April 10, 2013, we headed back down to PCMC to get Scottie's cast taken off. The discharge instructions we were given after his surgery said to soak the cast until it was almost all the way off, then wrap it in a wet rag, that was wrapped in a plastic bag, and then come in. So, we did that. Scott was ecstatic to be getting it off and asked if I could take some lotion down with us to help with his itchy skin.
Soaking his hand. It actually took a lot longer than I was expecting to soak it off.
On the way up to Hutch's office. We're excited!!
The nurse taking the bag off . . .
. . . followed by the cast.
Video of the nurse taking his cast off. It is pretty graphic . . .
And it's off!
With lots of dead skin surrounding it.
And a cool new scar!
After the cast was off, the nurse and I rubbed a bit of the dead skin off, and then she grabbed a hemostat and took the first pin out - without telling us what she was doing. We had assumed that Hutch would take the pins out, so this was a huge shock. Scott started to cry, and pushed her hand away when she went to take out the next pin. She literally held his hand down, had me hold his other hand out of the way, and just pulled. It was so unexpected and painful that Scottie was literally in shock for about the next 30 minutes.
Taking the first pin out . . .
. . . and the second one's out
The above picture just breaks my heart. You can see him crying, and I'm doing my best to hold him tight and just crying right along with him. As the nurse left, she asked if she could do anything for him, and his only request was a glass of water.
His hand next to the two pins
In total shock while we wait for the dr.
The dr. examining the finger and his scar for infection
The x-ray checking placement of the pins before they were trimmed off
The before and after x-rays . . .
His hand before the surgery is on the right hand side . . .
After the surgery is on the left
A close-up of the results after surgery
After he had examined his hand, we went down to a little office and saw the x-rays, while he talked to us about physical therapy. He called the PT over, Andrew Bracken, and told Andrew what he wanted in a splint, and what type of exercises he wanted Scottie to be doing for the next 6 weeks.
Dr. Hutchinson, and Andrew, the PT
So, we thanked Hutch, and then walked across the hall with Andrew to his office. He sketched Scottie's hand, and then went to work forming a splint for him.
Tracing his hand on a napkin
Scottie liked the next part because to form the splint, Andrew had to stick the plastic into some very warm water to soften it up. Once it was softened, he could put it on Scott's hand to mold it exactly how he wanted. Scott loved that it was warm on his hand.
Forming the splint around Scott's hand
The splint he'd wear for the next 6 weeks
Once the splint was formed, Andrew showed us some exercises that we were to do with Scott to help get his joints moving again. We were to hold his knuckles (like in the picture below), while Scott pulled his fingers down as far as he could. Then hold at the middle knuckles while he did the same thing. Then, he was to pull his middle finger towards his ring finger, and finally curl his hand into a fist as best he could.
Teaching us the PT for Scott's hand
Poor Scott was emotional and just ready to be done
Once we were done with Andrew, we made an appointment to see Dr. Hutchinson in 6 weeks for a PT follow-up. Scott made some remarkable progress, and we're so proud of him.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this! For medical nerds like me, this stuff is totally fascinating, and I love seeing the x-rays and the photos and stuff. (As a PT, my sister will be excited to check this post out, too.) It's looking good! Way to be tough, Scott!
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