Amaya shared her cast

      Yesterday Amaya took her cast in to share with her class (the one she had on after her super knee procedure last year). In class they've been working on using the who, what, where, when, why and how questions, so her class mates had lots of questions for her. Her teacher said that she couldn't believe how much Amaya knew about her leg, her PFFD, and her surgeries. Mrs. Griessbach said that she was proud of Amaya for speaking so eloquently to her friends. Amaya explained to her classmates why she needed the last surgery (she explained that she didn't have any ligaments in her knee and that Dr. Nelson used her muscle to create new ligaments). She showed her friends her scars, and where people signed her cast (she was especially proud of where her dentist signed it. It reads, "to my best patient ever. Dr. Nation") Mrs. Griessbach said that Amaya talked like a little teacher; she stood in front of  the class and asked her friends "so, can any of you tell by looking at me why I would need these surgeries?" A boy in class finally guessed that it was because one leg was longer than the other. Mrs. Griessbach said that the kids were so kind and offered to help Amaya with her upcoming surgery. They volunteered to push her around in her wheelchair, Amaya thanked them. The kindness of other kids always makes me smile.
     In a few weeks I'm going to go into her class and talk with her classmates about her upcoming surgery and about the fixator. I'm going to show them some pictures of the fixator,so they know what to expect. I will also read them Imagine...Amazing Me ( the picture book of other children with limb differences). I'm glad that Amaya knows her body so well, accepts it, can speak calmly, and eloquently about it to others. She makes me proud.