Cast Day is Coming

Over the last couple weeks we've been distracted by lots of little things...  the Botox fiasco, therapy, blisters from Summer's AFO, bumps, bruises etc, that we have not really given much thought toward how we are going to 'deal with' next week - Week 1 Serial Casting... 

We've done all the practical ground work: appointments booked, brace and cast boots ordered, school and daycare notified, therapy scheduled, swimming lessons cancelled, (I hope we didn't forget anything!)

Summer is very aware of what Monday will bring in terms of her receiving a cast on her right leg, (afterall, she broke her leg in July 2010) but I know she is not prepared for the implications and the difficutly she will likely experience.  The first week will be the hardest I presume, both in keeping her mobile, happy and, well, clean.  Thankfully her orthotist suggested we remove each cast one day, and reapply the next - not practical for the number of apointments (doubled), but the all important bath can happen that evening!

showing off her 'freaky hand' 

Her index finger is hyper extended.  Probably made worse by her fall yesterday when she pretty much bent it backwards... 

The Importance of Sticking to a Plan

Summer begins her serial casting on Monday.  She is prepared, we are prepared.  It is completely new to us so we'll have to take it one day at a time.

As I mentioned in my last post, Sum received botox injections last week.  And, well, now we know the importnace to 'sticking to our plan'.

You may recall last July Summer experienced botox 'spill-over' and lost her hand function.  Subsequent to that, it was agreed between Don, the Dr. and me, that we would not inject her forearm in the future as she had experienced minimal gain in hand and wrist supination.

So, there we were, Summer was feeling pretty good from the sedation meds and the Dr. indicates that she is going to inject only one forearm muscle.  Don and I expressed our apprehension and she reassured us the muscle she would inject would help with arm extension.  We reluctantly agreed to the injection.

Well, we should have stuck to our plan.  'Spill-over' effects started to appear that afternoon, and she has now lost all grip strength in her right hand. 

Surprisingly, she is being well humoured about it and we dug out her hand splint to minimize the affect on her posture.  But I can't even express how disappointed we are to be in this position, again.

Pre-Cast Botox

We headed to Orillia yesterday for Summer's pre-serial casting botox.  She received a couple of injections in her arm and several in her leg. Its purpose is to help reduce the spasticity in the muscle so that the other tissues can be stretched.  This time prepares her for the three week serial casting where she will have three casts on her right leg to stretch and lengthen her heel cord so that she can hopefully be able to stand on her foot in a flat position. 

It looks like Summer will be taking after me in the 'tall department', so this likely won't be the only time we will have to do this.  She's grown at least 2.5 inches since August, that is a lot for her leg to keep up with.

It's never an easy appointment - as appointments go, as I have often said in the past, but Summer handles it like a champ. I can honestly say, that if sedation was not an option, I don't think we could put her through the procedure.

Baby Ben

On Thursday, Summer and ran a bunch of errands and had a visit to the orthopaedic lab to begin getting ready for serial casting.  They had a knee immobilizer in stock and it fit well.  We (Karen, Summer's orthotist and I) that Summer will need a new AFO (ankle foot brace) for when her casting period is over.

During the afternoon, between lunch and Summer's appointment, we lucked out that Lindsay and Ben were home, and up for a visit.  Summer and I got lots of baby snuggles.  Summer said to me "when I am holding Ben, I look like a big sister."

Horsing Around

On Saturday we visited with my friend Tracy McLeod who was doing a 'schooling show' in Chisholm.  Summer was excited to see her and especially her horse Dolby.  We watched her jump for and then Summer had an opportunity to groom Dolby and have a little sit on her.  Summer met Dolby a few years ago, but she was quite afraid.  How things change, she was so excited and only jumped a few times when Dolby whinnied.

Friends Tour Vol IV

This is the final chapter of our weekend.  We concluded Sunday evening with Barb and Laurie by Laurie and Don beating us at Euchre by ONE point.  Summer's ophthalmology appointment was at 08:30, so we had to be up early to head into the city.  We were the second appointment of the day, and it is March Break, so both the traffic on the roads and in the waiting room of the Eye Clinic were significantly lighter.  Summer saw the orthoptist and she determined that we need to ramp the patching back up to strengthen Summer's right eye.  There has not been a major change, but enough of one to warrant more patching than the 3-6 hours we were doing since the fall.  She assured us that it is not an exact science and that it is not uncommon to go back and forth on the amount of patching needed.

Summer thought she should have her picture taken with Micky in the HSC Cafeteria

We finished up at eye clinic and had coffee with our dear friend Heather, before we hit the highway and headed north. 

Friends Tour Vol III

We arrived in Bolton long past our bedtimes.  Barb and Laurie waited up for us; we tucked Summer right into bed and had a quick chat before we also hit our pillows.

In the morning Don headed off to the 'Great Reel Exchange' event at Bass Pro.  He returned an hour later with his new toy and we prepared to set off for an adventure to the Bad Lands.  It was quite an interesting sight and a good little walk.  After a wee hike we headed to the Spirit Tree for lunch.

It was a perfect day, 15 degrees, so we headed back to the Bunton's for some 'deck/play time' before Kristen, Mike and Zoe arrived for dinner. 

Friends Tour Vol II

We arrived in Port Hope later than planned. (and we hadn't even lost the hour from the time change as of yet!) and picked up with Julie, Christian, Murielle and Peter - right where we left on two years ago.  And this year, we were delighted to meet Emmanuelle - Julie and Christian's 14 month old daughter.  'M' as she is fondly referred to, also has her own blog so we kind of feel like we have already met her. She is a super-cutie and it was great to see Julie in 'mommy-mode'.  Murielle and Peter have not changed a bit and are enjoying retirement at the Green House with their golden's Charlie and Briggs.

Murielle, Julie and M

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon catching up.  Summer entertained us with her new imitations of Emily Miller's gymnastics moves. She enlisted my assistance to help flip her around.  It was a little precarious but I managed not to drop her on her head.  After a yummy dinner and an amazing dessert (Julie has become a domestic diva and baked an amazing bundt cake! As if???), we bid farewell headed to our next destination - Barb & Laurie's in Bolton.

Summer practicing her 'moves'

Friends Tour Vol I

We did a tour of southern Ontario over the weekend and caught up with friends and family.  On Friday, we stole away from work early to make it to Brooklin in time for dinner with the Miller's.  We hadn't seen them since August and we had a great catch-up.  When we arrived, Elise commented on how much Summer had grown - she has a couple of inches on boys at this point.  Eric turned around to his mom and says: "how old is she, anyway!" This is particularly funny as Summer and Matthew and Eric were NICU mates at WCH and HSC.  

Chris and Catie and their 3 kids also came over that evening and they all had a blast. We had some chilly outdoor time on Saturday morning then headed out after lunch for Port Hope.

Dentist, Snow & Specs!

Summer received a 'clean bill of cavity-free teeth' at her check-up.  She still has not lost any baby teeth.

Poor thing, I was gagging just watching her! (I don't think they make those 'trays' small enough for little kids...)

A little snow fell on the weekend.  Spring can show up anytime!

Summer got her new specs yesterday.  She takes after me - she chose the most expensive frames! She is getting into the habbit of only making faces when I pull out the camera...