Playing at a park

     Even though Amaya had a rough night with little sleep she woke up at six am, but she felt good and was in good spirits. As she walked upstairs she told dad that her hip didn't hurt as much. Amaya decided to start the day by watching Rocky V (she's almost watched the entire series). As dad left for work Amaya said "dad you have a great day, and I'll have a great day." Before our appointment the girls had time to play. They decided on "doctor" so many dolls and stuffed animals ended up in casts, band aids and several had surgery. Amaya now tells us that she isn't going to just be a doctor, but an "orthopedic surgeon, just like Dr.Nelson." She says she wants "to help other kids like her, and to put hardware on kids legs who need it."
     On the way into therapy we saw Dr.Allen (one of the orthopedic residents). He recognized Amaya and said hello, asked how she was doing, congratulated her on how well she was doing and told her to keep up the hard work. It was nice to see him and his smile was comforting and encouraging. Inside while Amaya pulled her leg back with a blue strap I pumped up the tires on the bike. She rode down the hall, in the adult gym and back.

Here she is using the new strap to pull her leg back and get a good bend.

    After that Kim applied new tape to her knee, started massages then started some intense stretches while Amaya layed on the mat. Amaya was in pain, but Kim kept going. After a few of those Amaya sat up on a bench to do a stretch to measure the knee. As she stood she would move her foot back then try to sit her bottom down on the bench, then move the foot back again and try to sit again. Sitting was painful and took great effort on her part. When she had a hard time sitting Kim who'd push her down, which Amaya didn't like (she cried, yelled, and said that she would do it herself). It's an intense, painful and sometimes stressful time during therapy. Kim had to leave (our session ran late again, and was over an hour today). Melissa took over the measurements. At this point Amaya was still in the seventies. During the next measurement she got up to eighty-two, then just as Amaya was ready to give up "my brain says to give up" she got to ninety-one (her highest number all week!). We were so happy and proud! It's even more impressive knowing that she did that without any pain meds, that's right, without! Not that I planned that, but I accidentally forgot to pack her pain meds today (the first time in ten weeks). Wow! I just realized we're ten weeks post surgery. I had packed her antibiotic, but forgot the pain meds, when I told her that before therapy, she said, "well, we'll just deal with it." I felt terrible. When I told Melissa that, she was doubly impressed. As soon as we left she was in a lot of pain (duh!) so we went down the street and bought some pain meds. With that and her hot pad (Melissa re-heated it up in their microwave for us) she got her pain under control quickly. We stopped by her school to turn in homework and get her new packet. She loved seeing her teacher, friends, and being at school. Her friends were so kind and told her how much they missed her. Hopefully once she's done lengthening she can go on a regular basis.
     We stopped by a park to "kill" some time until dad was done with work. Amaya used her walker to get to the play equipment. I asked her if she needed help, to which she replied, "If I can get to ninety-one, I think I can do pretty much anything." I agreed. Then she climbed up and down stairs, across play equipment, on the bars,etc.. She did great, but I did have to veto a couple things for fear of ending up in urgent care again.

From the top of the play equipment I looked off to my left and saw this; Amaya's walker parked on the sidewalk. 

When I looked to my right I saw this; Amaya and Lidie hanging out and playing with other kids.

Here's one of the things she climbed onto all by herself. Can't believe I cut her head off; I was trying to spot her and Lidie on some equipment at the same time. 

Here's Lidie on top. I love that smile!

Here they are climbing together. Man! Another cut off head! I was pretty nervous one of them was going to fall and was getting ready to catch them (Lidie's never done those alone before, and Amaya hasn't done these with her fixator on). Forgive the missing heads.

Here's Amaya transferring herself from one side to the other. She did great; good balance, strength and lots of knee bends!

 

Both girls smiling from the top of another play structure.

   When dad was done working we headed to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate all her hard work and achievement at physical therapy this week. While we were there, she used her wheelchair for just a few minutes then walked around the place. One kid came up and asked what was wrong with her, once we told him why she wore the fixator, he looked at her, laughed (very loudly), then walked away. I could tell he was "a bit off," but as I started to try to explain that to Amaya she said, "it doesn't matter." Then moved on. Ugh, my girl. Navigating thru life can be tough, but it's a whole different story with a fixator on your leg.

 Here they are playing basketball. I like the action shot of Amaya. She looks so cool jumping off the floor to make a shot. 

Amaya made this card today. She said "I'm making the peace sign so I don't forget that this is when I had my fixator."