Last of the long cast

Ethan had several people sign his long cast so I got some pictures of the signatures before they cut it off to check things out and decide if he needed to have his heel cord lengthened or not.

And check it out!!!! A short cast. He still isn't supposed to put any weight on it yet, but can start with a little bit next week. We had to go to three places around town to finally find a cast boot that is small enough to fit without being so long it looks like a clown shoe. This was at stop number two. We have three weeks in this cast, then they'll do a mold of his foot in order to make a new brace, then a couple weeks in another short cast until the brace comes in.

First Day of School

We're a week into school already, hard to believe its that time again. Brandon is in 3rd grade and Ethan in Kindergarten.

It was a rainy day so we couldn't get the usual in front of the building picture but had to get one inside. It was a bit of a rough day for Ethan with new kids in the class a new para and a new principle but we made it through.

Hospital

Ethan's surgery went well. He was in quite a bit of pain for the first few days but is doing much better now.

Ethan is wearing the Wall-E hat that the anesthesiologist gave him while Daddy feeds him jello and he gets fitted for his wheelchair that he'll be using until the cast is off.

The playroom was right across from Ethan's room so it was easy to get over there to play.

We go back after 3 weeks and the surgeon plans to take the cast off under sedation and see how it's healing. Ethan's heel cord is tight, the surgeon didn't want to do anything with that yet, he wanted to see if keeping the leg casted in the bent position will help stretch the heel cord enough, if not, if not, he might go in at that time and lengthen the heel cord. Either way, they will put another cast back on, most likely another full leg cast for three more weeks. When that one comes off, they can do a cast of the left foot in order to make a mold and make a new brace for that leg, then he'll get a short cast for a couple of weeks until the new brace is ready. Yes, that adds up to about 8 weeks in a cast, and Ethan is already tired of it. He wants to get up and walk so badly.

Ethan's surgery

Ethan is having surgery on his left ankle on Monday morning. This site does a good job of describing what will be done.

http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/procedures/splitposteriortendontransfer.pdf

There might be a little more that the surgeon will have to do once he gets in there, but more likely he will do this, then do more at a later date after we see how he responds. One of the issues is that because of the nerve damage from his spina bifida and his tethered spinal cord, some of the muscles are weaker, and if he does too much, those weak areas might not be able to hold up under increased pressure and he could start having issues in the opposite way. We are also watching his right foot closely because it is just barely starting to do some of the same things that the left has done.

Depending on how he's doing and handling the pain, we might be able to go home later that day. I think the hardest part will be dealing with being in a cast for 6 weeks, especially in three weeks when school starts.

Ethan is 6 years old

We had a fun birthday dinner at Chevy's, including hats and ice cream

Ice cream is important, can't even let the spoon out of our mouth to wipe up a drop of ice cream.

Ethan had a Batman birthday. He picked a yellow cake with yellow icing because that is the color of Batman's utility belt.

Brandon's Birthday

Brandon wanted an Indiana Jone's Birthday, so his chocolate cake was topped with a scene from one of the movies.
It took a little bit to figure out how to make the stand that the idol was sitting on. Brandon didn't mind eating all the M&M's from the gumball machine until he got to a brown one that I could use to be the sack of sand he used for a weight.

Birthdays

The boys got a Wii for their birthdays. Can you get a little idea of the excitement that Brandon has with the Lego Indiana Jones game?

Big brother is reading the back of the case of his game, guess I'd better do that too.

The boys gave each other cap guns for their Birthdays. Brandon's had a handkerchief so Ethan had to borrow one from grandma but decided to wear it on his head instead of his neck.