Zeb's Cast Party

Pure Joy seeing my son run around again!

 

 

 

 

 

The Cast Is Off!!!

We finished taking off Zeb's cast this morning. When John did the final cutting Zeb bent his leg and screamed! It hurt him really bad because he hadn't bent his knee in 7 weeks. He is mostly hobbling around but as determined as Zeb is I expect him to be up walking normal in no time!

 

Phase One Is Complete

We couldn't take it anymore. The cast is officially supposed to come off tomorrow but we just can't wait any longer. What is one more night of sleep going to do anyways? Because we have never seen a cast like this made in China ( see Kayleigh's cast as an example) we assumed that there was no place to take Zeb to get his cast removed except back to Hong Kong. Well, we weren't going to do that so we took matters into our own hands. John borrowed a drimal tool from a friend and started cutting away at the cast! Don't worry there was a guard on the drimal tool and we used a piece of board the doctors used to splint Zeb's leg with to slide under the cast for protection. Dust was flying everywhere so below is a picture of Zeb holding up a wipe to try and keep the dust out of his eyes. We eventually put sunglases on him! After cutting away the cast around his body the drimal tool ran out of battery! So......

Below is the result. He went to bed with half a cast on. After a full night's charge we will be back at it in the morning.

 

 

 

Homeschool Picnic

This afternoon we went to a picnic for the homeschool community. It was a lot of fun! There was relay races and games for the kids. Lots of fellowship and meeting new people. Sweet Zeb even participated in the races! I think I have forgotten to mention that now he has figured out how to walk in his cast! Yes, I said walk! Lying down for 6 now almost 7 weeks was not in the cards for Zeb. He is too active! So he figured out how to hobble around with his cast on and no crutches. The problem now is that his cast wasn't made to be walked in so I have to put one of John's big socks on over his cast foot to try and keep the cast from getting dirty. I emailed the doctor to ask him if it was ok for Zeb to walk. He said he couldn't hurt his casted leg but there is a possibility that he could fall and hurt his good leg! That would send me over the edge so I am being very cautious about what I am letting him do.

So back to Zeb participating in the races. He tried his best to "run" with the best of them but of course he ended up frustrated. So I ended up participating in the races by caring him. He enjoyed that! I wish I had a picture of him trying to walk/run in the races but I don't. All in all it was a lot of fun and neat to meet some new people.

 

 

 

 

 

Today should have been the day....

Today should have been the day Zeb got his cast off. I woke up this morning thinking 'It's all over, no more sponge baths, no more smelly cast, just Zeb." But God had different plans. We went to the doctor this afternoon for one last x-ray. When it was over we emailed the x-ray to the Hong Kong doctor. I was eagerly waiting his reply when John called. He told me the doctor said that Zeb's leg looks great but he wants us to wait 10 more days before we take it off! I was so disappointed and even had some tears. I didn't know how I was going to tell Zeb but when I did he said "Ok mommy!". No tears, no protest just ok. I was shocked. He handled the news much better than I did. So we wait 10 more days. In the grand scheme of things what is 10 more days? I have waited 6 weeks.

Layla sets the table....

Tonight we had our friends the Todds over for pizza. The pizza was delivered but our friends had not yet arrived so we were going to wait on them. Layla had a different idea. She apparently was starving so she went to the kitchen got the plates out of the cabinet put them on the table and said Mommy "Pizza!" She was ready to eat and there was no waiting around. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She never ceases to amaze me with what she understands and will do even at 18 months.

 

Life with Zeb in a cast

This post is mostly for me so I can look back and remember how we lived life during this time. I can even show Zeb's future wife someday, pictures of the time he was in a body cast. So before Zeb got home from Hong Kong I went and bought a tray so he would be able to eat lying down. Once he got here, eating on the couch without his family was not in the cards. Zeb was having none of that. He wanted to be at the table with us. So my genius husband came up with this....

He took a pillow off the couch and tied it to the back of the chair. Then he took a swim ring float and tied it to the bottom. The float is used to keep him from sliding off the chair since he can't bend. And this is how it looks with Zeb in it....

It works and Zeb can be with us while we eat our meals! It is nice for me because he can mostly feed himself. Another issue was giving him a bath. We of course can't get the cast wet so we don't put him in the bathtub. So this is what we came up with....

He lays on the air mattress while I give him a sponge bath and then I wash his hair in these little tubs. It works. I am so thankful to The Lord for giving us wisdom to figure out how to live life during this season even down to the smallest detail.