Tuesday, June 29th

Ethan is on his 6 week mark so cast is soon to come off and he can begin physical therapy and bearing weight. The past few weeks have been great. Ethan is back to himself, all smiles and loving on everyone. I must say we are really looking forward to no cast. We've gone swimming a few times and he loves it. It's good for us because he gets in his physical therapy without too much fuss.

However, on Sunday we emailed Dr. Paley a picture of an area on Ethan's leg that doesn't want to heal. He emailed us back and told us that it was dead tissue that needed to be debrided and the wound reclosed. That it's a small operative procedure but unfortunately we would have to fly to Florida. Yesterday, we went to see his pediatrician and she referred us to Children's. Of course, all of this was in hopes that the procedure could be done here in Dallas versus flying out to Florida. We spent most of the day at Children's where they told us that it was not infected and to let it heal on it's own. It would probably be weeks before it closed and to go back to sponge baths tell it scabbed over. At that point, we were relieved and glad that we wouldn't have to go to Florida. Later that afternoon, I got a call from Dr. Paley's scheduling coordinator, I told her the situation, what the doctors had told us and told her that we wouldn't be doing the procedure. In about minutes the phone rang and it was Dr. Paley. He proceeded to tell me that it was mandatory that we had the procedure done, that if we did nothing the area would heal but create a crater. The decision of not flying out, was not acceptable, and that we needed to come out to Florida this week. He also said that he sees this type of things happen all the time and that if he doesn't do the procedure it will cause long term issues. For example, the area will not heal because with every stretch and stand it will reopen. I'm sure, he knows what he is talking about and I'm sure he will do the best job but it's still stressful and irritating having to travel back to Florida to have a simple procedure. Everyone at Children's was very impressed with Ethan's hardware and asked what exactly he had done. The X-Ray's they did looked pretty cool, hope they look cool for Dr. Paley.

Ethan and Eddie to fly out tomorrow afternoon. I'm glad it's getting done just wished I didn't have to be away from my baby. I know, we got to do what we got to do. Hope they get to come home before Sunday, the 4th.

Abby has the same type of hole smaller but deeper. They will be in Florida in a few weeks so please keep her in your prayers. Hope Dr. Paley doesn't scorn her mommy and daddy and that he is able to close the area up so that it heals faster.

Please pray for Ethan that the simple procedure goes well and that they return home safe! Also, pray for mommy so that she doesn't freak out while they are gone!!!

Lord I know you don't give me anything I can't handle but just wished you wouldn't have so much faith in me!!!! I'm going to be strong and pray for lots of strength!

Tuesday, June 15th ~ 3 wks Down 3 wks 2 Go

Finally, I think we are back to a normal routine and Ethan is almost back to his usual happy self.

We've had good nights and great days. No meds since we got back and he doesn't complain of pain so that's comforting. Grandma and Ma look after him so he is getting lots of love and attention. The weekend was great. Friday, we spent time with my family. On Saturday, we went to a party and then to the balloon festival in Midlothian. We didn't get to see any balloons launch but had fun looking at a couple planes and helicopter. He had a spider man hat made that we loved. As you can see Ethan's cast is now RED. Mommy got sick of looking at the ugly beige stained cast so I removed the stockinette and replaced it with soccer socks. Yeah, those are the thin soccer socks for men. They work great and gave the old cast a much needed new look. I looked into ordering new stockinette but found bad reviews. The majority of people complained about low quality and I decided to come up with a better plan. I looked for material to make my own stockinette but when I saw the socks I knew it would work! Also, we out smarted Ethan by velcroing the cast in the back instead of the front. Since he could take the cast off he started undoing his diaper. So, what did mommy do? Outsmarted him again, yeah I'm on him! He is back into his onesis!!! Has not removed his diaper since! I guess, my baby will be catching on quick and will try to outsmart me some day but I'll be prepared! :)

On Sunday, Divine, Deanna and my brother Miguel stopped by to visit and brought him some popcorn! YUMMY in our Tummy!!!

Abby has been out of her cast for almost a week! She is crawling, climbing and jumping off and on to the sofa. She is doing physical therapy 3 times a week. She put her helper leg on but was not able to walk but give her a couple of weeks and I can assure you she will be running!

Emily will be having surgery on August 12th and Aubrey will have surgery on September 22nd. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers!

Have a great night!

Home Sweet Home

We are back home and you can't even imagine how happy Ethan has been. He really is glad to be home. We are still not sleeping from 1am-5am. It's like having a new born all over again!! But this too shall pass!

Abby and Jennifer came by on Friday. We wanted to get a picture of them and their matching casts. Abby is doing really good. She gets around with no problem and you can tell she is ready to walk! We are so happy for her! Kids are so amazing. Before they arrived I tried to get Ethan in a shirt but he was not having it! He was wanting to show Abby his one pack! LOL Look at that smile! He was so happy to see Abby that's for sure.

Abby had her x-ray on Friday, so hopefully, she will get her cast removed very soon. Jennifer said that physical therapy is going well and that she has been swimming and standing up with no problems. She is also removing her cast during her naps and she is still not napping. Thankfully, for us we don't have any napping issues. As soon as noon comes around he is ready for a nap! Wished it was the same at night!

We are looking forward to the balloon classic this weekend, hope Ethan loves it. We are also looking forward to pool time that's for sure.

Wednesday, June 2nd

Today, was a very long day!!! We were up from 1 am-4am because Ethan decided to have a screaming episode! Then we had to be up by 6:30am to get ready for our flight out to Dallas. We got all packed and headed out to the airport. Man was it muggy and hot!!!! It's like we didn't even take a shower because the second you walk out you are sticky and hot! I wont miss that a bit! Dallas here we come! We get to the airport an hour before boarding and so far Ethan had been a trooper! Even despite the long line at the airport! Today, I was sprayed or viewed by the cameras. I hear they see you all naked and stuff. I'm sure someone in the back was loving that! LOL I had to add a little humor to my day!!! About fifteen minutes before we started boarding Ethan decided to cause a scene. He screamed tell we boarded. Yeah, everyone was staring at us and probably thinking we were unfit parents because 1) we had a screaming kid and 2) he was in a cast! I told Eddie I bet they think he fell and broke something. I hate it when people stare! I just want to put up a sign "HIP/KNEE SURGERY, WE DIDN'T DROP OUR SON!" That was the first time I got irritate with all the stares!!! As soon as we boarded he stopped screaming! It was great, we might have a good flight after all! Ethan slept tell 15 minutes tell landing but woke up screaming again!!!! He screamed for another 20 or so minutes! Once again, everyone was staring!!! But we were glad to have landed and ready to go home!!!

We got home around 2pm and found that my sister-in-law and niece Divine had put up a welcome sign for Ethan! It was super cute and sweet of them! Ethan loves balloons so he was excited! My mom had cooked some home cooking and we were all ready to eat!!! Ethan was so excited to see grandam, ma, and pa! The rest of the day he was happy!!!

We are still having issues with the whole bath experience! He hates sponge baths and having his hair washed in the sink! Hope he gets better or that we get the courage to put him in the tub again! That's something we have to attempt next week. Wish us luck!!! Also, the other thing we will tackle is the stretches! Not looking forward to those but I know they are very important for healing so we can't procrastinate

So far diaper changing has not been that bad but we have not had a poopy diaper just yet nor have I had to do it on my own but I'm sure that will happen soon!

I guess that's a good night for today!!!

Tuesday, June 1st

Today, was much better day for all of us! Ethan woke-up to kisses and hugs for both mommy and daddy and ready to play! I think that's a good sign of recovery! He was happy for the most part! We went to lunch and he was all smiles! For the first time we were able to sit down and have a good lunch. I think our baby might be back!!! We are so happy!!! On our way to our appointment Eddie told me to be prepared for the worst. Be strong and don't let him get to you! Yeah, easy for him to say!!!!



No tears/screams tell we met with Tony. Tony was making his cast removable and he was not liking the idea! But after a few minutes he just laid back and relaxed! Of course mommy had to sit right next to him so he can hold on to my hair. Not sure what his fascination is with my hair but if it makes him happy he can have at it!!!! Tony re-padded his cast and put some cool straps to secure it in place.

What was running through our heads when the cast was removed? Well, I was sick at my stomach thinking the worst but to our relieve it wasn't that bad! It appeared to be healing pretty good. We headed up for X-rays and had our first try at removing the cast and diapering. It wasn't bad but still makes us a little nervous.

We head back to Dr. Paley's office and ready for his evaluation. Of course, praying that all looked well and we can go home. Dr. Paley said he looked good seemed to be healing properly. He started moving his leg around which caused me to feel a sense of panic. Ethan was letting it be known that he was not happy with all the movement but Dr. Paley assured us that movement was good for healing. He had some blistering but Dr. Paley assured us that it would heal soon. The most important news news was that Ethan had gained 24 mm with the surgery!!!!! Pre-surgery Ethan's femur was 98 mm and post-surgery it was 122 mm.

What's the plan after today? In 4-5 weeks we will have X-rays done in Dallas and hope that they do it right so we wont have to fly back! If everything looks good at 6 weeks our next appointment will be in 3 months. Ethan can start physical therapy after 6 weeks but only to bend and move the hip no walking. When Dr. Paley receives the X-rays and confirms that it's healing correctly then and only then will the cast come off.


Tomorrow, we go home and are so excited but yet sadden that we have to say goodbye to all the families that we have befriended. The Quantum House has been our home away from home!!! Thanks to all the staff for being so nice and making sure we were comfortable. MJ, Roby, Lisa and Collette you are the best!!! Ryan, Melissa, Liddy, Alisa and McKin thank you for trying to put a smile on my babies face. We will miss you guys!!! We pray that you have a speedy recovery and that soon you will go home too.


Dallas here we come, I hope you are ready for us!!! Good night!!!

The pictures below might be a little upsetting so if you don't want to see them don't scroll down!













The circle you see is his knee cap. It's much smaller than his good knee cap. He had superhip and knee surgery. Will probably need tibia surgery because its turned in-ward but we wont worry with that for now.

Sunday-Monday, May 30 - 31st

This past few days have been the hardest days since the surgery/post surgery. We're not sure what is causing him to wake-up and scream bloody murder. We feel so helpless! He seems scared and angry to a point of almost passing out. He screams so loud that I'm sure the entire house (10 rooms plus) can hear him! Being an only child probably doesn't help matters because every thing is his! He doesn't want anyone touching his toys, TV, or even sharing his mommy and daddy!

We really don't know how many more days of screaming and tantrums we can take. I guess I was spoiled because before surgery he was so easy going. He was happy 95 percent of the time and now it's the opposite. It's like he is a different person. Servando tells us that the pain meds sometimes cause them to be more irritable and cranky so I hope once he stops the pain meds my boy will be back to himself!

GOD, I know, this too shall pass but please make it pass QUICK! Monday night was my breaking moment. He had been cranky all day. Eddie had been cooking out while I entertained or should I say try to entertain. I was getting ready to sit down and eat when he decided to start screaming AGAIN. Why? I have no clue! He was pissed to a point of kicking and screaming! I went back to the room and put him down to watch his movies! That seemed to calm him down but what about mommy! I was in tears defeated by my 2 yr old son! I stuck my face in my pillow and screamed. I think out of desperation that I couldn't help him or I couldn't make him happy! Desperation that we are only at week 1 of our 6 week journey!!! Desperation that my baby is not the baby I brought it to West Palm Beach 15 days ago!

The little glimpse of happiness are great! He hugs and kisses us! Laughs at just about anything so I hang on to those moments and hopes that those moments become longer each and every day!

Continue to pray for mommy that the Lord gives her strength and understanding and pray that Ethan comes home soon!!!

We have our appointment tomorrow and flying out Wednesday!!!