Today is the Day!

Today is the day!!!!! I am cautiously excited as today David gets his cast off. I am actually very nervous just because, if past history has taught me nothing else.....it has taught me that I always end up tripping over optimism and falling flat on my face. Thus....the caution.

David's progress since his casting has been very good. We have still fought off a couple of stomach bugs as a family and Friday we go back into the neurologist to see about his seizures. He has only had a couple of break through seizures of late, but currently we can't use his VNS (vegus nerve stimulator) magnet as it causes him to throw up. Apparently it is set too high so we have to get it turned down a bit. Other than that....his seizures seem to be being better controlled.

My poor child is so over all of this surgery, sick, hospital stuff. Other than moving from his hospital bed in his make shift room to his wheelchair into the living room, he is pretty much confined to about 200 sq. feet of our house. He constantly points at the stairs as I know he wants to get back to his room, his toys and his life. I am hoping today may put us on that road. I am taking him myself today so that should be interesting too. Luckily he transitions himself pretty well from wheelchair to van and vice versa. Thank goodness for his amazing upper body strength.

From my stand point at Mothers Vantage......Davids hip surgery scars look amazing. His legs have been in either casts or stabilizers since Dec. 31st so his legs are wonderfully straight. Since the leg break and learning of his "soft" leg bones, he has been on a constant regimen of calcium, tums and a constant diet of calcium rich foods. Apparently this is working as Dr. K was very pleased with the healing of his break and the look of his bones when she put the cast on a couple of weeks ago. From the knee down Davids left leg is quite skinny and almost spindly looking. I am sure the right one looks as bad or worse. Because of all of this I have been giving him xtreme protein bars as mid afternoon snacks. To me they taste awful but his leg seems to be looking a bit better and I think he is putting on weight.

Dr. S was a bit worried about David losing upper body mobility and strength because of the surgery and his incapacition for a period of time. I don't believe that has happened at all. He uses his upper body constantly to adjust and move himself around. My only real concern is his spine. Where his spine had shown no further curvature in the last two years, I am afraid his prolonged stay in casts, stabilizers and bed may have caused some more curving in the spine. I know that is a surgery that will not be an "if" but a "when" and after all of this.....I cringe. That being said, I refuse to borrow trouble or worry about tomorrow when today gives me plenty to contemplate.

To say that David has been a trouper through all of this is an understatement. He still laughs, smiles and seems to enjoy life (for the most part) regardless of the situation. He has become much more leery of needles, nurses and hospitals as he knows it means being poked, prodded and usually a certain amount of pain. Through it all though, we have only had one real melt down and that was when they changed his leg splint before the bone had had a chance to heal. I never want to see my child hurt like that again. Other than that though, I have been far more disagreeable through all of this than he has. He is just amazing.

Even though the cast comes off today, I have no plans to get rid of the hospital bed just yet and I have no illusions that he will just miraculously stand up and take off on his walker. His legs are blessedly straight but I have no doubt the muscles have atrophied a great deal over the last few months. I plan on getting both an orthotic and a physical therapy plan in place from Dr. K today. Tomorrow will be phone calls and appointments being made (provided the entire medical community hasn't black balled me), Friday will be the neurologist and then God willing and the creek don't rise...(yeah you can thank my mother for that one) Monday David will start back to school. I know he is ready...I think I'm ready......lets just hope the school is ready!

Change is coming. I can feel it and I am not just talking about the weather. We have been on a pretty precarious journey these last few months and hopefully we are heading into a new chapter where David's independence can soar, because at the end of the day, the goal is....David walks!