I thought the day would never come.  Since they cut Drew’s cast in order to fit him for a brace, it seems as if Drew was in a lot of pain.  If the two parts of the cast didn’t meet precisely, then Drew’s pain level would sky rocket leaving him screaming for hours.  I would always find the perfect fit, but only after unwrapping and rewrapping it at least two times.  And, considering that I had to remove his cast to change his diaper or give him a bath, it was a very lengthy and frustrating experience for us both.

My spirits were pretty dark after two nights of such excessive screaming during the night that I had no choice but to sleep in a different room and ignoring Drew’s pleas.  Ignoring Drew’s pain is not an easy accomplishment for me.  But, when he’s waking up every thirty minutes complaining and when no amount of pain medicine helped, I had to escape to another room to keep my sanity.  I knew Drew wasn’t going to be able to take much more and I certainly knew that I was at the end of my rope.

So, Tuesday, the day that the prothsetics office said they’d have the cast, I was on the phone inquiring about it’s status.  That evolved into me playing middleman between the office and some insurance billing place to complete the authorization needed for the brace.  I made no fewer than four calls to each relaying the other’s message.  I know I was on the “hate” list of both companies that day but I was not going to let anybody let us fall through the cracks because we were both on the verge of insanity.  Finally, after all of my foot work, the office called to schedule an appointment for Wednesday at 4:15.

The last two days had been so bad that I was starting to get pessimistic about the brace.  When the fixator had come off, I had expected Drew’s pain/discomfort to stop.  But, his cast was quite painful.  Then, when it was cut to be made removable, I expected his pain to stop.  But, it seemed now he was in even more pain.  What if his pain didn’t stop when he got the brace?!?  If I never hear Drew squeal in pain again, it would be too soon.  I just want his pain. to. stop.

BUT, turns out the brace is working really well.  Drew was unsure about it at first, but you should have

seen that thing when he brought it in.  It did look….torturous.  And, the doctor pushed quite heavily on his knee to super flex it the opposite direction to help combat some of the after-surgery extension he’ll lose and that was quite painful for him.  But, even before we left the office he was taking advantage of his new ability to sit up.  And, he was delighted to sit in the truck seat like a normal seat instead of laying on his back with this weird seatbelt contraption.    He hasn’t complained about pain a single time today which is a far cry from his continuous flow of medicine the past couple of days, sometimes even slightly exceeding the recommended amount in desperation to make him feel better.  So, we both approve of the new brace.  Now, we just wait until November 15 for the next surgery.  I’m going to get so spoiled with the lack of drama centering his leg!

Things are going so well with his brace that I took him to downtown WPB to see Hotel Transylvania in the fancy theater.  We ate at BB Kings and a group of high school girls fell in love with Drew and painted his face as they were preparing for their own haunted house event.  Drew got to ride around in his wheelchair again for the first time in almost a month.  All in all, things are looking up!  We can’t wait for other Halloween inspired events we are planning on visiting including a “Spookyville” village with trick-or-treating, a haunted pirate festival and a kid-friendly haunted house.  Bwah-ha-ha-haaaaa!