Hi Everyone!

We had a great appointment with Dr. Standard yesterday afternoon! In 30 days of turning struts....Lex has gained 4.5 cm (1.77 inches) of growth, and the new bone is coming in beautifully!

She is still having problems getting her leg straight, so we are slowing down the turns for 2 weeks to give her muscles a break, and she'll have to wear a knee brace during the night.

Her pin site infection is clearing up, and she has her appetite back and on her feet again!

As far as coming home.....we will find out a date HOPEFULLY at the next appointment in 2 weeks. Overall....very happy!!

Here is a pic of the x-ray taken yesterday.  Look at that beautiful bone! Oh, and we are OFFICIALLY finished turning the bottom struts for deformity correction.  The bone is aligned and will heal straight! Yay!!!

 

 

 

This is the bulletin board just outside our room.  Lex is really feeling the love!  Thanks for the cards and get-well wishes! :)

 

Lex and her friend Bella, who also has Fibular Hemimelia :)

 

 

Underwater fun!

 

 

 

Hey Everyone,

It's been another crazy week of ups and downs for Lex....poor girl.  She was doing better in PT, and even cooperating with doing her stretches back in our room.  And also did some independent walking!!

We also had a fun 4th of July with some of the other families staying here.  We all went out for dinner, and watched fireworks together.  We all had a lot of fun!

And on Saturday, we drove to D.C.!  We went to the National Aquarium and The National Museum of American History.  :)

Sunday was a relaxing day at the HP House.

Monday was a whole different story.  Something just wasn't right as soon as Lexi woke up.  She was complaining of her leg hurting, and she didn't want to go to PT....not even the pool!! :(  With all the pins and wires in her leg, it's pretty much inevitable that a pin site infection will occur at some point while wearing the fixator.  My worst fears were confirmed this morning in PT.....Lex has a pin site infection. We started her on antibiotics right away, and are hoping that within 24 hours she'll be feeling better.

Another disappointing part of the day was the appointment we had in the clinic.  Lexi had x-rays taken to monitor the bone, and measure her growth.  We ended up seeing one of Dr. Standard's P.A.'s for the appointment (doc was on a well-deserved vacation with his family).....long story short.....we left the appointment without getting any of our questions answered.  Well, that didn't sit well with me....so, I walked back to the clinic and asked for another appointment, with Dr. Standard.  Thursday is the day!  We are all very excited to see doc, especially Lexi!  He has been such a big part of our lives for so long.  Lexi literally sighed in relief when I told her she will get to see Dr. Standard! :)

I'll post on the blog again, after our appointment on Thursday.  Until then....here are some pics from the last week!

Hi Everyone

It's been a pretty rough week on Lex.  Because of the lengthening and deformity correction, everything needs to stretch and lengthen....blood vessels, tendons, muscles, and skin.  So, with all those things happening, it's common that the leg will tighten up....and that's what Lex is experiencing right now.

She's having trouble straightening her knee completely, and it's causing her pain.  It's interesting because she doesn't complain too much about pain from the pin sites or wires in her leg....but the pain is coming from her knee and thigh muscles.  PT is working very hard to correct this issue, and hopefully before the week is over they will try some different approaches in therapy.

Some good news.....today we have finished the turning schedule for the bottom tier of the fixator, which is for the deformity correction (straightening)!  Hopefully when Lex has her next x-rays taken on the 8th, everything will be good, and doc won't have to make any changes.

So, starting tomorrow, we will just have to turn the struts on the top tier (lengthening)!  Hoping that going from turning 12 struts to 6 struts each day.....her muscle tightness and pain ease up.  Please continue to keep Lex in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks everyone!

 

Here's a couple of pics of Lexi's leg taken tonight.  We put colored tape on the bottom struts so they stay in place....don't want those suckers to move!! ;)

Lexi working on her "snow angels" in pool PT today.