CAST FREE!! :)

Ok, so I am a little late on getting this up-Kalysa has been cast free for a week now. Last Sunday we headed back to Shreveport. The day started kinda rough. Right as I was finishing up the paper route(about 5:45 am) I got a flat tire. As often as I go through tires on the paper route, it is hard to keep a spare and my donut tire is just about shot so Mom came and got me and ran me home as fast as she could. I took a shower and took Monty's car to get to the city to catch the Shriner van by 7am. Luckily, my dad was in town and was able to take Monty back out there to get my van later that morning. We made it to Shreveport just fine and got the customary phone call from Keslee...."Are you in the same motel? Is it the same room? Is there 2 beds or 1? Is there a microwave? Is Kalysa still awake? Does it have a big tv? Does Kalysa have her Pajamas on yet? Is there a coke machine? Did you get ice?......" About 10 pm I got another call from Keslee saying she wanted me to be home. I told her I would be back the next day and she would be fine spending some time with daddy. Through tears she tells me, "It's just not the same when you are not here. Daddy doesn't listen to me as much as you do." I had to giggle. Poor daddy had probably had his entire day filled with Keslee questions and stories and he is not as used to "listening" for that many hours to the thoughts of a seven year old girl. hehehehe Maybe it will help him appreciate having to listen to the thoughts of a thirty blah blah year old girl more. :) Anyway....we had a free dinner at CiCi's Pizza and then got a good nights sleep in the motel. Monday morning we headed to the hospital and Kalysa got her cast removed. When the cast was almost off, she started to cry. The nurses and I were asking her if something was hurting and she finally let out a whisper..."i'm scared". I asked what she was afraid of and she said she was afraid to see the cut. We assured her that she did not have to look at it if she did not want to but she could not resist. She was quite concerned about the fact that there was a long stitch about 3 inches long sticking out each side of the incision. The stitches throughout the incision had all dissolved and the nurse cut the extra off and Kalysa felt better. There were still tape strips across the cut and Kalysa was very concerned they would hurt when they came off but they did not have to come off right then. A few baths after we got home solved that problem.

Personally, I thought it looked great! I was surprised the cut was so high on her calf since the muscle they operated on was the heel cord but what do I know about these things? After the cast was off we were told to go back to the waiting room and we would be called back to get her new splint. Kalysa was excited to have some time to play with some of the toys and video games in the lobby. A "foster grandparent" set up a table for the kids to paint so Kalysa got to paint a little train figurine. After about 2 hours I walked over to the department that we were waiting on to see what as taking so long and everyone was busy. Kalysa and I went to the cafeteria to get a snack. All the other patients riding on the van were already finished with their appointments and were just waiting on us. After out snack, we went back to orthodics and found out that the reason we had not been called is because they did not have her scheduled. They had her scheduled to pick up her splint the week before-which would have been impossible since she still had a cast on. They pulled up her information and got her right in. After her splint was cut down to fit her foot we had to go back to the waiting room and wait to be seen by a doctor to check the splint. The splint she had before had a lift on it since her left leg is 1/2 inch shorter than the right and the new splint did not so the doctor sent us back to orthodics to get a lift added. They do not put lifts on the splints but on the shoe so we had to leave her left shoe and they will mail it to us when it is fixed. We finally left the hospital about 2:30 pm which got us back to the city around 10:30 pm and home around 11:30. It made for a really long day but I am so thankful for the fact that I did not have to drive and was able to sleep some on the van.

The design for the splint Kalysa picked out has pink and blue butterflies all over it. It is really cute and the most girly design they had available! I knew exactly what she was gonna pick as soon as I saw it. She picked it out when we were there for her surgery and she had the mold made.

Since her tennis shoe is still in Shreveport, she has been wearing her house shoes. The splint is hard plastic and is very slick so she has to have something over it or risk slippin and slidin all over the place when she walks.

She loves wearing her splint now just as much as she loved the last one. It will keep her foot at a 90* angle and prevent the newly repaired muscle from contracting and tightening up again.

Even without the splint, she can easily stand with her foot flat on the floor. Of course we knew there was a problem since she always walked on her toe and her muscle was so tight but it never slowed her down. She would run and play and dance and spin and jump around with all the other kids. Sunday night, after church, I watched her running and playing outside with the other kids and could really tell a difference in her gait. It looked so much more natural and "normal". It amazed me to see how much the surgery has changed her movements when I never really noticed her movements not being "normal" to begin with.

After a few baths and lots of vitamin E oil, the tape strips finally came off. The scar looks really great. I bet after a little more healing time it will be hardly noticeable at all.


As for now, we do not have any more appointments scheduled for Shreveport but I know she is supposed to be seen a year after surgery. The Shriners will continue to provide any future care she may need until she is 18. I am just so thankful that the Lord provided this opportunity for my little Glori-Bell.