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5/28/99 Pictures of Juliana (from #castroom) in her short leg cast. See below the pictures for more details.
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I was in the blue fiber slc between three and four weeks. At the end I was alternating between not wanting it off yet and "get it off now" feelings. A part of me liked wearing it and a part of me was tired of it. It was so pretty that a part of me didn't want it removed, but the other part knew it had to be.
During the third week, I was getting questions about when it was coming off because it had been three weeks. I had said I had to wear it until sometime after Easter. It was the week after Easter when I made the appointment to have it removed. I couldn't do it myself as there would've been too many questions, and I had accidentally made the foot/ankle part too thick.
Easter was fun. Most of my family gathered at my sister's house. My brother couldn't come as he lived out of state. There was some attention given to the cast, and what had happened, but not too much. I had worn shorts so that it would be visible, and had worn the cast shoe because I would be doing some outdoor walking and it would've seemed odd to suddenly go outside without it. Since I have a small foot the shoe covered most of my foot, even though it was open toed. Later in the evening I took off both shoes (my sneaker and cast shoe) because the cast one was bugging me. It gave me a chance to show off the matching nail polish. The ladies in the group found it amusing, maybe some of the guys did too.
I had the cast removed in a sports medicine place. I told them that I had injured it out of state and they'd told me to have the cast removed in three weeks. While I was in the exam room waiting to be decasted, I saw all the fiber packs, stockinette and padding on a shelf. Hey, what are you supposed to do when there's nothing to read? I didn't get up and study them closely. It was too early and I hate mornings.
While I was waiting this older woman was shown to the same room. She had a camwalker in a box. Her HMO had shipped it to her and it didn't have any instructions on how to put it on. She was supposed to have had it a month earlier but they sent one for the wrong leg. She had achilles' tendon problems. Because of the delay, she'd completely snapped it. She was trying to avoid surgery, but knew the delay, and further injury most likely meant surgery in the future. One of the assistants/nurses/whatever they're called in those offices, showed her how to put it on, having a little trouble with that particular model. Then she had trouble walking in it because she didn't know if she had to walk differently or like normal. The assistant helped her walk until she got the hang of it. The lady didn't seem too happy with the camwalker, but accepted it.
The same assistant and the x-ray technician cut off the cast. The assistant showing the tech how to do it. The assistant ran the saw over her palm, then mine to show it wouldn't cut me. It did tickle. They used the spreader after the cast was cut, then used the bandage scissors to cut through the padding.
I was taken for X-rays, which was in the room behind me. They showed nothing, of course.
The doctor came in and asked me questions which I had answers to, or at least most of the questions. He examined my ankle and said, possibly a little surprised, that the sprain was healed. The cast was in good shape he said into his tape recorder, along with other stuff. He was going to give me an Aircast but at the last minute prescribed another brace.
They tossed the cast out before I could say anything. Oh well. It was cracked under the big toe. (BTW, Crazy Glue doesn't work. I tried fixing the crack.)
I went and got the brace. They didn't have my size. The one they gave me laced up and didn't fit right on the bottom, something they didnt' seem to notice. I only wore it long enough to get home. I only needed it when active. I ordered the Aircast trainer a day or two later, hoping no one would notice it wasn't the same brace (which they didn't because it was between a week or two before it arrived). I've worn the Aircast a few times now and find it very comfortable. I often don't even realize it's there. I'll keep wearing the brace when I feel like it, at least for a couple of months.
Email Julianna about her adventure at: JulianaCF@aol.com