Birthday weekend

     Wednesday night Amaya woke up twice with knee pain. The first time she was up at eleven p.m.  and fell back to sleep quickly. The second time she woke up at four a.m. and took almost an hour to go back to sleep. I massaged her knee and that seemed to help.  Last night was a late night for her. She was so tired that she started crying. She started saying that she didn't want to have a fixator anymore, she's sick of having knee pain, she's tired of explaining her fixator to others and just wants it off.  It was sad to see her so upset. I knew part of it was because she was so tired, but it was still sad to see her like that. And I wondered how much of that was true.
      This morning she had therapy before school. She started to say that she didn't want to go to therapy because she didn't want to have to do her bends. After how stiff her knee was on Wednesday and the pain she was in she didn't want to have to deal with it again. Josh and I both talked to her about having a positive attitude, doing her best and not giving up. I know therapy is difficult, but I know its crucial. On the way to therapy I played the Eye of the Tiger twice for her to motivate and encourage her. And it worked, she had such a great attitude and worked so hard today.
      When we got to therapy Melissa said that Dr. Nelson emailed her back and said that even though Amaya is doing so well he wants to order more physical therapy and then look at her x-rays at her next appointment (in two weeks). Melissa gave Amaya a bookmark she brought her back form Colorado as a birthday gift. Amaya loved it. Melissa is so sweet and I love how well she treats Amaya and the bond they share.

   Melissa started off by putting new tape on Amaya's knee then had her pull herself on the red scooter out into the hall.

Melissa had Amaya lunge and set down each cone that they were going to use in the hall and when they were done she had to bend and pick them up. When she was going to pick them up she knocked them over first and she rolled her right leg on one then fell to the ground. Its crazy how quickly and easily she can fall. Thankfully she was fine.

Amaya walked up and down the hall practicing keeping her foot forward and stepping with her heel first. She walked slow then fast and did great. She did that a couple of times.

Then Melissa had her walk with her feet pointed outward and weave through cones. Melissa said she would buzz Amaya if she turned her foot inward and she'd have to restart, but she didn't. The second time she had her turn her feet outward a lot. She looked like a pregnant duck. She did turn her foot inward and got buzzed and had to restart. Back in the gym she climbed up and down the ladder a few times then did lunges and threw balls .

    Then she went into the adult gym to work with this machine. Sorry the picture is blurry, but it was the only one I got and wanted to show you what she was doing. Amaya said that the thirty pounds was too light so Melissa moved it up to the next weight which was fifty pounds! She doesn't even weigh that much! She did so great! I caught two other therapist looking at her and smiling. Then one of them looked at me with a smile and said, "she's jamming!" Then told Melissa, "I wish that guy that was here earlier could see her." I was so proud of her. She said it was hard, but that didn't stop her. I like that she challenged herself beyond the thirty pounds and worked hard with the fifty pounds. She walked forward and backward several times. 

   Then it was time to start the big bends. I was curious how she'd do since her knee has been stiff and she was dreading this part of therapy today. But she did amazing! She was almost in tears saying, "ow, mom, my knee, ugh." Then Melissa would tell her to "bend with your elbows" or "you're almost there." Amaya would stop her whining and say, "okay" then bend some more. She pushed though the pain and got to ninety-one degrees in under three minutes. She did fantastic! All week she was at ninety-one degrees and I'm hoping that the therapy homework we're doing will help her next week.

     After therapy I had a message from Marilou (our referral processor at Beaver). She had some questions about Amaya's next appointment and wanted to make sure the referrals were in place for her to be seen and have x-rays taken. She's going to follow through with the referral for continued therapy next week so that Amaya doesn't miss any sessions. I am so grateful for Marilou's help, effort and how on top of everything she is. 

   After I dropped Amaya off at school I stayed to do some PTA stuff. As I was working I saw her and her friend walking to the cafeteria. She goes a few minutes before her class. Each day she picks a new friend to walk with her since it takes her longer to walk there. It was neat to see her walk the whole way, even thought she had her wheelchair in her classroom. I also got to see her walking back with her class. She looked so grown up. 

    Amaya will be seven on Monday and she started celebrating her birthday weekend by going out with her grandma and grandpa. She had a fun time eating and shopping. Let the birthday weekend commence!