Monday, July 23, 2012

Getting a splint

"everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43:7

Cullen has been in physical therapy all summer.  We have seen huge improvements in his wrists.  If you looked at his right hand, you would not notice anything wrong.  We have worked really hard at stretching and taping him so that the muscles would correct themselves.  Unfortunately, his left wrist, which is the worse of the two, is just taking longer then expected.  Both orthopedic surgeons we have seen have said that there is nothing structurally wrong and to just keep working the muscle into the right place.

So, today we went to the PT office.  Not for physical therapy, our wonderful PT is on vacation.  Instead, we went in to see the Occupational Therapist to get Cullen a splint.

It was an interesting process.  She traced his hand on a piece of paper and cut it out.  She then traced that on a piece of special plastic, cut it out, and heated it to 160 degrees.  She slipped a special piece of fabric over Cullen's hand, so he wouldn't get burnt, and then put the heated plastic up to his arm and molded it to him, getting the perfect fit.  She then attached an antimicrobial barrier, like squishy plastic, to it since he is a thumb sucker and would be undoubtedly sucking on the splint.  She then stuck some Velcro like pieces to the back and the soft brown straps to those.

The entire process took about 20 minutes and then we spent the next 10 practicing putting it on and finding the best places to strap him to it.

My instructions were to let him sleep in it over night and if I wanted, during nap.


The splint's job is to keep his entire arm and wrist straight, so that while his muscles are relaxed while he is sleeping, the tighter muscles are gently being pulled in the right direction.  It is like taping on steroids :-)

Throughout the entire process my mind kept recalling something a friend of mine said while we were discussing orthopedic surgeons.  She said that it is one thing for an ortho to know how to fix a bone that had been initially formed right but had then been broken.  It is entirely something different to take a bone that had been formed improperly and then try to fix it.

Not that Cullen's bone is the issue in his wrist.  But I wonder why God allows something to be "created improperly" only for our imperfect world to try and fix it?  As the verse above says, God created everything for His glory.  I just have to rest in this, that Cullen, even with all his "imperfections" was still formed and made by God for HIS glory.  Not for me to boast in and take pride in my "good mommy" accomplishments.  Not for me to laugh at the medical community when he exceeds what they have said he will do.  Not to accept the pity of others.  Cullen is the Lord's.  His bones, his muscles, his pituitary gland; they are all the Lord's and they are for HIS glory.