....We have just under 4 weeks until Maisie will be freed from the cast, but she is growing stronger & stronger as the days go by....
....We were using Jelonet gauze on Maisie's wound and after about 5 days we noticed a rash that had formed on her left side, it was all over the wound, up through the cast to her chest. As is was a Tuesday when we noticed this I rang the surgeon as she was at our local hospital in clinic, I spoke to her secretary and explained what was happening, so she kindly went and spoke to the surgeon who said to stop using the Jelonet and go back to dry gauze. Unfortunately Maisie had an allergic reaction to the Jelonet - the 1 thing that would help her wound and she has a reaction to it! Oh well, lets just hope, we thought! Later on that day as I was changing Maisie's nappy, it was almost tea time, I pulled the dry gauze from her wound and there was the discharge & a few spots of blood there, Alan was straight on the phone to the GP surgery and we got an appointment within half an hour. Once we saw the doctor he had a good look at her wound. He did say it was only superficial but that he would prescribe some antibiotic cream to apply 3 times a day & to leave it uncovered. This is working a treat, I apply it with a glove on (so I don't pass any other germs to her wound from my finger), I can feel each time I apply the cream that its getting better, which is great. On the other hand however Maisie does not like her wound being touched at all, she will say in such a sweet innocent voice almost crying "good girl, good girl" to which I reply "yes, you are a good girl"!!!....
.....A slight adjustment has had to be made to Maisie's Spica chair too, where her legs are casted wider she does not fit in the seat properly - she slides forward, so what Alan did was, get a belt, (the material ones you buy on some jeans) and cut the belt fasteners off & has securely screwed it in the middle underside of the seat to make a loop coming up the front of the seat, so when we put her in the chair we just thread the harness into it and this secures her comfortably on the seat!....A week later we had a follow up appointment with the surgeon, she is really pleased with Maisie & how she is adapting to life in her new cast. We did have concerns about Maisie trying to stand while she's casted, the surgeon was not too worried about this but did advise us to keep an eye on her when she's trying to pull herself up just in case she hurts herself. Apart from that, once the cast is off Maisie will go into a splint for bedtime only, which will put her in the position she is now to help the hip carry on growing, and will be reviewed in July to check her progress!....
....Apart from being unable to walk Maisie is getting around really fast and rather than sniping around the house she now uses her hands to walk (and drag her cast) like we would use our legs to walk is how Maisie uses her hands, the muscle in her arms is unreal, she is so strong. Maisie is constantly throwing herself from her back to her front, then onto her back again, she really is trying her hardest to do what she wants to do, nothing can stop her. With the new cast shape has come lots and lots of sleepless nights, maybe she's uncomfortable or just wants to know your their, but we have found that maneuvering the pillows in her cot and lying her a little flatter than before she is settling most nights now....
Steph xxxx
