Tried to pick up the boot, agian

  This morning we were back to our routines we started the day with another appointment at the orthotics to pick up the boot for Amaya's heel. We've been waiting five weeks for this boot so I was very excited to go and finally get it. Well the orthotist was called to the hospital so we had to have a resident help us. He brought out the boot and I could clearly see this was not going to work. First of all it was toddler size (Amaya wears a size two) and it was gray (the other one was black). I kept my could and let him try it anyway. It dint' fit very well. Then he said this one she couldn't walk in. I told him the one they ordered for her had a sole on the bottom so she could walk on it. This wouldn't work. He double check the back to see if he grabbed the wrong one. Apparently the warehouse sent the wrong one. Why they didn't double check that before having me drive and hour to their office again, I don't know. But, it is definitely irritating! The resident tried to put a black boot on Amaya, that was nothing like the one she needed and way too big. He called the warehouse then said he could have another boot tomorrow, but it would be the kind he just tried on her (not what we need). He said he could modify it with extra foam to try to get it so the heal wouldn't be touching anything. I agreed to return tomorrow, then left. Mostly I was biting my lip. After I calmed down (about five hours later) I called and let them know I wouldn't be returning until they had the boot the doctor ordered, in her size there. I also asked that they rush the order since they made me wait this long already. Man, talk about a frustrating process! 

    After that we had lunch then headed to our physical therapy appointment. While we waited for Melisssa Amaya was anxious to see her, she missed her and was anxious to see her. I updated Melissa on everything that Dr. Nelson said and showed her the x-ray. I mentioned to Melissa that Amaya will be having the internal fixator lengthening later on and she said that the kid she had with it on had such an easier time with it. She said you don't have to worry about scar tissue, pin sites, and they had a much easier time with therapy. She said they were able to keep the range of motion in the knee above 118 degrees. And that they said their pain was at a two most of the time. She said the only thing they had a hard time with was extending the leg straight. She said they didn't have the bar to lock at night (since there's no external parts) so that was tight, but other than that it wasn't that bad. I'm hoping that will be easier for Amaya than this one was. But we've still got a few years before that one. 

    Amaya told her about our trip and brought her some jelly beans. I let Melissa know that Amaya did some therapy homework on her trip and did a lot of walking, climbing, running, playing, jumping, etc. She had some leg pain on the way home from the trip, bud did pretty well considering how long we were in the car. 

Here's the gray boot. See how tiny it is?

Here's what the back of it looks like. That's what we need the back of hers to look like. 

This is the black one they tried on her today and then ordered for her for tomorrow. See the difference in the heel of this one? The one her wound doctor ordered has the heel like the black one.

Amaya started therapy by warming up with some squats. 

Then Melissa had her do leg lifts with a 1.5 weight on her ankle. This is the first time was able to do it  while she wore the weight since her fixator was removed!

The she lifted her leg backwards with the weight as well. 

Then Melissa had her do some jumping. 

Then she did some cone work while standing on her left leg. 

Then we raced in the hall. 

    After some more stretches and work we started knee bends. Amaya's knee was at 117 to start. That's her highest starting point yet! We didn't do any knee bends during our trip so it was surprising to have such a high number after missing eight days of therapy. Since it was so high Amaya and Melissa made 125 todays goal. Amaya quickly jumped to 118 then to 122. At this point she was in pain but asked to do one last push. She got to 126 & 1/2. That was fantastic work! She's really making progress!
   Amaya told Melissa about the triathlon she's going to do in the spring and Melissa told her she'll make sure to come watch her. Amaya was pretty excited! She's going to have quite the cheering section.

On the way out we noticed the roses and lavender had been trimmed, and these white flowers started blooming again. We started coming last March and these were in bloom then. We've been going to therapy for all four seasons now.