Making the Cast Removable

I was soo dreading this!!! They were suppose to do it yesterday but for some reason didn’t do it..so when the drs. made there rounds this morning I mentioned that we needed to get it done before the epidural came out bc I was not taking that epidural out before we did the whole cast thing.and I made sure I told the pain management team when they came by this morning to take the epidural out. I remembered exactly what it was like last time. It was HORRIBLE!!!
So when they put the cast on during surgery they made it removable. It had two slits on each side that they cut then just taped it for the time being.
 

So they had to prepare the cast..basically that means put padding on and a net over it all on the inside bc there was a bunch of cotton before.

So in order to do that it is kind of a process. They have to take the bottom half first then they keep the cotton on her and wrap her up in ace bandage so she doesn’t move and the top of the cast is still there. She doesn’t like to be touched and moved..so of course it’s a big deal.We were giving her a bath right before this so we gave her an extra boost from her epidural bc I knew it was going to be painful and rough for her. We also gave her a dose of valium before we started too just bc of all the extra movement and everything..So for the back piece you are suppose to roll her on her stomach and then take the back piece off and wrap her up again in the ace bandage then she just lays there on her stomach for like an hour while they prepare the other side. Well her nurse wouldn’t give her the clearance to lay on her stomach for the hour bc it puts a lot of pressure on her lungs and you cant have any respiratory problems but since we have been having lots of problems with her breathing and respiratory issues that is why they wouldn’t clear her to do it. So there was three of them that just lifted her straight up and then put her back down while they prepared the back piece.

They did the same to put it back on..just lift her straight up and slide the back piece back under her and then you put the front the front back on and line it all up and strap it together..Then they come back and do the same thing with the front…But while we were putting the back on hey decided it would be a good time to take the epidural out so we don’t have to bug her back only once. And even though she is not taking anything by mouth yet they are going to give her pain medicine through her IV.

Putting the front piece back on that was rough..very rough..whoa…that was an experience..I def had my crying moment..it hurt…it hurt so bad to see that. it was gut wrenching. She was in so much pain..and crying uncontrollable and wasn’t consolable at all. She kept arching her back and wouldn’t let us strap it down…and kept screaming “owie” and so we gave another shot of morphine quickly.. Her stats dropped very quickly, she pretty much stopped breathing…she turned this awful pale color.They had to quickly put a mask on her with oxygen..she kept looking at me to save her...She must of thought she was getting out of it or something crazy like that since she was just a fighter putting it back together. I'm not sure it was a good idea to take the epidural out at the same time or not..but they did give her fast acting morphine at first that seemed to make it better but then it just went down hill…It was a long process that I don’t wish to repeat anytime soon!



In the end I know its a good thing that it is removable..if only we lived closer here too we could bring it back in and they would repad it..that would have been nice last time when she had a little accident in her cast… Dr. Kim doesn’t want us to remove it at all until her first appointment back and after the first set of xrays which is the first 4 weeks