Another lovely flower-covered hill to climb...

I was going to write the title this way: "Another bump in the road", but that sounded more negative than I wanted it to be.  Because I feel that this next "bump" is really a good thing.

R got a cold last Thursday.  It got bad enough that by Monday I called Shriner's to tell them about it.  The anesthesiologist, Dr Csontos, called us back.  I LOVE Dr Csntos.  She is very cautious, and careful about administering anesthesia to infants and toddlers.  We had an experience with another cold, and another cast, back in May, that was very scary.  I think Dr Csontos saved his life by discontinuing the anesthesia and pulling him out without a cast on that day.  Anyway, back to yesterday (Monday), she called us and after we explained his symptoms, she said we should wait four weeks before we do his next cast.  This will give his body adequate time to get over the cold and his lungs will be strong enough to handle the anesthesia.

So, since he's already had his cast off for  a week and a half, he will have another 6-week break from casting.

On one hand, this sounds like a bad thing.  The last time he had a six-week break, the cast didn't give him as much correction as it had the time before.  Also, his back is more rigid as he grows-meaning less chance of correction.

However, I feel the hand of the Lord is in this timing.  For one thing, he hasn't had a single cold since that time in May (when we tried to get a new cast and couldn't).  He's really not prone to getting sick very often.  Another reason I feel good about this, is that he was VERY weak when we took this cast off.  He had a hard time keeping himself in a seated position in the bike trailer-he just kept falling over to the side every time we hit a bump-when we go on a bike ride.  He's doing better with that, even in the last week, but Scott and I feel that if he doesn't have a strong core, then how can his back hold a straighter position?  Weak muscles would lead to more scoliosis (in fact, that's one cause of infantile scoliosis).  He also has a funny gait when he walks; I can't tell if he is just walking the same as he would if the cast were on, or if it's because of the scoliosis.  So this is a good opportunity for physical therapy, and strengthening of those muscles.  Every time he has a cast on, his motor, and speech development slow down.  He's doing awesome in both areas, all things considered, but he's still quite behind in both, as I found out yesterday during his well-child checkup. 

BTW, we're still going to UT this weekend, even though we're not gettting the cast.  So this will be our first trip to UT in over a year and a half, that does not include a visit to a hospital or a family reunion.  We're pretty excited to have such a laid back trip, and to see family this weekend.