Week 7 :: Diarrhea + Spica Cast = No FUN!
on Dec 21, 2011, Updated Jan 21, 2022
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Week 7 of hip dysplasia life was marked by Diarrhea and Spica Casts. If your child is in a spica cast, do everything in your power to avoid diarrhea!
We’ve now survived SEVEN weeks in the Spica cast! WAHOOOO! 41 days until Cast CUT OFF FOR GOOD!
We had a major challenge in Week 7 – namely, Sara caught a stomach bug. She vomited most of one night and then had diarrhea the next day. Luckily, the bug was short lived, but let me just tell you how much fun it is to change diarrhea in a spica cast. If at all possible, I highly recommend keeping children in spica casts healthy! 🙂 I know some things are beyond our control. I have no idea where she may have picked up this bug, but it was bad. Ugh. Do everything you can to keep your spica babies healthy!! I have stepped up the Thieves oil again…
Week 7 :: Diarrhea and Spica Casts = No FUN!
In addition to the diarrhea, we’ve got one other problem. She’s got a sore on her leg (the left leg that the cast was cut down on last week). It’s red and irritated. There’s a small lesion (but the sore itself is not infected looking to me) and every once in a while, it feels hot to me. This is it:
I have been covering it with Neosporin and a bandage at night and it’s better in the morning, but the bandage doesn’t stay on during the day and it gets redder as the day wears on. I’m not sure what to do.
We’ve felt all inside the cast to see what might be causing the irritation. I’ve added and taken out mole skin (and you can see the dirt sticking to the adhesives now because of it). I’m watching her leg very closely and look forward to getting my sister’s medical opinion on Friday. In the meantime, if any of you spica savvy parents have ideas for me, please share! The cast feels really tight right there by the sore, and I’m just at a loss.
Aside from the bout with diarrhea and the sore on her leg, most of Week 7 was just fine. Sara has learned to do the splits:
She’s crawling better:
And she’s playing her peek-a-goo games!
And she traveled like a trooper the 6 hours down to my parents’ house in Central Missouri.
We’re looking forward to a fun Christmas with my family and, dare I say it? I’m hoping for a little snow.
Got any suggestions for what to do about that sore on her leg??? I’d really love to hear your opinions. Please and Thank-YOU!
You can read the rest of our hip story here.
No fun indeed! Keep on hanging in there, and enjoy your family!
Thanks, Robin!
How the heck do you fit her in a carseat? I know none of the carseats we have would be wide enough to fit her bottom half…
Yay Sarah!!! The splits!! Way to go!! LOL!
I’ve been wondering, what kind of things are the kiddos getting for Christmas?
We got a carseat from the hospital. She doesn’t fit in ours either. My kids are getting things to encourage creativity this year. It gets harder as they get older. Anna is getting a kid’s sewing machine and lesson books. Ben is my resident artist and is getting a huge art supply box. Cora is getting a beautiful handmade Waldorf doll I got for a steal on eBay. Sara gets a stuffed cat and a little doll! 🙂 I bought as much as I could with swagbucks and credit card rewards. And some other stuff… What are your kids getting?
I was trying to really pay attention to things that they were actually PLAYING with, things that could add to their imagination play (enter the felt food), and things that they needed. I had a $250 budget for all 4 kids. I did the black Friday thing to get awesome cheap playdough kits for the older kids. We LOVE playdough in this house!! The felt food is for all of the kids. Everyone is getting Pj’s. Julian got a play guitar (he hasn’t shut up about the one that broke over a year ago!!). The babies got bath toys. Both Ava and Julian have been talking about those Happy Nappers for months so they both got one. Along with simple coard games, card games, books (Ava loves to read the boys stories now that she can read!!), aprons that I have to decorate to make them very “fru fru” girly, and Lightening McQueen boyish. I thought we were done…
Come to find out upon delivery Jon ordered Ava the Nintendo 3D DS she had been begging for. I did not want her to have one. Last thing I want is for her to be shut away in her room playing it all the time… Anyways, after throwing a fit about it I now have to come up with my house rules for the thing. Maybe find a way for her to earn time on it… UGH!! He BLEW the budget, and now my gift is no longerthe coolest…. I know, it shouldn’t matter. But I’m really proud of my felt food! Have you seen the latest additions? So cute!!
Anyhow, it is a MUCH smaller Christmas than usual. Surprisingly I’m so much more excited for them to see what they got than I ever have been! Usually we just buy, buy, buy, meaningless gifts. This year I focused on quality. Feels so much better.
I don’t have experience with a spica cast, but…. Both our kiddos and myself have had bad results using neosporin. Every time we use it on sores or lesions, they get more red and more sore. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this in the past with any of your children, but I just wanted to throw it out there. We have used hydrogen peroxide, zinc oxide ointment, and antibiotic salve with much more success. I know that many people like arnica salve, but I haven’t tried it yet myself. Vinegar also draws out inflammation, but it’s usually through soaking in a vinegar (1 cup)/water (1 gal) solution (like a bath), which is obviously not an option for you right now. I’ve used raw honey on pimples and irritated skin on the face, and it’s healed up in a day or less. I haven’t tried it on actual sores. I don’t know if any of this is helpful or not, but I wanted to throw it out there just in case it could be! Hopefully, your sister has some helpful tips for you! Hoping the next 41 days go quickly!
Thanks, Crystal! I do have arnica – but I didn’t pack it with me. DOH! Love the vinegar solution option. I did call the surgeon today and we’ve pried back the cast with pliers and I’m watching it closely. I’m certain the sore is from the cast rubbing on her leg and that’s what the surgeon said also. It’s looking better already since we’ve pried the cast back a bit.
Great! I’m so glad you were able to visit with the surgeon and alter the cast a bit to help heal the sore! Thank you so much for sharing your “hip story” here on your blog. May you continue to be encouraged through this journey, and I hope the next few weeks go fast!
Oh, I’m so sorry for you. Diarrhea in the cast was something I dreaded, and thankfully Bronwyn never got it. Have you ever heard of B&W (burn & wound) Salve? I think it’s made by Amish people. It is the best salve I know of. You could maybe get some at an Amish store in Kalona if you ever get down there.
Sara looks like she’s doing great! Is this her second cast now? Those milestones are so wonderful.