Physiotherapy was at 9:00 am so we all had to move a bit faster this morning.  After a brisk walk to the hospital we ran into another SDR family in the therapy waiting room who we have chatted with a few times.  It was nice to catch up on how they were doing.

Evelyn worked really hard this morning.  She started on the treadmill again but this time she walked backwards for six minutes.  Next she worked with a giant blue exercise ball.  She first walked/rolled it to the back of the room.  Then practiced standing while rolling it back and forth with Daddy.  Lastly, she sat on the ball and did some core work.  She reached in various directions for puzzle pieces while balancing on the ball.  She completed two puzzles  and Rebecca was impressed with her core strength!

The last part of the session was completing another puzzle but Evie had to kneel down to pick up a piece, side step to a set of stairs and then climb the stairs to put into the puzzle board.  After two of these rounds she was not in a good mood anymore. The last two times were a struggle and Ev demanded to go home.  She did finish and kudos to Rebecca for holding her ground on completing the task.

After some quiet time it was time to say good-bye to the Moon Boots.  Brian and I debated all week about the removal of the casts.  The  electric saw at therapy would take only a few minutes to remove the casts but could be scary for Ev.  Most people we were told took off the casts themselves but I have heard of a few horror stories about that time consuming process.  Finally, we agreed Brian would try and if it was a bust we would have the casts cut off on Friday.

He was successful on removing the casts and with Evie’s cooperation!  Here are the steps we took in order to remove the casts:

Step 1

The first step is unwrapping the first layer which is flexible fiberglass.  Bye bye fancy drawings!  We laid an old blanket we had on the ground to contain any mess.

Step 2

Next he removed the reinforced (hard) fiberglass.  These just slid off the back.

Step 3

Next he set up a comfortable area for the next few steps.  You will need a sink or a tub and some entertainment.  Thank you Netflix for keeping Evie occupied through the more time consuming part of the process!

Tip – Doesn’t hurt to offer a reward aka a bribe of a treat or something for cooperation.  Evie got a Reese Peanut Butter Cup treat after this was all said and done.

Step 4

After soaking the casts for a few minutes, Brian got started with working away at the plaster.  He used scissors from his Swiss Army Knife to make an initial cut.  Then he slowly unraveled the plaster and  peeled it off.  Evie was a bit unsure of this part and “jumped” at the beginning but eventually realized it wasn’t going to hurt.  The plaster took a while to come off on the right leg as it was only soaking for a few minutes in the warm water before starting the removal process.  The left leg came off much quicker.

Tip – Let the casts soak for 10-15 minutes for easier removal.

Step 5

Once all the plaster was off it was time to remove the sock and foam pieces which were added for comfort.

Step 6

After everything was removed Evie got a foot/leg wash!  She kept moving her legs around, they must have felt so much lighter.  No more stinky feet (well they didn’t really smell, we just joked about it)!

In conclusion, we survived our first round of serial casting.  If/when we do it again, I’ll make sure we have a few more pairs of pants on hand that would go over the thick casts.  We only had two pairs that worked.  Evelyn tolerated them pretty well overall.  They took some time getting used to but she never complained they hurt.  She didn’t enjoy the toe checks though which were important to ensure her circulation was still good.  We covered her toes with socks when outside and we had to use a bit more muscle when lifting her, those casts were heavy!  The permanent markers were also a hit as Evie (and the rest of us) enjoyed decorating the casts.

After 16 days, Evelyn finally had a bath!  It was the first time she has gotten her incision wet.  No issues and some of the glue remained on.  Her scar is healing nicely.  She really enjoyed her bath, practiced her floating and got a nice hair wash.  Oh the little things!!

Tomorrow she gets her new “super shoes” and it will be her first physio session in a week without casts.  We are hoping her range has improved and that we don’t have to do another round of serial casting before we go.  Either way, Evie will at least have the weekend to start using her “new legs” again!  She immediately started walking around the hotel room as soon as those casts were off.

Ciao casts!