The Casts Are Gone

My son and I got our casts cut off last Monday. Same day. True story. The injuries were completely unrelated, so since they came off the same day, we thought we'd throw a cast-cutting party that night. We had friends over and had cake and ice cream. We probably don't need an excuse like that to celebrate, but whatever works. It felt good to be free of the cast.

I wasn't sure it was my leg I saw when the nurse cut the cast off. The calf had shrunken so small, it looked like a chicken leg. And my ankle was still swollen and so stiff that I could barely flex the joint. I now have a fashionable orthopedic boot to wear around town (for only $95). It looks something like the picture here. No, that's not my leg.

I'm slowly putting more weight on the foot when it's in the boot ... and yesterday, I was able to walk a little bit without my crutches! I'm very proud of myself. I am constantly amazed at the human body's ability to repair itself. I think it's miraculous that a bone can stitch itself back together and make itself almost as good as new.

My son's knee is still pretty stiff too, but it's starting to limber up a little. It's nice to have our bodies healing. My orthopedist has been really helpful, but once we're done with healing these injuries, I think we'll be done supporting our friendly local orthopedists for a while. Emily and I have outlawed broken bones in our family for the next few months.