Cast off!

Hurray! The day arrived! Eleven weeks of his spica cast, and now finally Hawk has gotten it off! It was quite a day to look back and realize that this part of Hawk's physical journey has ended. Now he is ready to get stronger, regain flexibility - which he has never even had due to the fact that his hip was dislocated since birth! - learn to sit again, crawl properly, and then up and onwards from there. Meanwhile I am also very relieved to finish this stage because it has been physically tiring and emotionally challenging for me to care for him in the cast. On the whole there, the weeks went smoothly and he stayed healthy and amazingly did not get a stinky cast, as we had been warned!

Here we go! Ready to get it off!

Jim took the day off work to come, and we brought Timo and Mattias. It was their first time to visit Shriner's Hospital. They were very helpful and caring while Hawkins was getting his cast off; very inquisitive during the x-ray, and then very excited to run upstairs to the play room and explore the books, pool table, trucks, snacks and all other kinds of toys.

He cried because of the noise but was fine and happy the rest of the visit.

Yoda statue in the lobby

Bare legs again! Briefly outside at the playground before we headed home.

After we left the hospital we stopped to get late afternoon donuts (decorate your own) to celebrate, along with some falafel sandwiches and fruit salad to eat in the car on the way home. It's always fun to do something special and different from what we are able to do in small-town Sylva.

Hawk really has done amazingly well since getting his cast off. That very afternoon/evening he got down on the floor and crawled a little bit, and the next day he was off again, even though his legs are stiff and have to re-learn how to move again. He's been tender and winces when his leg gets knocked or tries to bare weight; the doctor said that could last up to 6 months. But for now he is free to learn and explore and do as he pleases! (With some gentle massage on his leg and hip muscles.) Isn't that a joy! Two days after the cast got off I saw him pull up to standing on the edge of a stair, and today he pulled up to standing on my legs while I was seated, and then crawled into my lap. This is BIG, people. You should see his proud grin. It's hard to capture on photo because the photos turn out blurry...but here are two from the day after his cast removal.

He's also rediscovering the joy of his toes!! Only on the right side so far. What a fun stage to see him learning something new every day.

the sore on his left knee is rug burn from crawling...

Here he is just before bedtime in his new rhino brace, which he will wear (for a long time yet) while sleeping. It has a molded plastic seat and foam straps over the legs and waist that secure with velcro. The point of it is to keep his hip bone at a more direct angle to the socket, which will help maintain the proper position while he grows and hopefully prevent regression. It's very lightweight and he hasn't complained about it at all. Isn't he the sweetest, most cheerful little guy?