Cast Redo

Once again, the tummy bug has landed in our house.

Jack threw up for two days and now has the second phase of this virus, apparently. Yesterday we woke up to a horrific leaking diaper, having already been soaked from sleeping at night, it went out the front, back, and legs. His cast tee was soaked - under the tape and everything!!! Panic ensued. John changed him and then we went to work trying to clean it. We thought we'd been successful until the afternoon when I kept noticing he smelled sour. Having the most sensitive nose in the group, I thought maybe it was just me. But, I finally went to change him and decided something was off and I needed to investigate.

I started un-taping the cast and could not believe how bad it was. Soaked through the tee shirt, into the cotton padding, and UNDER the tape from the inside! I had to remove the entire bottom part of the cast's taping, the cotton underneath, and CUT OFF the shirt! It was that bad. Luckily, after four casts being padded and taped, I kind of knew what I was doing. This new hy-tape that they use in Birmingham is awful. It's SUPER sticky, but rolls at the edges. The colored duct tape we were using, per Chicago's cast tech's recommendation, worked so much better. But, I didn't want Jack to be mis-matched, so I went to work with the salmon colored hy-tape. I used the whole roll to re-do just the bottom. The new shirts are grey and supposedly anti-microbial, but the fibers are so much more rough and abrasive. I'm going to ask if we can get the old kind. It doesn't really make a difference in "odor" that I've found. But, the weave is much further apart and it makes for a less-soft interior. I noticed a spot at the top didn't look right, took it off and it was a HUGE JUMBLED MESS! The tape had, apparently, gotten stuck to itself, so they just taped right over it. No wonder this cast looked so wonky to me. So, I taped over that and tried to get it smoothed out.

Then, I did the underarms again. Poor baby! They were SO red and raw under his arms, and that's such a sensitive place. I pulled the shirt out and it was totally discolored - I assume from the raw skin weeping underneath! :( Poor boy!!! I pulled that part out, cut it off, and saw that this hy-tape had left adhesive and must've been repositioned underneath there when it was too close to the skin - so there was white sticky stuff against his skin this whole time!!!! No wonder it was irritated. Much to his dismay, I stuck a piece of moleskin underneath by carefully shifting his body to one side and laying him on his side. It hurt for a bit, but I think now he'll be much more comfortable.

I'm just so frustrated with this cast taping and SO SICK of stomach bugs. I was ready to go get the whole thing cut off last night and just move to a brace with a local doctor. But, I know this is important and we'll keep it up. I just hate that he (and we) have to go through this some days. It's just not fair! He shouldn't have to deal with a tummy bug AND a cast. :( Yuck!