3/15/13 - Cast Day

After two nights of very little sleep and two very long days, we were excited to be getting your cast on. Everyone kept telling us that life would improve once you had your cast. 

Well our pediatrician's office has one doc (Dallen Ormond, NP) that does all the casts. It just so happened that he would be in their new office in Herriman on Friday so we headed out there with hopes of a quick casting and then lunch with Dad since Riverton is really close to Herriman. Prior to Henry breaking his leg, we had only met two of the docs at our pediatricians office, now we have met four! I failed to mention previously that I bawled like a baby at the x-ray appointment after hearing that Henry broke his leg. Poor Dr. Zarbock had never met me and now had to see me acting like a child crying alligator tears. He was really nice and mentioned that its still early in the year and there is plenty of time to win the mom of the year award. So I braced myself for a "no mom tears" appointment so Dallen didn't have to feel awkward.

We go to the appointment and sent to an awesome dinosaur room. Henry was really good at pointing to the noses and eyes of the dinosaurs. We ended up waiting for good 40 mintues for the Dallen to come in. I'm not sure what the delay was, but I did not bring enough snacks or toys to last this long in a little room. I wish we could have waited in the waiting room with the fish tank... Henry had developed a little cold this morning so while we waited the nurse took his oxygen, which hovered around 89-90%

DISCLAIMER: I'm going to sound like a snobby, angry, stressed out mom as I retell the story of Henry's casting. I really love our pediatrician's office, even though that will not be evident in this post. If this was our first experience with Family First, we probably wouldn't ever go back. But it wasn't and we have and will continue to go back.

When Dallen arrived, he checked Henry's splint then headed to the supply cupboard in the hall to grab casting materials (why didn't the nurse do this for him). Dallen returned and confirmed that Henry broke his leg going down the slide and let me know that he will be the first of many this spring/summer. Who knew? Dallen then returned again to the supply cupboard and asked the medical assistant to help him find the cast scissors and the cast saw (just in case). Well they came to the conclusion that neither the scissors or saw ever arrived, but were ordered at some point. Again, the Herriman office is new and Henry was the first cast put on there.

We had two color choices: red or blue. We picked blue like the police car Henry brought with him. Something about the crinkly paper makes Henry freak out so after trying to lie him on the paper Dallen suggested I just hold Henry on my lap. Fine with me. The splint was removed, which Henry did not enjoy but didn't freak out about. Then Dallen started wrapping Henry's leg with the inner cast stuff that is water-proof. I mentioned that it looks like he needs a third hand because the stuff kept slipping out of place, then I realized that could have sounded critical to his expertise so I apologized, to which he laughed and said the assistant would be in shortly to help. Awkward. With his leg wrapped twice in that stuff, we moved on to the the blue cast wrap which was soaked and then it hardens as it drys. Dallen was wrapping Henry's leg and again called for the assistant to join him and help support his leg so my hands didn't get dyed blue (I think I was trying to be too helpful). At this point Henry started crying, maybe because his leg was turning blue? The medical assistant came in and was chatting it up with Henry, while he cried because she kept touching his hair and he doesn't like strangers in scrubs touching him. With his leg was wrapped once, Dallen tried cutting the cast covering Henry's toe to then fold it back and wrap one more time for support. The office scissors they found as a replacement for cast scissors were no good. Eventually the scissors worked and I was just glad that Henry didn't get his toes cut off (the whole time I was freaking out with the scissors down his cast wondering what would happen if his toe got cut). Second wrapping of the cast stuff and all of sudden Dallen says "you've crunched his foot," he then tried to straighten Henry's foot a little more because the assistant bent it at too much of right angle. Well the cast was hardening too much and wouldn't unscrunch. Insert freaking out. Dallen called for a cast saw, forgetting that they DIDN'T HAVE ONE. Commence ripping off the cast wrapping as fast as possible since there was NO OTHER WAY. We had been so careful with that splint and it seemed like Dallen and the assistant were both being not careful at all. They were trying to be fast but I felt like they were also being careless. Henry was screaming and then shaking. The only time in his life he has had shaking hands and arms and cried like that was right after he broke his leg. Flashback and I start crying that he is again in pain. Pain that is completely unnecessary. Why didn't I ask to wait while they ran to home depot for proper scissors and saw? Why wasn't I better mother or advocate for my child? So frustrating. With all the cast stuff finally off, Dallen says they will give us sometime to calm down. I'm sure the look I gave him was unpleasant to say the least. So with Henry's broken leg completely unsupported I tried to calm him down (any myself) with prayer and primary songs,

Round two: This time Dallen brought the nurse to help him. I heard some loud talking in the hall that could be interpreted numerous ways. The nurse supported Henry's leg much better than the assistant from my point of view. Dallen re-wrapped his leg with the inner stuff then the cast stuff in silence. He was able to cut the toe part of the cast much easier by going through each layer one at a time. He wrapped one more time with the cast stuff and was finished. Dallen told the nurse thank you and said she could go, which she did. At this point I had numerous angry words prepared (overreacting?) Henry had cried himself to exhaustion and was half asleep on my lap by the time the cast was on. Dallen spent some time pressing and rubbing the foot part of Henry's cast and then finally he said he was sorry. He apologized for the unnecessary stressful situation we all just went through. He apologized for not acting calm and for being so frustrated  He explained that he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get the cast off and that we'd have to drive to the South Jordan office to fix it all. I thanked him for his apology. I wanted to say mean things but I was glad he recognized there was a problem rather than trying to cover it up.

Dallen checked Henry to make sure he had a normal cold and wrote us a prescription for elixir of lortab in case Henry was still uncomfortable (wish I had asked for this when we got his splint). I didn't ever fill the prescription because the idea of giving Henry narcotics freaked me out too much and with his cold I was afraid of the suppressed breathing. Again he apologized and asked to see us again in 10 days. 

Henry fell asleep instantly in the car. We went to Matt's work where I cried like a baby some more and he fumed with me about having to go through more pain then necessary. We got home and Henry woke up instantly. I was hoping for a nap: So Henry and I had a good cuddle while he looked like this:

Later that afternoon we headed to the Tuckett's so the girls could cheer us up. Henry rolled around like a sea lion on the carpet:

Was given lots of loves by Jordy:

Got more loves from Bryn:

Then Henry decided to try crawling! He crawled all over the place, arm style became his new transportation. I FINALLY felt like I didn't ruin Henry's life. After 48+ hours of thinking I ruined his whole future, it was nice to realize everything would be okay. The cast was better then the splint. Henry could be mobile on his own again! Finally the slow sinking feeling of depression lifted. I know that sounds dramatic but I really was struggling.

When Matt got home from work we went for a walk around the neighborhood. The little girls along the way stopped to give Henry's cast a rub and kiss him better. We have such cute little mamas in our neighborhood. Grandma came over to give Henry some loves and a new car book. The book is SO cute! It makes all sort of car sounds and Henry loves it.

And here is the casted boy with his favorite things. Paci, milk, and a car. We will survive.

Henry goes back for a follow-up in 10 days. The cast should be on for 4-6 weeks.