She's walking!

    It was emotional watching Amaya take her first steps (again) today. We've watched her take "first steps" severals times over the years. These were special because her legs are the same length for the first time and her left femur is correctly aligned. It's like a whole new leg! And this may be the last time we see her take "first steps." Amaya's physical therapist wants her to take it slow so that she learns how to walk on her "new" leg correctly and safely. Dr. Nelson had said he wants her to use a crutch or two for the next month which will give her that time to learn to walk correctly.

    Her therapist was very happy with how she's doing. She said considering she hasn't used her leg in three months she's doing "amazing!' That shows how amazing Amaya is and how great her physical therapist is!  Amaya made so much progress in the thirty minutes we were there. I'm excited to see how she does over the weekend! 

These were her third and fourth steps. 

I didn't realize she would have Amaya walk as soon as we got

 there so I didn't have the camera ready.

She taught Amaya how to walk using one crutch. Her left leg was a bit shaky and felt a bit like it wanted to buckle. Amaya won't be doing that for a week or so (depending on how she does). For the time being she'll be using two crutches so that she can get a normal gait pattern. Once she's got that then she can with to one crutch. 

Sorry it's such a short video, I had to get out of the way.

This is how Amaya will be walking for the time being. It's called the four point gait. 

She moves her right leg and left crutch then left leg and right crutch. Amaya will be walking like this as part of her homework. In fact her therapist wants her to walk down the hallway at home a couple times a day. She also wants her to do it outside on the sidewalk to build endurance and practice. She said it takes about 5,000 repetitions before her brain will fully learn and adopt it. 

Stepping up and down. When she had to rely on the left leg it was more challenging but she was pretty steady so that was good. We can already see some strengthen coming back to her leg.

Knee bends while standing on left leg

Squats for the first time. These will help build straight in her left leg. 

They were challenging but she did great! 

At the end she had Amaya rest and did some stretches and measured her range of motion. 

It was at 143 so she'll keep an eye on it to make sure she doesn't lose much. The therapist said she may lose some range of motion in her knee as she begins to build muscle and strength in her leg, so it's important to keep up with those exercises.

New X-rays

We got new X-rays on April 22nd and got to see Amaya’s femur and new bone. These X-rays are two months since we stopped lengthening. For two months the new home has been consolidating. Amaya and I both noticed a visible difference between todays and last months X-rays.  

Dr. Nelson reviewed the X-rays and said she can now start walking. That’s right, walking! She can walk at PT and around the house but outside of that she still needs to use 1-2 crutches for the next month. Amaya is very eager and excited to start walking!

Side view 

Front view 

Back at PT

     It's been about three weeks since our last PT session on March 30th. We've been waiting for the new PT order to be signed and returned to the physical therapist's office. At times we waited patiently and other times not so patient. To be honest it's hard waiting and not having something, something that you know can help your child. It's a frustrating process, but part of the journey.

    During this time Amaya has made sure to do her part, doing her PT exercises every day without ever missing a day. I've done my part, which has been to try to get the order signed. It has meant many, many calls. Tuesday I was notified that the therapist's office received the new order. All the minutes on hold, the messages I left, the calls and emails were all worth it! We are all so happy and relieved! 

    We returned to PT on Wednesday and it was great to be back! Amaya's therapist noticed immediately that Amaya had done her homework and had made progress. That's great! At first measurement Amaya was able to get her knee from 0 to 138 degrees, that was without any work or stretching. In a few minutes she got her knee to 142 degrees! Since her range of motion has improved so much the therapist decided to focus the rest to the time on standing exercises.  

    Based on her last x-rays Dr. Nelson allowed Amaya to begin to weight bearing while standing. We're approaching the time when Amaya can begin to walk while weight bearing. Her therapist said it's important to get Amaya use to standing and building her strength to make walking easier. She taught Amaya some standing exercises which she will begin to do as homework. Then she worked with Amaya to develop her sense of balance and to reacquaint her eyes, body and brain to using both legs (on not one leg and crutches). 

    The new focus of pt will be standing exercises since her range of motion is doing so well and to prepare for walking. So exciting! The therapist said the path Amaya will follow is walking using two crutches, then walking with one crutch, then walking without crutches. 

Amaya prepping for the day's session. Look how naturally her left knee bends.

Standing leg lifts.

Standing on her left leg and lifting the right one. Amaya's left leg was shaking, showing it is weak and not use to carrying her body weight. It didn't cause her any pain but the therapist advised her to be cautious to not overwork her leg, so that she doesn't fall. 

The therapist had Amaya stand in front of her while she gently pushed her side to side,

 front to back and back to front. She had Amaya close her eyes because

 this helps with developing balance and retraining her brain.