Kim's last day

     Amaya decided to skip school again today (because her hip is still hurting so much). On our way to therapy we stopped by Target first. The girls had some money from their great grandpa and picked a Barbie. Lidie got a mermaid to replace her broken one and Amaya picked a doll and a doctor's outfit for it. She said it's an orthopedic surgeon. On the way I realized that I had forgotten to turn the rod on Amaya's fixator and to bring the rod with us (ugh! frustrating! that's the first time I've forgotten). I did it when we got home and then will do the other two turns later tonight (one before bed then one around midnight).

        This morning Lidie woke up with gum in her hair. A little bit of peanut butter and brushing it out with a toothbrush was all it took. But she wasn't too happy with the whole process. Thankfully it all came out and we didn't have to cut any off it off. It's funny, but these normal crazy moments are a nice break from our crazy normal. 

Amaya and Lidie gave Kim cards that they had made her. Today was her last day interning at therapy. She has been working with us everyday for several months now and has helped Amaya get thru her lengthening. Kim will be graduating next week with her doctorate in physical therapy and we wish her much success in her career and know that she will be a great therapist.

     At therapy I put the 1.5 lb. weight on while we waited for our appointment. When we got back Kim added more weights to make it 4.5 lbs.. Kim massaged Amaya's knee then started to remove the tape so she could put on new tape (it seems to be lasting one week, and on Friday's we replace it). Today Amaya cried during tape removal, which was rare. But it hurt her skin to peal it off, plus her hip was hurting and so was her knee. After that Kim started doing knee bends, which also hurt. She held each bend/stretch for a count of thirty. There were lots of tears and I was kind of dreading measuring the knee bends. Her knee was at forty degrees at first measurement then quickly moved up to 60. It took big effort to get it to 70. Melissa asked that she try to at at least get to 80 today, since she was in so much pain, but Amaya said, "no, I want to shoot for 90, not 80." She tried so hard; pushing, pulling, grunting and crying, but was only able to get to 81 (that's the lowest she's gotten this entire time). Since she did her best, and worked so hard Melissa said that was fine for today. Both of her legs were sore and tired. I was hoping for 90, but 80 is still really good at the end. This was her last physical therapy session during lengthening (woo hoo!). We still needs to work over the weekend so that she doesn't lose much of her range of motion by Monday. 

     After our appointment we went to the east campus hospital (where they do a lot of the out patient surgeries) to meet Dr. Nelson. He was in surgery today, but he said he would come out and see us for a few minutes to address my concerns in the email I sent him last night. We only had to wait about twenty minutes to see him (the girls brought dolls and snacks to keep busy). When he came out he asked Amaya how she was feeling, asked about her rough nights and removed the gauze to look at her pins. He said her pins looked good, and not infected. But I mentioned her pain, and showed him the inflammation and let him know that its similar to how they looked last time and that the pain went away with the antibiotics. Since he'll be gone for a week in Haiti he didn't want her to go all that time without anything and gave us a new prescription for antibiotics. He said that she's doing excellent! Amaya showed him her Darth Vader with a fixator and her new barbie that's an orthopedic surgeon. That put a smile on his face. Amaya said that she wants to put hardware on kids, and he smiled and said "its fun." He pushed the silver rod on her fixator down (the one that we turn, it was starting to lift up). Dr.Nelson said he'll call his nurse so that we can go in on Monday to see Zach (one of the residents) and make sure we get new x-rays. He said its important to get new x-rays every two weeks. He said that Zach will lock the fixator in place, then we'll return in one month for new x-rays and a follow-up. He said to continue to do PT five days a week until our next appointment (in one month), then we'll drop down to three times a week. He said to email him if we have any questions or concerns. I was very grateful that he made time for us in his busy schedule. He had to return to surgery, but we thanked him for his time and kindness. After we left I felt much better; my nerves were calm, my stress relieved and my fears gone. 

     When we left Amaya said, "See that's why I want to be an orthopedic surgeon." "Why?" I asked. She responded with, "Because they're awesome! He's awesome!" I agree. Then she said that she can't wait to put hardware on kids. I asked Lidie if she still wanted a fixator, that maybe Amaya could put it on her. But Lidie said no. Amaya said, "I bet seeing me, you've changed your mind. It's hard Lidie. That's why they call it hardware. Because its hard and you wear it, see hard-ware." I had to chuckle at that.
     We went by Amaya's school to drop off her homework packet then headed home. At home the girls played doctors and performed surgery on their dolls. Amaya had a message from Darth Vader letting her know that he felt "the force" in her today working hard and doing her best, and that he was very proud of her. After dinner Amaya wore her ankle brace for fifteen minutes, then we did her PT homework. It's our last weekend before we finish lengthening. She started her antibiotics tonight, and hopefully her hip pain will get under control soon. She fell asleep pretty easily, so I'm hoping for a good night (for her sake and mine).
   Thanks again for all your love, help, prayers, thoughts, well wishes and support.