Cast is off

The long-awaited day arrived.  Micah had his cast removed yesterday afternoon.  He did GREAT with the cast removal.  We were warned by the nurses that he would probably cry after it came off due to the sensory change.  I was more worried about the noise of the saw which is used to remove the cast.  I attempted to minimize this by bringing the iPad and headphones.  It worked like a charm.  He didn't cry at all... during the cast removal.

But he definitely wasn't happy when the orthotist put the leg immobilizer on his leg.  I'm pretty sure he just didn't want anyone touching his legs at that point (that included me, by the way... he was quite irritated when I touched his legs).

I do not have a photo of the x-ray from the day Micah broke his leg.  But here's a photo of the x-ray taken at his 2-week checkup (taken through the cast).

And here's a photo of his x-ray taken today (the bright white dot by the bone is just the mouse cursor):

Does this looked healed to you?  It doesn't to me.  But there is healing going on.  You can see faint lines connecting the brokenness together.  Apparently this bone will always have a slight lump on it (we felt it today).  And apparently anything less than a 20% angle is considered a good fix.  But we neglected to ask the surgeon whether Micah's bone growth is taking longer than anticipated.

We had been prepared for a few weeks in the leg immobilizer brace (it keeps his leg straight).  But I certainly wasn't expecting to hear, "No weight bearing," for three more weeks.  Eesh.  I was looking forward to getting him back on his feet.  No dice.  Not only that, but they have made me terrified of Micah re-fracturing his leg (apparently 1:20 chance).  Another quote: "Don't let the leg twist."  I'm still not quite sure about this one.  I mean, I can control how I move his legs when I change his diapers.  But for those of you with kids who have hypotonia, remember back to how our kids sometimes get from sitting to the floor and vice versa?

We were told that Micah can sleep without his leg immobilizer brace, but that was making me nervous.  Apparently it made Micah nervous too, because he cried when I took it off when I was dressing him for bed.  I imagine that it might feel more secure since he's been wrapped so tightly for 6 1/2 weeks... maybe his leg needed the hug.  Whatever the reason... HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT! :-)

Best part of the day: putting Micah into the car after the appointment.  His face lit up like he had won the lottery.  He started to laugh and he giggled the whole way home.  He was SO EXCITED to see out a window again!