The Summer of the Spica Cast

On June 24 poor Josh fell from a jungle gym at daycare. The details are a little hazy, but Josh insisted that "Jackson did it."  He sustained a displaced spiral fracture of his left femur -- a very high energy injury!  Josh ended up at CHOP where he went to the O.R. for fracture reduction and application of a "spica cast" -- essentially a body cast that also encases and immobilizes the affected limb.  Josh was amazingly brave throughout the entire hospitalization!

The first week was pretty rough, as we were constantly trying to reposition Josh to keep him comfortable while also preventing pressure sores.   We even had to do this every 2 hours through the night -- it was like having a newborn again!  Diapering was also a challenge -- Josh was nearly potty trained when this happened -- but now he needed one small diaper wedged up within the cast and another much larger one outside the cast to keep the inner one in place. 

Day to day, Josh was cared for by 2 fantastic nannies, Jamie and Julie, with a lot of pinch-hitting from MomMom, PopPop and Aunt Courtney. He also had many visits from the Bowers/Barnes/Schlesinger clan. Grandma and Grandpa stayed for an entire week -- Josh was (deservedly) spoiled with affection!

 As he got better, we braved a few outings. First was to the movies to see "Cars 2". We parked Josh's red wagon in the handicapped zone and he really loved the movie!

 Next stop was the aquarium, with cousins Jack and Will. Daddy got a major workout carrying Josh (very heavy in this cast!) most of the way.

 Eventually the cast became second nature to Josh and he didn't let it phase him. He even learned to stand... walk... breakdance... and golf (!) in the cast!

FINALLY on August 12, after 7 long weeks, just was freed from his cast!! It almost seemed like a step backward, as he was understandably hesitant to walk and had a significant limp.  Still, it was such a relief to be able to give him a real hug and a real bath. Within a week, he had improved so much he was able to return to school. 

Josh was so unbelievably brave and resilient throughout this entire ordeal. He has incredible coping skills. It's a blessing that he won't remember it, but it showed us that this kid can do anything!