It's Off!

 Today we finally got rid of the cast. It was a long month of a stinky, itchy, dirty arm. Having never broken a bone myself, I was interested in how they put the cast on and took it off. I love Jensen's face in this picture. He was laughing rather hysterically when she started sawing through the cast. I think the vibration of the saw (which kind of tickled), plus the excitement of it finally coming off, added in with his nervousness about being cut, made him laugh harder than he needed to. The nurse was very patient and stopped when he stared to feel too scared. But we eventually got it off. And boy was that arm yucky! I was very thankful I had brought along my nail clippers, because as soon as his hand was kind of washed off, I made sure to trim those nails back down to an appropriate length!

For the next couple of weeks Jensen has to wear these two little bands called "Buddy Bands." These will help him to keep the finger protected, but also allow him the mobility and flexibility needed to help his fingers to regain strength. He's been cracking me up all afternoon because he still acts like he can't use that hand at all. 

While Jensen really never complained of any pain in his hand, or even about any of his discomfort, it was clear that he felt very restricted and upset about having that arm in a cast. He often had a hard time controlling himself, whether he was excited or mad. The temper that we said goodbye to a long time ago reappeared, which was difficult for all of us to deal with. But I'm really hoping that the loss of the uncomfortable cast will help our happy Jensen come back.