Painting and play dates

  This weekend brought some welcome change; more fall like weather, and a decrease in Amaya's pain.  Please don't mistake decrease for absence. Yes, its less, but its not gone. Some people tend to assume that the pain is either present or absent. But sometimes its there, just to varying degrees. Some days its a two or a three, sometimes a five (on a scale of one to ten). On Saturday she woke up with a sore, and stiff leg. She asked for pain medication, and a hot pad. It's rare that she asks for pain medication on her own, so I knew it was bothering her quite a bit. But after a couple of hours it seemed to lessen. She didn't complain of any more pain over the weekend. Her bedtimes have gotten a lot easier as well. We've been working hard to stretch her tendon on the outside of her thigh and that seems to be helping a lot. Locking the bar is a bit easier. It still takes about five to ten minutes but it isn't very difficult, just the normal amount of pain. She's also been able to sleep throughout the night as well. She still moans, groans, tosses and turns, but she isn't waking up or waking me up. It's been so nice.
    Today at therapy we had Jay again. Melissa was back from her vacation, but her sessions were all booked when we got to schedule Amaya's sessions last week. He started by stretching her knee, then had her ride the bike, slide her foot on the towel. Then she went into the adult gym to do squats, step up and down on a step, step sideways, pull herself on a stool, then Jay had her sit on a bed and use her right leg to push her left leg back. He suggested that she do that at home, during homework, diner, as she relaxes, etc. She was able t get her knee to seventy degrees just by pushing it with her right foot. She did great! I told him she use to do that as part of her physical therapy homework, but we've replaced it with other stretches. We can add it back into the routine. We don't do homework as intensely as we did it the beginning. It was much more important and helpful to do daily physical therapy homework during lengthening. We did forty-five minute sessions when we were lengthening then dropped down to thirty minutes then twenty as her bends got to be more easy. Now we do exercises, and stretches that are working on her trouble areas. It was hip stretches a month ago, then the side of her thigh, then hamstring tightness, now. It changes every so often. I incorporate it into her routine; bends and squats as she gets ready for school, wearing her ankle weight on the way to therapy, stretches and bends as we get into the car, before her shower and before bed. Spreading it out seems to make it a bit easier than doing a long session and she's more cooperative this way.
    After her work we went back into the kids gym so she could do her big bends. She worked hard and in less that five minutes she got to ninety degrees! As she was doing her bends Cassie came in with her patient who was taking steps on her own. She was trying out her new braces and was able to take fifteen steps on her own. The mom wanted to show Jay how well her daughter was doing. It was neat to be able to see this little girl achieve so much after working so hard for so long. Its really amazing seeing other kids at therapy work so hard. I wish everyone could walk through and observe a session at some point. The perspective, motivation and inspiration you'd gain is amazing. I'm so fortunate to be able to witness Amaya and many other children working so hard, and achieving their goals. On our way out we saw Melissa and the girls smiled and waved at her. We'll see her on Wednesday and then have her for the rest of our sessions.
   Still no word on the surgery date for the removal. We're getting antsy, to say the least. Its always on the back of our minds and adding a tad bit more stress to our lives. Its nerve racking; I worry, I wonder, I try to prepare, I'm excited and ready to get it removed. I'm trying to deal with our daily lives until it is removed (I can't focus too much on it being gone, until that actually happens). It's hard to think of what life will be like without a fixator. I barely remember life before it.
    This morning I checked to see how her fundraising was coming along for the CHOC Walk. She's raised $375 dollars for the Children's Hospital of Orange County! Isn't that great?  Her goal was $100, but we hoped to raise $200 so we could all walk as a family. She exceeded that goal by a hundred and seventy-five dollars! Thank you to all who've donated on her behalf. We're so happy that she's helping another children's hospital. The walk is this weekend and we'll be sure to post pictures from the event. If you'd like to donate you still can. You can visit the website www.chocwalk.org and donate under "sponsor walker" and look up "Amaya Jimenez-Potter." Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

 Amaya got to go to the PossAbilities painting workshop this weekend. She had fun, met new people and painted a lovely dinosaur.  

Here's her finished product, a dinosaur holding a flower. Biased, I know, but I really like it. 

I took this picture of Lidie today at therapy. I couldn't believe how grown up she looks.  Cassie mentioned it to me at the end of our session that she could hardly believe how grown up Lidie was. Cassie is the therapist that worked with Amaya after her super knee surgery (almost two years ago). She mentioned how she's seen Lidie and Amaya grow up. When Amaya first started therapy she was five and Lidie was only two years old. Its crazy how long we've known her and Jay. 

Jay started by stretching Amaya's leg today. He asked her about her pain today and over the weekend. She said she had little pain. We mentioned that on Saturday she woke up with a very soar, very stiff leg. He asked if it was cold that day, because the cold weather could contribute to that. Especially since she has so much hardware in her leg. I asked if he thought she would experience that when she has her rush rod put it. He said probably yes.

Here she is working on her squats. 

After therapy the girls had a play date with some friends,Tyler, Ryan and Kristen. The girls had fun baking cookies, playing, laughing, and being silly. The boys were very sweet and either didn't notice Amaya's fixator or didn't' mention it. I love when kids just start playing like its not even there. They handled it with acceptance and kindness and I'm very grateful for that.