Free At Last!

Free at last, free at last, our Jacko-Taco is free at last!

Well ... at least for 4 days ... but every victory counts.

This morning we ventured to our local hospital to have Jackson's first Mehta cast removed before his second cast is placed this Friday in Philadelphia.  Justin and I were filled with nervous excitement as we weren't exactly sure how the morning would go.

Here are Jackson's last few in-cast moments today.

Checking out the cast saw before they started cutting.

The scary looking Mr. Saw.

Here is goes . . . and although the doctor told us to expect him to "scream bloody murder," he was wrong.

Praise God, Jax liked the saw again!

"All done!" we signed when the cast came off.

Then, we had the time to examine Jackson's skin which hasn't seen air, sunlight, or water in 9 weeks.  It wasn't pretty (or for those with weak stomachs), but we were thrilled to find no open sores or areas that looked infected.

And, naturally, we've spent some time gawking at Jackson's back to check out his curvature.  There is still some obvious scoliosis present (which we expected), but we think the "hump" looks reduced and the curve somewhat lessened.  We will find out our numbers on Friday after more X-rays are obtained.

Here are our rather crude before and after photos of Jackson's back.

BEFORE CAST #1:

(may appear slightly worse than reality due to his reaching arm)

AFTER CAST #1:

Believe me, the X-ray machine is a much better indicator of the actual correction than my photographs and naked eye.  So much depends on angles and position.  So ... we will update you on our "actual correction" as we are able later in the week.

Please keep Jackson in your prayers throughout this week.  Please pray for protection from illness, for good "correction" from cast #1, for tolerance of the anesthesia, and for acceptance/fit of cast #2 to be placed on Friday.  Thank you!

For now, however, we are busy enjoying baths, figuring how to walk steadily again, and being Mommy and Dadddy's skinny, squishy, gummy baby!  :)  Haha!  You wouldn't believe how different he feels!  It's so good to be free.