Happy Holidays!

Hi!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

I haven't posted in awhile because right now we're in the waiting stage of Lexi's lengthening, and there's not too much going on. Lexi had x-rays a couple of weeks ago, and her bone is looking good. We just received another prescription for x-rays around the 15th of January, and hopefully we'll know more after that.

Lexi did have signs of a pin site infection (her first), so we gave her antibiotics and now she's much better! She's back to riding her bike around the house, and now she's riding her new scooter and loving it!

Here are a couple of pics of Lexi....the aspiring doctor and/or chef!

2-month follow-up appointment

Hey Everyone,

We had a great appointment today!!! It has been 2 months since Lexi had her fixator put on, and wow, she's doing great! Dr. Standard said that she has gained a total of 2 inches in length, and we've reached our goal for this lengthening surgery. So, tomorrow is Lexi's first day in the bone consolidation phase. She will continue to wear her fixator for up to 3 more months, depending on how quickly it takes for her bone to harden.

Lexi will have x-rays taken in 4 weeks, back home, and we'll send them out to Dr. Standard for him to look over. If things go well, we might not have to travel back to Baltimore until Lexi's fixator removal!

Happy Halloween!

Meow! Hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween! We leave for Baltimore on Sunday, and will see Dr. Standard on Monday. I will post another update on Lexi's progress after the Monday appointment.

1 month follow-up appointment

Hello everyone!

Yesterday we flew to Baltimore for Lexi's 1 month post-op appointment. It was Lexi's first trip on an airplane, and she did very well! When the plane took off, Lexi said "woo hoo! we're going fast!"

Lexi's appointment with Dr. Standard went very well. She has gained 3cm total length in her leg, which converts into just over 1 inch!!! The straightening of her tibia is also progressing well, and Dr. Standard was amazed at how clean Lexi's leg/pin sites are (one of the cleanest he's ever seen).

We fly back home tomorrow afternoon, and will come back for another appointment in two weeks.

If you look closely at the x-ray picture, I marked the gap in her leg with arrows to show her growth.

Love to all!

We're Back Home!

Hey Everyone!

Hooray! We are home. After what seemed like the longest drive, we arrived back at home late Thursday night. It's good to be home, and Lexi is doing very well here too! She missed Emma and Sabrina very much, and was happy to see them. Lex is back to enjoying her books on her own bed, and playing in her playroom.
Monday we start therapy out here for 2-3 days a week. And Lexi's next appointment with Dr. Standard is Monday, October 20th. I'll keep you updated on Lexi's progress!

Monday

Lexi had another great day in pool therapy! She enjoyed passing the green tube back and forth to Miss Joely, her therapist in the pool today. When it was time to shower after her therapy session, Lexi took the shower hose and washed her fixator all by herself! She's such a big girl!

Sunday

Today was such a beautiful day, that we decided to drive out to D.C. and go to the National Zoo. Lexi loved the Giant Pandas, meerkats ("oh look, they're sooo cute!"), and she liked hanging out at the otter exhibit!

Friday

Here are a couple of pics of Lexi walking up and down a flight of stairs at therapy on Friday!

Thursday

Hey Everyone,

Today Lexi had her 2 week follow-up appointment with Dr. Standard, and it went great! If you look closely on Lexi's x-rays, you can see the gap in her tibia bone. Just in the 10 days of lengthening, Lexi has gained approximately 1.5 cm, which is about 1/2 inch! How amazing is that! Lexi did some walking for Dr. Standard and also showed him the exercises she's been doing.
Dr. Standard is very pleased with the way things are progressing. He is so pleased, that he gave us the A-OK to go home, Woo Hoo!!! We have to keep up with the physical therapy back home, and we also have to fly back every 2 weeks for the follow-up appointments with Dr. Standard.
Anyway, we are planning to start driving back next Thursday. We should be home sometime on Friday, and can't wait to have visitors!!!
Love and kisses to everyone!

Wednesday

Hi!

Lex had a great day in therapy! Today, her therapist was Miss Sunni, and wow was she impressed with Lexi! Lexi did all of her exercises with minimal help from Miss Sunni. She also did a few steps, both up and down. Best of all, Lexi did some independent standing and walking while shooting some hoops with Miss Sunni! Yay Lexi!

That's all the news we have today. More will come tomorrow....we see Dr. Standard for Lexi's 2 week follow-up appointment. We can't wait!

Love to all!

Monday

Hey Everyone,

Today, Lexi had an awesome day! She had her first therapy session in the pool, with her therapist Mr. Moshe. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned how Lexi would react to the pool therapy, because it was Mr. Moshe in the pool with her and not me. But I brought her up the stairs, sat her at the edge of the pool, and dangled her legs in the water. Well, that did it! As soon as she felt how warm the water was, and she saw the swim tube that Mr. Moshe had for her, she was in! Alex and I got to be right outside of the pool, and took lots of pictures. Lexi got to meet a cute 6 year old boy, named Cameron, who had pool therapy as well. Cameron kept making Lexi laugh because he kept dunking his head underwater!

This was a breakthrough experience for Lexi. Both in terms of therapy progress and the fact that she trusts her therapist so much, that she didn't cry for me or Daddy. We are so proud of her....so much that I had tears of joy watching her in the pool!

(The shower and pin care after the pool session were not so joyous, but let's just focus on the positive!!!)

Lexi has gym therapy on Wednesday and Friday. And on Thursday we have our 2 week follow-up appointment with Dr. Standard...we can't wait! Alex and I are anxious to find out how well Lexi's lengthening is going, and to hear what Dr. Standard has to say about things. Alex started working again today and he will continue to that this week. We'll see what's in store for us next week, as we aren't sure if Alex will be able to stay much longer.

Enjoy the pictures! We miss you all very much.

Thursday

Hey Everyone,

Well, today was a great day for Lexi....she started walking again! We are so very proud of her! She walked from the bathroom door to the bed using her walker, and then walked a bit holding mine and Alex's hands!

We took a little break and played a game together, and then after a bit of creativity and encouragement on our part, Lexi walked into the hallway of the hotel! Once she got to the hallway, she noticed a new book waiting for her near the elevator. Lexi was quite happy to see a new book, but even happier to see the elevator, and wanted to go on it.

Lexi walked (using her cute little walker) onto the elevator, through the lobby and out the doors. She walked outside for a few minutes and then back up to our room. It was so amazing! Huh, and I was worried that she would not want to walk. Silly me!

After the very productive day she had, Lexi zonked out at 8:30.

Hope everyone is well, and we miss you all so much!

Tuesday

Hey Everybody,

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, but things have been crazy. Between leaving the hospital on Sunday, worrying about Pops because of his infection, and controlling Lexi's muscle spasms which kept her awake during the nights, we needed to have a good day.....and finally today was good for Lexi!

She slept all through the night (so Alex and I slept all night too!). We now have Lexi on a steady regimen of meds, and her muscle spasms have virtually disappeared. We also had her standing for a couple of minutes, and walked a couple of steps today (quite reluctantly though). And when it came time to do her exercises she was reluctant, until I told her to try doing the yoga moves that Alex taught her. After saying that, she really got into it and was doing her exercises with minimal help (thanks Alex!) Hopefully that tactic will continue to work!!!

We love you very much Pops, and are praying for you and send you well wishes for a great surgery tomorrow and speedy recovery!

Hope you enjoy the pics of Lexi on the bed, doing her sticker art!

Hugs and Kisses to everyone....we miss you all so much!

Saturday

Today was a good day, Hooray! Basically as soon as the epidural came out at 7am, Lexi did much better. They also took out her catheter, and she gets to wear her big girl panties again! Ah, the little things that make us happy!

We did some physical therapy today, and she was able to walk about 10 feet with the help of us and her walker. She also went for a ride in her wheelchair today. We went outside for a bit to get some fresh air. Then took a ride to the cafeteria and had ice cream. Last, we went into the playroom. "Princess Lexi" got to keep the crown on her head, which was made by one of the nice girls who work in the playroom! She likes her wheelchair so much that she didn't want to get out of it.

If all goes well, we will be going back to the hotel tomorrow!! It'll be great to spend some time as a family before Alex has to go home on Saturday.

Thanks for all the comments....we love them!

Love and kisses to all! We miss you!

Oh, I almost forgot...."Go Cubs Go. Go Cubs Go. Hey Chicago what do ya say, Cubs are gonna win today!"

Thursday Night

Hey guys,

Well, after going through a few ups and downs with pain control between yesterday evening and today, I'm happy to tell everyone that Lexi is doing much better tonight!

Lexi got to meet lots of people today, including the physical/occupational therapists. This afternoon the physical therapist, Miss Brita, showed us how to pick her up with the fixator on. Then they brought a Little Tikes wagon for her to sit in, and she went for a ride around the pediatric floor! That really tuckered her out, and she took a nice 2 1/2 hour nap....you go girl!

After her nap, we all watched "Cars" together, and then she talked up a storm. That's our Lexi!! We couldn't be more proud of her. She is such a good kiddo, and the staff here just love her to pieces....can you blame them?!

Anyway, here are some more pics of Lexi from post-surgery yesterday and some from today. I'm sure you'll all love the "I'm way too spaced out and trying to watch my movie to smile for the camera" picture!

Love to all and talk to you soon.

Wednesday

Hi Everyone,

I walked back to the operating room with Lexi at about 11:45 am ET. She did very well this morning! She liked wearing the gown with the puppies on it, and liked her special hospital bracelet. And she got very excited when the nurse told her she gets to keep the Hello Kitty coloring book and crayons, too!

Lexi was given some medicine, and boy did it make her goofy! Lexi was giggly, and it made Alex and I very giggly too! And she did very well when I took her back in the operating room. The anesthesiologist and nurses all said that they haven't seen a toddler do so well with the gas! Way to go Lexi!!!! We are so proud of you!

I have to give a shout out to everyone here at the hospital. This pre-op experience was SOOOOO much better than Lexi's first surgery.

I will post another update soon...

Lots of love!

P.S. Lexi laughed at me when I wore the funny suit and hat....so I'm giving everyone a one-time pass to laugh too, but that's all you get!

Tuesday

Hi Everyone,

Well after the whole ordeal we went through with the apartment, we are finally settled in the Extended Stay America. It's very nice, clean, and no bugs (woo whoo!).

Today, we decided to take Lexi to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. She loved watching the water taxi's taking people across the Bay and dancing to the music played by a local musician!

Enjoy the pics, and thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Lots of Love to all!

Sunday Morning

Good morning everyone!

After being on the road for 10 hours yesterday, we decided to settle in at a Holiday Inn in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Lexi adjusted quite well to our hotel room. She was very proud of the fact that she could climb up onto the bed herself, and she just loved the mini fridge in our room! It was just her size, so she kept going in the fridge to drink her cup of milk. She would also tell us that if we needed anything, to let her know and she would get it for us....too cute!

We love and miss everyone, and I'll post again once we get settled into the apartment in Baltimore.