Merry Christmas!

Hello! Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!

Our Christmas Eve was simply amazing! As we entered my parents house I noticed that everyone was wearing T-shirts that had "SAVE-A-LIMB" (on the front) and "E-Rod's Angels" (on the back). I was a bit confused and I was not sure what was going on. After we settled in they told us "This Christmas we want to dedicate it to you and your family." Each of my nephews had a special message then the adults gave words of encouragement. They proceeded to hand us a box with a scrapbook that had pictures of all the 4 fundraisers and a special note from each family. Then they handed us cash and checks for over $1400. We were shocked but shocked is an understatement. For the past weeks they had spent planning and raising money for our trip. They had cookies and hot chocolate booth at the Ennis Christmas Lights Parade, Pictures with Santa at Mexicano Grill, Ethan Night at Chili's, and the final fundraiser of the month was Pictures with Santa in the City of Garrett. Everyone in my family knew about it but us. How they managed to keep it a secret for the entire month is beyond amazing. My nephews gave up the exchange of gifts to help out our family now this is the true meaning of Christmas! The gift of giving continues because they are planning various other fundraisers. No words can describe the gratitude we feel. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts to every one that donated or volunteered! Thank you for the continues words of encouragement and support as we begin this journey. Thank you to my Family for being so wonderful and giving!

Our journey begins in two weeks and counting! I've had sleepless nights and stressful days but after Christmas Eve with my family I'm at ease. I know things will be tough but I always have them to lean on.

Keep us in your prayers as we begin our venture to Florida. Ethan and Abby will have surgery on January 10th. Please keep them and the doctors in your prayers.

Thank you and Merry Christmas to everyone.

My Family:

Summer and Fall

Ethan had a fun summer. He went to the State Fair of Texas and enjoyed the food, the animal farm, the car show but was not crazy about the rides! We managed to get him on one ride! Marissa and Ethan test drove every car in the lot!



We had a play date with our PFFD buddies! We can't believe how fast they are growing!! Michelle is doing great and is getting bigger every time we see her. Abby is our super star! She made it to the cover of the November's North Texas Child Magazine!! Can't wait to see her and get her autograph! Aubrey is also growing like a weed! She is super cute and always has the cutes prosthetics! As you know, Abby and Ethan will have surgery on January 10th. Please keep our little guys in your prayers. We are hoping and praying that they don't catch the flu or a cold prior to the big date. Abby and her family are moving south and soon will be in our county! Ethan and Abby will spending more time together than they will like but us parents think it'll be fun!! Aubrey is also looking at having surgery sometime next year but her parents have not set a date. As you can see all is well and our PFFD family keeps looking better and better every time we get together!



(Ethan, Michelle, Abby, and Aubrey)

Ethan carved his own pumpkin or at least attempted to carve his own pumpkin! Look at that smile!!! He loved it!!!





Ethan was Bubble Bee for Halloween and he loved it! We met his buddy Grayson and Gavin at the Zoo and they had a grand time!!!

Lengthening Scheduled!

Ethan's lengthening appointment is set for January 10, 2012. It's seven months from now but I'm sure in a blink of an eye the day will be here. It's scary to think that seven months from now we will be in WPB and he will be in his first fixator. In all honesty, I try not to think about it. As a matter of fact, I refused to even acknowledge that his surgery is only months away. All we can do is pray about it and hope that Ethan stays healthy. We also pray that he is as resilient as our little friend Daniel Rigby who has had a fixator longer than anyone would want to. Abby has an appointment this month and she will find out if she is ready for lengthening. It would be great to have our local buddies with us during the four month stay and during our first round of lengthening.

You might be asking "How does it work?
The limb lengthening process works by gradually growing new bone and soft tissues (skin, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, etc). This new growth is called tissue regeneration. Bone and soft tissue regenerate when they are distracted (pulled apart) at a very slow rate of approximately 1 mm per day. If the rate of distraction is faster than this, bone may fail to form between the two ends of the bone that are being pulled apart and soft tissues, such as muscle, may experience contracture (get too tight) or nerves may become paralyzed. If the rate of distraction is too slow, premature consolidation may occur (the bone may consolidate too soon), preventing the lengthening device from further pulling it apart. There are many different lengthening devices used. The most common are external fixators, which are devices that attach to the bone by means of thin wires or thicker pins that have a screw threading at their attachment to the bone. There are two phases of lengthening until the bone is fully healed: the distraction phase and the consolidation phase. The distraction phase is the lengthening phase. After the desired length is obtained, the newly regenerated bone is still very weak because of lack of calcium within it. The hardening and calcification of this new bone is called the consolidation phase. The fixator needs to remain in place for both the distraction and consolidation phases. If the fixator were removed at the end of the distraction phase, the new bone would collapse and reshorten. Therefore, the external fixator needs to remain in place until the regenerated bone appears solid enough on the radiographs (x-rays). At that point, the device can be removed. Often, a cast is applied to temporarily protect the bone from breakage for an additional short time. The total time in the external fixator can be estimated to be approximately 1 month for each centimeter lengthened in children and 1.5 to 2 months or longer per centimeter in adults.

Ethan will be in a fixator for 8 months total. 4 months for lengthening and 4 months for calcification. That means that God willing and no major infections we will be home in time to celebrate his 4th Birthday. Then we will return to WPB in August to have the fixator remove. Ethan is looking to gain at least 4 cm in his first lengthening. Ethan’s current discrepancy is around 9 cm or around 4 inches. If we gain 8 cm with this surgery it will be a blessing even because then Ethan would only wear a shoe lift versus his prosthetic.

We had our PFFD play date last Saturday at Abby's house. The kids had a great time in the pool, running through the sprinklers and just sharing some good laughs. It's nice hanging out with the support group and bouncing ideas, concerns and even allowing our kids to be the majority. At the play date the parents discussed how the kids get stared and given awful looks by adults. We understand kids staring and asking questions but when adults gawk and stare at our child it’s just plane rude. During the winter months it’s easier to hide the prosthetic but during the hot summer months shorts is the only way to keep the kids cool. That’s when we notice more stares and people asking “What’s wrong with him?” in a tone of disgust. I personally, ignore it but not sure if Eddie will do the same.

Ethan is almost potty trained!!! He will so be moving up to the big kids class. He is really going to enjoy himself more because that’s where they have a computer. Eddie just ready to stop buying diapers and I can’t blame him.

We will be looking to do a couple fundraisers to help us out with the medical and housing expenses while we are in WPB. Please email us if you have any ideas or suggestions. Please continue to keep our kids in your prayers.

Spring 2011

It's been months since our last post and figured it was time for a much needed update. We can't believe that last year around this time we were gearing up for the Superhip surgery. We've come a very long way that's for sure.

Ethan went to Abby's birthday party at the Gymnastic Spot a few weeks ago and he had a blast! Eddie said that they were giving each other lots of hugs and that Ethan had to be right next to her at all times. They are both too cute! We have a great video of Ethan running without prosthetic and jumping into the foam squares.

Two weeks ago we celebrated Ethan's third birthday!!! Can you believe he is big 3? Kids truly grow up so quick and it seems like every month their features change. I look at pictures from last year and compare them to this year and he has gone from my baby to my little man! His birthday party theme this year was prince/princess since he shared it with his cousin Chloe who also turned 3! Ethan refused to wear his crown and cape but the the princess was all for her beautiful dress and crown. Grandma once again out did herself and made a beautiful castle cake. Ethan ran around dancing, jumping and playing games throughout the entire day/night. The party started at 4:30 and went through 10:30 and I can tell you that he only sat to eat dinner the rest of the time he ran around with the other kids. Thanks to all our friends and family that attended the party and for all the great gifts!!

On Easter Eve, we started our new tradition "Making Cascarones". In English, it's coloring and filling eggs with confetti for Easter Sunday! He was super excited about the entire process! On Easter/Birthday his God Mother Molly surprised him with a bunny (that he named Jona) and balloons.

We had our very last PT last week and Ms. Rhonda asked "What is Ethan not doing?" well we can say nothing because he is doing it all!!! He runs, jumps and climbs stairs with and without prosthetic! She was very pleased to see that Ethan is utilizing and strengthening his knee. The only thing she suggested was that we start working on his hip and knee strengthening to get him ready for the lengthening surgery next year. We are going to miss Ms. Rhonda but she said we could call her anytime if we had any questions or concerns.

It's amazing how a year can make such a difference. I'm so glad that we opted not to do the lengthening this year but it's time to start planning and seriously thinking about lengthening next year. As of today, we are really not sure when we will schedule his surgery for but looking to get that scheduled very soon. We are due for our six month check-up with Dr. Paley but hope we can push it off tell December. Thanks again for all the prayers and support!