This Monday

It has been a week since Gavin fractured his right femur, and I have been able to find some positives in this experience when compared to last time. (Looking for the silver lining is the only thing keeping me sane at this point). So here is my list so far:

BECAUSE WE WENT TO DOERNBECHER AND SAW A PEDIATRIC ORTHOPEDIST...

1. The cast is much more streamlined. There isn't that bar and it doesn't seem to go so far up his chest.

2. The pediatric orthopedist only keeps spica casts on for FOUR WEEKS. Half the time of the last cast. Granted, Gavin will not walk for another two to three weeks after getting it off...but still!

3. Doernbecher will not send home a child in a spica cast without a specially designed loaner car seat. (Which is why we stayed at Doernbecher an extra night...they didn't have one ready). I am AMAZED at how comfortable Gavin is in this car seat!

4. They also sent us home only after first having an HOUR long consultation with an occupational therapist. I was amazed at how much information we got this time around! Of course, we had already figured out a lot of it through trial and error last time but one of the main ideas for toileting that we are using now came from this saintly lady!

So although we were kind of pushed into going to Doernbecher because they wanted to look into other bone problems Gavin might have (to rule out child abuse...did I mention that in the last post?? Yeah...nightmare) ANYWAY...although the reason for going to Doernbecher was a bummer to begin with, we are so grateful we went!

BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE THIS SPICA CAST THING BEFORE...

5. We didn't have to waste the first week at home trying to figure everything out. We had the wheelchair waiting for us when we got home, my mom had already found some long pants that fit the requirements for spica cast modification, and we had the major spica cast secret (BEANBAG CHAIR!) waiting to come downstairs.

6. We were able to focus our attention on the one thing we DIDN'T do the last time, which was encourage Gavin to use the toilet. Wonder how we do that?? #1 goes in a handheld urinal (which he thinks is so cool - he even shared that at Primary this last Sunday "I pee in a cup!") #2 goes in the toilet. He sits backwards on the toilet (idea from the OT) and I sit in a chair behind him and prop him up. (He also loves this...he's even fallen asleep in this position!) What a blessing it has been to not be worried about the cleanliness of that area of the cast!

BECAUSE GAVIN WAS A LITTLE OLDER THIS TIME...

7. The doctors let him pick a color for his cast. It literally GLOWS when we are outside at twilight! 8. He is more easily entertained AND I can trust him with activities like painting!

Awesome train set courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa H!

Playing "drums" with kitchen utensils while I cook dinner.

As difficult as this has been for our family, we have already seen an outpouring of blessings to help us through this hard time. We are so grateful for a loving and understanding Heavenly Father who has given us comfort and blessed us with wonderful people in our lives!