Urgent Care

    Amaya had a good night last night (she only woke up twice). This morning she climbed up the stairs all by herself and was so proud of herself.  We had an early PT; on the way there we heard The Eye of The Tiger (from the Rocky soundtrack; that totally motivated Amaya to work hard at therapy today). She was even doing squats in the waiting room before her appointment. When Kim and Melissa came out to get us they immediately took Amaya's walker and had her walk back to the gym on her own; she did great. She rode the scooter down the hall, up the hill and into the gym. Next she worked on the stairs; again she walked all alone! Stepping down again proved to be the hardest (bending her knee to step down is so tough).  Back in the gym Melissa took off the old tape from her knee and reapplied a new piece. The tape really seems to help control Amaya's knee pain. After a massage Amaya did her knee bends and got the highest number of the week; 94! She did amazing! She said that song must have really helped her and that "when I put my mind to it, I can do it." It's true; mental and emotional drive play a big part in the therapy process. Melissa suggested that we keep up with our physical therapy homework over the weekend; we don't want to loose what she's gained. She said to make sure we massage the knee often, and the scar tissue above her knee regularly, as well as move the skin around her pins after a shower. Amaya was really sore and worn out from therapy today so we went straight home.
    After we came home from therapy we were home less than half an hour before Amaya fell. She was at the bottom of the stairs (holding onto the rail and talking to me at the top of the stairs). She let go of the rail, lost her balance and fell backwards. Ugh! As soon as I heard her cry I started to panic a bit. She hit her fixator on the wall then fell on the floor hitting her hip and fixator on the ground. She was in a lot of pain, and very upset so I put her on my bed to relax. I got her a hot pad and a pillow to lay on. Half an hour later she was still crying and kept complaining of pain (she said it was a five on the zero to ten pain scale). I looked and didn't see any bruises, but she did have blood on her top pin sites. She said that the pain was there but would also pulse and get stronger. Although she has fallen before this is the first time she actually hit the fixator. I was a bit worried that she might have hurt it, or her leg. Especially since she continued to complain of pain. I decided to put a call in to Dr.Nelson's office to see what they thought, and suggested. I got a hold of his nurse, who informed me that he was gone at a conference until next week. She suggested I bring Amaya in to urgent care, have X-rays taken and there they could page one of the interns to look at the x-rays. Before we left I gave Amaya her next dose of pain meds and brought a hot pad for the car ride. We checked in a little before two p.m.. By this time she said her pain wasn't as bad (maybe a two or three but that it would spike to a "five or six or seven" every once in awhile). At four she was back getting x-rays taken (they took about six). The doctor on hand said they looked good to him, but called Dr.Jaeger so that he could look at them as well. Thankfully since the x-rays are uploaded into the computer system Dr.Jaeger was able to look at them from where he was and then called back and let us know what he thought. He called back shortly and said they looked good to him and that they could check them again at her next appointment (in ten days). I was relieved that it was nothing major. I had a feeling it wasn't and certainly hoped it wasn't but, since she fell right on the fixator I wasn't sure what to expect. It was better to be safe than sorry.
   After we left we headed home; ready for dinner, showers and bed. When I gave Amaya her shower I did notice a lot of blood on her top pins (mostly on the top pin). We washed it well, and added extra gauze to it tonight. Hopefully she has a good night's rest, and that it doesn't bother her too much tomorrow.

Amaya riding the scooter up the hill as she races Lidie.

While waiting at urgent care Amaya started to get bored (she had already read her books, and played games). So she decided to make this picture of herself. 

Here's the picture she took of me (man I look so tired).