Lucas Camilo

First off, we want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support following Lucas’s broken leg.  From the blog and Facebook comments to the physical cards that have been coming in the last 4 days, Lucas has been really enjoying all the attention. After his latest batch of correspondence arrived today Lucas announced that he had received “a zillion of cards!”

It’s especially important since having a broken leg is no fun.  Lucas probably won’t get out of the house much over the next few weeks… in fact, it’s looking like he’ll be mostly hanging out of the couch. For a kid who loves lying on the couch reading books and who is not that mobile anyway, its not the worst thing in the world.  But after less than a week, there’s a bit cabin fever (for all of us) setting in.

So what’s happened since we last posted? Lucas rested up on Labor Day and welcomed the arrival of our friends from DC, Alexis and Mackenzie.  The pain from his broken femur seemed to be decreasing, and having more company around definitely made recovery a little easier. By Wednesday morning we decided that Lucas was feeling well enough to make it to his first day of kindergarten!

Getting up in the wheelchair was a challenge that involved some tears, but Lucas was in pretty good spirits once he was up.  We decided that he’d only go for a couple hours since constant transfers to and from the wheelchair just weren’t going to be possible.  It was important to be there on the first day — Lucas could see the other kids in his class, and they could see him and hopefully remember that he’s part of their class in his absence. But for us it was a little anti-climactic because of the shortened day and the reality that Lucas’s first year of elementary school wasn’t going to kick off the way we had imagined.

On Thursday, Burke took Lucas into Children’s for some more x-rays of the leg (click on the picture to enlarge and see the area of the break).  It was a brutal journey, with lots of grimaces and tears every time Lucas got moved around.  The docs concluded that the splint had been placed a little low and therefore wasn’t giving his broken femur the stability it needed.  So they started to add to the splint and in the process began to wrap up Lucas’s midsection, diaper and all.  There was an awkward pause when Burke asked how we were going to change that diaper and subsequent ones; then they unwrapped him and pondered the situation for a while longer before coming up with a plan B.

The newly extended splint required quick adjustments to the wheelchair to fit Lucas in, and the whole experience made us realize that the best way to expedite recovery (and avoid the painful tears of anticipation) would be to avoid getting up in the chair for a while.  That afternoon we sent a note to Lucas’s teacher saying he would likely miss the first few weeks of school.

Once the decision was made, we hunkered down in the house with support from Lucas’s nurses, constant attention from our out-of-town guests, visits from Burke’s parents (not to mention a whirlwind stop through by Lucas’s cousins) and lots of books, stickers, cards and games.

Lucas doesn’t seem to be feeling much pain but he’s still having his ups and downs — at times he’s like his usual self, goofing around and acting as if nothing is wrong.  Then suddenly he seems frustrated and ansty, and its hard to figure out how to help him feel better.  We recognize that we’re in for a long ride in the coming weeks (months?) and we really appreciate all the support and encouragement from our friends and family.

Reading a card from the full staff at the Social Justice Fund NW, including a T-Rex drawn by Sunny who says “Lucas is RAWRsome!”

With Alexis and Mackenzie, enjoying new finger-puppet dinosaurs

(Note: you can now subscribe to receive updates by entering your name and email on the right sidebar where is says “Subscribe”)