On the ride down to therapy Amaya mentioned that she was nervous about her upcoming doctor appointment and the fixator removal. She's anxious of having another surgery, wonders how they'll take it off, and she said that she didn't like the feeling she had when she woke up from this last surgery. I let her know that they offered her some medication before the surgery to help calm her nerves and to help her forget but she refused to take it this time. She took it before her super knee surgery and didn't have the same reaction as this time (confusion, feeling like she was in a dream, etc.). She said that she'll take it this time so she doesn't have the same feelings when she wakes up. I told her that when we see Dr. Nelson on Thursday we can ask him any questions she has about the removal, etc. She was happy with that then I reminded her about the email our friend Alison sent and all the advice, tips and information she shared with us. That seemed to calm her nerves, but I could still tell she had some anxiety.
At therapy Amaya showed Melissa where her pain was today, mostly at the top and middle pins. Melissa said there's a tendon running down through there and that's probably where she's feeling her pain at. I asked if the pins go above the tendons or through them and she said through them. Ouch. She showed me where the tendons starts, about the hip and goes down to the knee. She said that during the lengthening its the tendons and the muscles that are stretching. Melissa had Amaya do thirty knee bends with the yellow band with me while she went to get new tape for Amaya's knee. As she applied the new tape Amaya shared with Melissa about her fun weekend and her upcoming 5K. Melissa was proud of Amaya for signing up and is going to sponsor her. You can go to www.chocwalk.net to read more about the walk and to sponsor her. She's raising money for the children's hospital in Orange County. You can sponsor her online if you look up "sponsor walker" then type in her name "Amaya Jimenez-Potter."
Amaya started her work by riding the bike up the hill and back down into the adult gym. There she did squats. Back in the children's gym she rode the stool to pull Melissa and then climbed up the ladder. Then Amaya did some bends and lunges as she threw balls at Savannah Rose (the painting on the wall). When it was time for bends Amaya got to the seventies so quickly, before she even started her bends. And in a minute and eight seconds she got to ninety-two degrees! She did great! She said her pain was low and she felt fine.
She did fine the rest of the day. Before bedtime it took another painful fifteen minutes to lock her bar in. She was so tired and worn out (so am I) and fell asleep by seven fifteen. At eight she started crying and moaning, then she feel asleep again after half an hour of massages. She's sleeping in our bed tonight, so that I can hopefully get some rest too. It's a lot easier to have her in our bed when she's waking up often and needs me to massage her or comfort her.
We went to a playground yesterday. Here's Josh and Amaya swinging together.
My daredevil Amaya climbing up the twisted ladder. Almost to the top, she listened to herself, and realized it was a bit tricky, and decided to come down instead.
My sister-in-law took a picture of us all together.
Josh, our friend Tristin and the girls got to go out on a boat ride, thanks to the generosity of a stranger.
Here's Melissa showing Amaya a new stretch to help with the pain Amaya has been feeling on her pins and the side of her leg. She gave us a printout of the exercise to help us know how to do it at home. That way we can reduce Amaya's pain and discomfort.
Amaya doing her knee bends on the total gym machine.
Melissa has been teasing Amaya that since she rides the bike so fast now she's going to have Amaya pull her. Since she forgot to have Amaya do it today she had her pull her on the stool instead. Amaya thought it was kinda funny, but also hard.
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