It's Been a Long , Hot Summer...

That title is actually one of my favorite Keith Urban songs but my summer was not long and hot because anything fun and sexy was going on over here - bummer egh? As the heat of summer set in with no air conditioning in my house - Finnie went in for her double hip surgery and body cast at Children's Hospital. I really have nothing to complain about because we were in the hospital for two weeks and they had air-conditioning during the first heat wave. The dogs were not happy but only Angie and her cousin Shirley dealt with that mess so I am counting my blessings!

The surgery was a success. New hip sockets, legs in place and no blood transfusion which is rare for this type of surgery. It took several days for the doctors to get Finn's pain meds right and all she could do was cry. It was horrible to feel so helpless in making things better for her.

For the record - body casts are not fun in anyway shape or form. Changing diapers consists of tucking open diapers around the pee pee/poo poo places and hoping you catch it all before in runs down her legs into the cast or goes up the back and out the top - soaking the sheets yet again... At any rate - it all soaks into the cotton that lines the inside of the cast and smells just heavenly! There are not words graphic enough to describe it and I have new respect for the nurses that work that surgical unit and parents that take children home with a body cast.

The body cast was white. White? Really? Do you know how many colors they can make a cast into? My friend Kim had brought some hot pink duct tape to line the poopy part of the cast(so we could wipe it better when it got messed on)and Angie and I went to town. We ripped off strips of duct tape, covering Finn like a pinata! By the time we were done - she was almost two bright to look at. When the nurses came in and saw what we had done - their mouths dropped to the floor. I guess it was a first for them. Too bad no one said that the cast was breathable and we had just sealed in her skins ability to get rid of excess water. (The doctors promptly cut the tape off at our 2nd week appointment and the cast was soaked - oops!)

Once home, we had a few challenges moving her about, finding comfortable spots for her to lay(when she HATES laying) and coming up with ways to entertain her. Finnie always danced her legs to the music to pass the time and now they were stiff and immoveable. Cruel and unusual punishment is what it was. We all found ourselves singing and tapping and waving the pom poms in her face for countless hours to keep her from noticing the situation. I am impressed with the fact that we were very good about not complaining about the heat - since we knew that Finnley was probably 10 times hotter in that body cast and couldn't do one thing about it. It was a long, hot summer...

One Saturday in between classes, I received several calls from the same number. It seemed urgent since they called back to back so I took 5 minutes to see if it was a laboring mom. It was not. Instead it was a delivery man for B & M Distributing and they had a swing to deliver. These are the mack daddy of all swings! They are outdoor swings for adults but the only swing big enough to lay Finn on her back and keep her moving. It was a gift from Mary, the owner and one that I cannot repay anytime soon. IT SAVED US! Finn LOVES it and spends hours in it. We have now tied a clothes line on it so we get a little sit down time too!

After a month, we got the cast cut off and she went into her body brace. She will wear this 24/7 until mid October and then we can just go to the night time only. We were able to pick a funky design so it's not plain white - guess they were scared of what I might try next! So we went with a zebra print. Came out brown instead of black but we are going with it! At least the velcro is hot pink.

The goal is to now have functioning hip sockets so Finnie can learn to bear weight and walk in a walker etc. This is a long process but we have nothing but time to spend :) Our next adventure is to visit the dolphins in Spain...