Today we took the girls to the Trick or Treating event in town. They were excited to dress up and to get candy. Amaya rode in her wheelchair. Lidie walked along and then later sat next to Amaya in the wheelchair when she was tired. We got the usual amount of stares. I was a bit surprised, because I figured without the fixator the stares would lessen, but I could see why we drew some attention. I mostly noticed kids looking at Amaya then smilling. One woman told Amaya something to the effect of, "Oh, I see you got the easy way." I'm sure her intentions were good, but if only she knew. Amaya has by no means had it easy! Riding in a wheelchair isn't easy. Its her only option. I bit my tongue and walked away.
At some of the stores there were a couple of steps to get in so Josh would carry Amaya over the steps so she could trick or treat. She didn't want to miss out, and was willing to push herself to get up and walk some and have Josh carry her the rest of the way. At one store there were quite a few steps so Josh just carried her the entire way. When we got in a woman looked at Amaya chuckled, then asked her. "What are you suppose to be? A broken doctor?" Then giggled. I was shocked. Speechless. Was this woman serious? I looked at her again, because I couldn't believe my ears or eyes. I checked to see if she was a teenager or a young adult, not that that would make her comment any less rude or inappropriate, but no she was in her thirties (at least). I just stared at her. Josh said, "no. She just had surgery on her leg last week." Then the other women in the room gave out a collective, "awe." I'm not sure if there's another sound that's more pitiful or annoying to me. I don't think they realize how condescending it is. We left there, but that encounter stayed with me. It bothers me, saddens me, irritates me, annoys me, and pushes me to tears. Do you know how incredibly frustrating it is to deal with adults like this?
After we got home we made the best of the rest of the day. Josh helped the girls carve their pumpkins, the girls ate candy and shared some with us, we ate dinner, Josh cooked the pumpkin seeds, and the girls had a dance party. All in all it was a good day.
Here's some video of Amaya walking on Friday. She's doing pretty well. We still have to remind her to step with her heel first, and to alternate her feet. It's a hard balance of letting her try it on her own and reminding her how to do it correctly. We don't want to nag or bother her, but I worry that she'll learn to do it incorrectly. She's getting better each day, but its a slow process. She's still a bit timid in her steps but she's gaining confidence each day. This is the first time in her life that she has a stable knee (Dr. Nelson did her super knee in January of 2011), a stable hip (he did a hip osteotomy in March when he put her fixator on), and her left leg is 3.1 inches longer (thanks to her lengthening). It's like working with a completely new leg! So even though I know she knows how to walk, I want to make sure she learns how to walk with her new leg properly instead of then later having to unlearn bad habits. She's
Amaya our orthopedic surgeon and Lidie our fairy-ballerina.
Lidie showing me some "purple nerds!" She couldn't believe people gave her candy! She's three going on four and this is her first time that she's aware of what's going on.
The back side of Amaya's pumpkin. She wrote, "Boo! I'm a ghost!"
Josh and the girls carving their pumpkins.
Here's Amaya's pumpkin.
Here's Lidie's.
No comments:
Post a Comment