Reuben's first Scoliosis Cast

Today we were booked in for Reuben's 1st spinal cast to be applied under general anaesthetic. He was nil-by-mouth from 2.30am and we had to be at the hospital for 7.30am.
At 9.30am Reuben was taken to theatre. He was given gas to put him to sleep while he was on my knee and then taken through. He is put on traction to get his spine in a better shape and then the cast  is applied with a hole in the front to alow room to breathe and eat, and there's a hole in the back for access and pressure relief.
When he came round after the procedure he was in a lot of shock that he couldn't move, he was cold and wet and very sore but was given pain relief and after some milk he slept for a few hours. Later on in the afternoon we came home. He had a sore throat from the ventilator and bruises on his arms and legs from the traction but they went down after a while.
The first few days and weeks were difficult getting used to the restrictions of the cast and having to get used to applying the padding and washing him without getting the cast wet. The biggest shock for Reuben was that he couldn't get around any more, before he could bottom shuffle around and explore the cupboards but now he couldn't even sit by himself.
The cast weighs 3lb and goes from his shoulders to his hips. On a lighter note, due to the Royal Wedding being the next day, in theatre they decided to cut the hole shape in his tummy into the shape of a cathedral window instead of the usual squareish shape.
A week later he had to go back for a check up to make sure his cast was ok, and a week after that he had to go back for an adjustment because he couldn't put his arms down due to the cast being too tight so a bit was cut off underneath.
Unfortunately a week after that Reuben contracted gastroenteritis and made quite a mess of the inside of his cast, the back went soft but the sides were ok so the integrity of the cast was ok and it was decided that it had to stay on unless it got really smelly but it lasted ok.

At night times Reuben was waking every 30-60 minutes to be turned as he couldn't move himself. He was on pain relief for a week or so after the cast went on and then just every now and again when he needed it.

This is a video explaining more about the procedure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuQE77EGgNU

 Physiotherapy and occupational therapy now visit weekly and have been helping him to sit up, roll over and take his weight on his feet getting used to the extra weight and the centre of balance. He still struggles using his hands independently and the occupational therapist is going to start an intensive course of therapy soon to help him.