedic surgeon to come in to give us the good news or the bad news. Those 30 seconds seemed like an eternity. But he soon came in and told us that Harper's bones were about 85% fused.

OK....and...

She would now need only a removable brace for another month. Woo hoo! I was pretty pumped. I can only imagine how happy my little girl was.

As we were leaving the office, I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she wanted a smoothie from her favorite smoothie place, Fins. And so, we celebrated with smoothies! Here's to a healed broken arm!