A missing arm...

I have to share what happened last Friday when I was giving R a sponge bath and changing his knit-rite shirt.  I got his old shirt off, washed him, and then I put on the new shirt.  As I was sliding it down in the back (it takes a lot of shifting and shimmying to get that shirt down because it's too tight for your fingers to go in), it got stuck.  I knew I had to get it on, so I just pulled and shimmy'ed harder.  I felt something give, and then it was able to slide down.  Guess what came out the bottom of his cast with his shirt?  An arm.  A mermaid (kind of like a Barbie-sized doll) arm.  So it had been stuck in between his back and the cast from anywhere up to 5 days.  I'm not really sure how long, I just know that the arm had been missing for about that long.

I kinda freaked out.  I mean, it's really tight back there, and that had to have hurt him.  R has been a little crankier than normal for a few days, but that was the only symptom that something was wrong.  However, he is a much happier boy since we got it out.  I was worried about pressure sores (from the arm).  We thought about taking him to the Dr, but they'd only be able to see if something was wrong if they took off the cast.  We really don't want to do that this early.  And he's still pretty happy, so we've decided to assume that he's ok.  I just wish I could look, and KNOW, you know?

I know that R puts things in his cast.  He's done it with a marble twice now, but it didn't slide down very far and he was screaming for it to come out.  Since it didn't slide down very far, I could just reach with a couple of fingers and get it out.  I thought he'd learned his lesson with the two marbles, but apparently not. :) I'm hoping he's learned his lesson now, as I am guessing it was him that put it in.
But needless to say, we've had a good talk with all of our kids about not putting things in R's cast, telling us if they see him put stuff in it, etc.

Now that's it's over, it's kinda funny.  I just hope he never does it again.

Too tight?

In the last couple of weeks, R has thrown up a handful of times right after mealtime.  Not alot, just a little, like his tummy got too full from eating too much.  I'm starting to wonder if his cast is too tight.  A couple of weeks ago, he started getting pressure sores on his lower back, just above his right hip.  We called Shriner's and they told us to apply some more moleskin, and we did and it cleared up in a couple of days.  But again, this cast just seems like it might be getting too tight.  So I also wonder if we will take it off early, and he'll get more time without his cast on again.  That wouldn't be all bad. :)

I just hope he isn't too uncomfortable.  It's hard to know when to take it off.  When is it too tight?

The PT came today.  He's doing AMAZING.  He's so close to getting up without holding on to anything, he's talking more and more (he's not behind AT ALL in that area).  We're going to space his PT appointments further apart (YES!) because he's doing so well.  The only thing I am worried about in regards to his motor development, is that he isn't turning his neck as far as he used to.  When he turns his head far to either side, his chin runs into the part of the cast that goes over his shoulders, and he seems to be convinced that he can't turn it well anymore.  This just started this week.  Maybe he's stiff (from the cast)? Who knows.  But he won't look at things to the side or behind his shoulder without turning his whole body. 

I"m so proud of him.  He works really hard to be able to do so many things, like getting up and off of chairs, go up and down stairs, stand up, bend over, etc.  He doesn't ever complain about these things either.  I think he likes some of these challenges.  Such a boy.

Cast pictures!!

Thought I'd better add some pictures of Russell in his second cast.
I just think he's so adorable.
Oh yes.

We get to choose the color of the cast each time, and this time we chose green.

We get lots of comments on his cast.  Most people agree he's either a future football player or current ninja turtle.  I vote for the second. Ninja turtles are tough. And awesome.

The cut out you can see on his right, above, is for his lungs to be able to expand, and so that his ribs are able to come out (they sink into his back right now, due to the rotation of the spine).

The cut out in the front is for his stomach (so it has room when he eats) and for his lungs to be able to expand.

The cast extends about four inches below his waistline, you just can't see it.

The physical therapist came yesterday, and we have started some new exercises for him.  Mostly to strengthen his stomach muscles.  The cast tends to weaken them.  We're also working on getting him to be able to stand up without holding on to anything, so that if he's in the middle of the yard, or the carpet with nothing to hold onto he's not stuck.  He bounces on an exercise ball, rocks back and forth, and steps off and on a balance board (the same one we use for Tyler in vision therapy), have him push the exercise ball around, and we just have him get down on the floor and get up over and over.  His arms are really strong, but his legs and torso need more strengthening.  He did so great yesterday.

Yuck

This post if full of TMI, just to forewarn you.

We woke up this morning to find out that R has the stomach flu- coming out of both ends.  This is the first time he's thrown up in his cast.  That made for nasty nasty clean up, and I think it still smells.  I'm going to try the tea tree oil I have, and see if that helps the smell get better.  Thanks to the water-proof shells my neighbor sewed for R, the diaper leaking was not a problem last night.  My neighbor owns Stitch-to-Stitch, where she sells hand-made children's clothing.  The clothes are soo adorable-go check it out.  And she volunteered, and worked and worked with us to come up with this diapering solution.  Now I'm not cleaning the cast every other morning when the diaper leaks.  Thank you thank you sweet neighbor of mine!! 

This flu is coming at the end of a long week with no daddy around, since he's at Scout camp right now.  We've had a good week, filled with with lots of fun stuff, and some crazy and unexpected really stressful things, that I won't share on here, but I'm so happy he's coming home tomorrow.  We've really missed him.  I hope he's ready for the hug attacks he's going to get tomorrow. :)

Feeling settled

I haven't posted in a couple of days, because I haven't known what to write.  As in, I haven't known what to complain about.
And even though this is typically where I go to complain, I really don't have anything to complain about.  We're doing really well.  R is adapting more to the cast, and we have settled in to our new normal in this phase of life. 
I just feed him practically all day, which is made easier with those snack containers you can get at Walmart, where he can stick his hand in and pull out some food, yet it doesn't spill easily.  So I just give him one of those and leave a sippy cup of water out where he can reach it, and he wanders all over the house able to eat and drink and play.  And we still do mealtime too, and it amazes me that he eats then too, most of the time.
The screaming has gotten better.  He still does it alot, but it's better.  I'm not as embarrassed as I used to be about it, because I tell myself that when people see him and his cast, they realize he has something to scream about. :) I don't know if that's really what they are thinking, but it gives me a more positive outlook on those around me.  
He's been sleepy REALLY well this week, which also helps reduce the screaming.  I was really amazed when he slept for  3 hours yesterday, when I had 7 other children in my house (3 of whom were mine) making all kinds of racket.  But it was so nice to only deal with the other 7 without him too, especially when the 9 month old slept for the last hour too. 
So, I guess what it boils down to, is that when your kid is eating and sleeping ok, then everything else settles down too.   And life feels pretty good this week.  So I'm just enjoying it.

Carseat

Yesterday, we got R's carseat padded in a way that will better accomodate his cast.  Before, when he would sit in it, the cast would force his torso to be rigidly diagonal, so his chin was against the top of the cast.  Scott and I got some cushion padding at wal-mart and cut it to fit the carseat and go behind his back, and he looks sooo much more comfortable now.

We had R's visit with the physical therapist today, and he's doing so good.  We've been working on getting him to be able to stand up in the middle of a room, when there's nothing to hold on to.  And he's getting better at it.  Now, I can just stand behind him (where he can't see me) and gently pull up on his cast without him even knowing I'm helping (which is essential with an almost 2-yr-old).  We hope to be able to get him to do it without even that much help.  They also told me about a park near here that is an equal -access park, for kids with braces, wheelchairs, etc.  He might fit those swings and slides better.  I'm excited to go and try it out. 

The screaming is still kinda bad.  I got some good advice-thanks everyone.  We have a family get-together in one week, and again in two weeks.  I seriously hope it gets better before then.

"I Scream"

Anybody got ideas on how to teach a child not to scream? Cause I've got a major high-pitch screamer on my hands.  I'm ok with the crying, I know how to deal with that.  But the super-loud high-pitch wailing is OUT OF CONTROL over here.

Part of it is that he's still learning how to communicate, and he's very frustrated that he can't tell us what he wants.  That's pretty normal.  But he's also just very very angry all the time.  He's  so MAD MAD MAD.

And the screaming is making me deaf.  And I"m pretty sure no one wants us to ever visit them anymore.  I just don't know what to do.  We've begun (about 6 weeks ago) teaching him some signs to help him communicate what he wants.  He's picked up on "drink", but that's about it.  I've been trying to talk to him more, about everything, so that he can understand as much as possible about what's going on in his life. 

But the screaming has got to stop.  So any ideas, I'd love to hear them.