Eiche fam

Namine is making progress. She is still in pain, but seems to be dealing with it a little better. That, and we have a better idea of when the meds start to wear off, and we can sort of anticipate when she’ll need her next dose. Namine is starting to learn to move around again.

This morning, Namine wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the floor. Not moving around on it, not even sitting on it. By this evening when I got home from work, however, she was starting to warm up to the prospect. After we ate dinner and desert, we dragged the plastic mat back into the middle of the living room floor. The cast catches a little on the carpet, so having something smooth for them to slide on certainly makes it easier for her to move.

Namine has also seemed to have gotten used to the weight in her casts. When I put her on the changing table to change her, the first thing she did was lift up her legs. Once she got her legs perpendicular to her body, she grabbed the casts with her hands to hold them up while I changed her. I am wary of her legs dropping onto the table and hurting her, so I’m careful to ease them back onto the table when I’m done getting the diaper on her.

Even though Namine seems for the most part to be okay with the weight, we still do not pick her up without getting one arm underneath her legs for support. Due to the caudal regression, her hips are dislocated (her femurs are not sitting inside the sockets of her pelvis), so we don’t know what kind of damage the extra weight might cause. I’m not about to find out.

On Monday, Namine has her first re-casting. They’d need to refit the left cast anyway, since they split the one she’s wearing now; the swelling in her leg was just too much. The ortho doc said he wants to try rotating the left foot a little more, so of course they’ll be putting her to sleep for the procedure. Being a heart patient (always first and foremost a heart patient) and having general anesthesia, she’ll be admitted into the PICU afterward and kept for at least one night.