Second follow-up after lengthening

   Amaya had more knee pain last night and was pretty tired this morning.  We had to be up early for an eight fifteen therapy session. We had to be up, ready and out the door by seven fifteen. So we're all a bit tired. Melissa put new tape on Amaya's knee. It had come loose in the pool and when I massage her knee at night I loosen it as well. This time Melissa made it come higher up on Amaya's knee to help eliminate some of the knee pain she's been having at night. So far she's sleeping okay, so we'll see.
    We thanked Melissa again for coming to see Amaya's swim lessons yesterday. She said that when she was working out she thought of Amaya. She was bending her leg to over a hundred degrees and said she couldn't wait for Amaya to be able to do that again. It's nice how much Melissa cares and thinks of Amaya. And it'll be exciting to see Amaya regain her range of motion after the fixator comes off.

     After the tape Melissa stretched her knee then had her start on the red scooter.

Then she rode the bi-scooter in the gym to help loosen up her knee before riding the bike.

     Here she is riding the bike while Lidie rides on the scooter. Amaya did the big loop today. On the way back to the gym she offered to pull Melissa on her stool. She tried, but it was tough. But, I like that she gave her self an extra challenge.  

    Back in the room Amaya did some bends, squats and sat into a stretch. Melissa was happy with the stretches Amaya was getting. Then we started bends to try to get her knee to ninety degrees. Mondays are always hard, but such an early morning appointment is extra difficult. I had Amaya wear the ankle weight on the way down to help stretch her knee, but her knee was so stiff when we left home because she hadn't been up very long and didn't have much time to move it yet. Her starting knee measurement was fifty-two, which isn't bad for a Monday. Then she did some bends and was quickly up in the eighties. She complained of knee pain, but we told her that it was going to hurt either way so to just focus and work hard so that it would be over with soon. She focused, pushed through the pain and tears and was able to get her knee to ninety one degrees. 

     After that she went to school and had a great day. She had no pain and walked a lot there.  After school we headed over to Dr. Nelson's for her appointment. As of today its been ten weeks since we stopped lengthening. So we were excited to see how her new bone looked. When we walked in I could tell it was exceptionally busy. It took about fifteen minutes just to check in then another twenty minutes to register for the x-ray then another ten to get the x-ray taken. People were upset because they had been waiting for almost three hours. It was nutty and crowded. I felt bad for all the staff there. As we waited for the x-rays to be taken a nurse let us know that Dr. Nelson was running about four hours behind schedule. He was gone at a conference last week so he was very booked today. They said we could either reschedule or leave and grab something to eat. 

    While we were there we saw Penelope and her parents. She was doing good and it was nice to see her. We also got to talk to another mom who's son had a fixator as well. No one had the same kind that Amaya did, so they asked about hers. They were shocked to know that she has to wear it for about eight to ten months long. Her son only has to wear his for six months so they were a bit relieved that it wasn't as long as Amaya. Each fixator story is a little different. 

    After Amaya took her x-rays we headed across the street to the Children's hospital to eat at the cafeteria. While we were there Amaya asked us about going to medical school (at what age do you go, what comes before it, what comes after it, etc.). It's funny to see her brain plan for the future. We took our time and were back in about an hour and fifteen minutes. As we returned they called Amaya's name.  Even though Amaya had rode in the wheelchair over to the cafeteria she decided to walk in to show Dr. Nelson her walk. This is the first time since her surgery in March that she's gone to an appointment without her wheelchair. Its funny what a different reaction Amaya gets when she's up walking. It's much more positive, exciting and happy. It makes people so happy to see her out walking around. Even at school today many people came over and told her how good she looked walking. She's been doing so much walking lately. 

At her appointment...

     We first saw Dr. Bunnel who explained how they remove the pins. He said that they are like screws, so you unscrew them. He said that after the first turn they come loose pretty easily. He said that for an adult they'd do it while you're awake and have you tough it out, but they'll put Amaya in a sort of twilight state to remove them. He said that her pin sites look great and that we're taking good care of them. He said the blood that she's been draining from her pin sites was normal. He said the x-rays looked good. 

     When Dr. Nelson came in he was pleased with her x-rays. He told Dr. Bunnel that Amaya has done so well. He said that because she was doing such aggressive physical therapy and walking on her leg so much she'll be having her fixator off before the normal allotted time of six months. He said possibly four months. We won't know for sure until we see him again in four weeks. He said she was a "poster child" for this. Dr. Bunnel was surprised to hear all the stuff that Amaya has been doing (swimming, going to the beach, boogie boarding, etc). Dr. Nelson told him he should check out her blog and see all that she's doing.

    We told Dr. Nelson about Amaya's knee pain at night. He said that it was normal, but that it should be getting better soon. 

     Dr. Nelson told us that when the fixator comes off he'll put a rod in her leg. I'm assuming it'll go in next to the femur. He said that if it looks like its not going to stay or if it might be breaking the bone were the pins were then he'll put a cast on instead. He'd rather put the rod in so that Amaya can be more mobile. We're not sure how long she'll wear that for. 

     We got a form filed out so that Amaya can have Tylenol given to her at school if she needs it for pain. 

     We also got a new temporary disabled parking placard. It helps a lot. Especially when Amaya is trying to walk more. That way she can walk in the walkways by the disabled parking spots instead of threw a long crowded parking lot. I've noticed how tricky it is to maneuver the two girls and a shopping cart and a wheelchair without access to disabled parking. 

    Amaya walked out and showed Dr. Nelson how she's walking. 

Here's the x-ray from straight on. You can see how white her bone looks. Dr. Nelson was pleased with the new bone and how its healing. 

Here's a side view of it. You can see the break and the new bone a bit better from this angle. 

Here's a close up of the new bone.

    Thanks again for reading along. It's encouraging to know that others are invested in Amaya's journey and recovery. It's so nice to be a bit closer to the end. We've been looking down a long tunnel and are starting to see the light at the end. We have about two more months of life with a fixator. Can you believe it?! Thanks again for all the prayers, kind words, encouragement, good thoughts, positive energy and love that you give us. Keep sending it our way. We'll be needing it these next two months. And as we adjust to life after a fixator.