WE ARE DONE LENGTHENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Week 16)

The right X-Ray is his initial on January 10th and the left is the one from today! Look at all that new bone!!! Need I say more!!! It's week 16 and we are DONE with the lengthening. We are super excited and we can't hide it. We are going home!!! Did you hear we are going home!!!  We just talked to daddy and he said SATURDAY is the day!!! We are going home!!!

Ethan's appointment went super!!!  He gained the 8CM we wanted to gain and we are done with the lengthening. His hip is looking good and bone ossification is also looking good! It's just amazing and every time I look at the X-rays or his leg I just get a lump in my throat! All the hard work has paid off!! We are looking at even legs and even sooner the removal of fixator!!!

Thank you Jesus!!! We are looking forward to going home but sad to say goodbye to Liddy, Abby and Graham. Graham also received good news today and will be going home in two weeks. Abby is also done lengthening and will go home after her brother Charlie finishes school. Liddy has gained 2 inches already!! That goes to show you that Dr. Paley is making miracles happen on daily basis.  Eyal went home last weekend and Sophia left on Sunday.  We sure miss our friends but glad everyone is getting to go home.  Looks like the initial Class of 2012 is all done now and soon will be returning one by one to get the fixator removed.  Lilly will be back in a month to have her fixator removed and I'm sure Claire will follow along with Sophia, Eyal and Abby.

Last week was Ethan's Birthday and thanks to a group of volunteers he had an amazing Star Wars Birthday party! He was super happy and with great smiles. On his birthday Abby received the great news to stop lengthening!!!  

We are praying that PT gets easier as we start our none turning days at West Palm Beach and that by the time we make it home we are looking at easier days.

Thank you for all the prayers and moral support you have provided us during our lengthening months!

Near the end of Lengthening (Week 14th)

The finish line is so close that we are super eager to go home. When we decided we would go forth with this adventure we never imagined what the end would feel like. As the months have gone by there has been some good and some hard times but seeing what we've gained makes it all worth it. Ethan is making great bone. The Doctor said we've gained 6.5 cm out of the 8 we are going for (X-ray shows 74 mm but you deduct 10 percent for magnification). He said we have 2 more weeks of turning and hopefully we will reach our goal and get to go home. Ethan is not wearing a lift and from the looks we are even but we have to go with what the doctor tells us. :(

As far as PT goes its harder. I don't know if it's due to recent surgery or just that his body has had enough but it's like the first 2 weeks of PT and pin cleaning. To my surprise the new pin sites (3) are super healed nothing like the initial surgery. He was back in water therapy within a weeks time. Today, after PT and as we are walking out Ethan tells me "Mommy I'm sick of you!". I have to admit I smirked and ask him to repeat it again. I told him if you are sick of me you don't want to know how I feel! It's been super tough two weeks. He refuses to do therapy and cries for his daddy and grandma non-stop! How I envy daddy right now!!! He is such a nice guy and probably put on the highest pedestal! While I'm the bad guy torturing him on a daily bases. It hurts and I get frustrated but somebody has to do the dirty work! Don't get me wrong we do have great moments when he tells me "Mommy I LOVE YOU" or "I love you cutie pie!!". Those moment I hold near my heart and those moments erase the nasty stabbing comments.

This week I've started to push him a little more. He has not used his wheelchair and I started working with him to gain courage and stability without the walker. Let's just say the first day was super challenging! I'm sure the neighbors were near calling security. He is having such a hard time bending the knee. He is super tight and super scared. Ms. Emily and Yvette said the tightness is due to both the surgery and the length we've gained so t's all normal!!!

The class of 2012 is slowly finishing and going home. Lily has been gone of about 3-4 weeks. Claire left this week and Eyal might be going soon. Abby is still turning 2 times a day to help with foot pain and tightness. Abby and Lily are still having foot pain. Abby and Lily are not sleeping at night. Please pray for them.

Please pray that PT gets easier because ever since our last surgery (2 wks ago) it's been a bit challenging. Please pray for mommy because I've also had some challenging moments!

Post-2nd Surgery (Week 12-13)

Where do I start? First of all, Ethan did extremely well after surgery. I have to share our pre-op discussion with happy juice. The surgical nurses found Ethan to be super cute and wanted to be his girlfriends. Of course, he said no, he said “I have a girlfriend” with a huge smile on his face. They asked him how old was he and one of the nurses proceeded to tell him that since he was 3 he was allowed one girlfriend per year. He was three and therefore he was allowed to have 3 girlfriends. It was super funny!!! All this took place as we wheeled Ethan back to the operating room. Once in the operating room, he proceeded to tell the ladies that he only has one girlfriend name Marissa. It was super cute that even drugged up he confirmed that he was one girlfriend kind of guy. The ladies kept insisting he could have 2 more girlfriends but he was not on board. Eddie had been the one that walked him to the operating room and today was my day! I managed to hold all my tears back and gave my baby kisses before walking out o the operating room. Later, I thought how great it was to be distracted by them and not fully focused on taking my baby back to the operating room. I was sure he was in great hands but the 4 hour surgery felt like an eternity. My dad was pacing back and forth making me nervous. At one point he even asked what was taking so long. He was super eager to see Ethan. About an hour later they allowed us to see him. He woke up hungry and devoured a popsicle and had about 3 apple juices. We got to go home the same day and I was hoping I wouldn’t regret it. I didn’t, Ethan did great once at home. He was not happy about pin cleaning or stretches but its understandable. We had PT appointment the next day that I was not fully prepared for. It turned out not to be so bad. He was pretty tight but hoping that by Monday he would be better.

The weekend was fun because daddy made it in on Friday!!! Ethan was so happy to be with daddy that he forgot all about the surgery and additional pins. We ended up spending Easter Sunday at the beach! It was a bit cold so we didn’t get in the water but we sure enjoyed seeing the locals enjoying the cold water.

Week 13:
Tuesday, was a little hectic to say the least. Ma (my mom) slipped and fell at water therapy. She banged her self pretty bad but thankfully no broken bones or fractures were shown on the x-rays. UGH, I can’t handle another patient! ;-) She is doing well but still in a lot of pain. Hopefully, by Monday she will also feel better and we will all be in our way to recovery and better days. Our friend Sophia had surgery on Tuesday. She needed to have her hip secured and nerve decompression. She had already planned to go home on Sunday but since she had surgery she will have to stay at least another 2 weeks. She is doing well. It’s amazing how resilient kids are. They amaze me on a daily basis.

We celebrated Abby’s Birthday on Wednesday. She is now 4 and Ethan is also eager to celebrate his! She was super cute in her full blown Strawberry Shortcake costume. Abby is doing better this week but still having issues with both straightening and bending. Mommy is sure praying for no surgery but hopefully they will be done in a few weeks. They started 2 day turns last week and that seems to be helping.

Patty Mac’s invites a family from Quantum House every other Thursday for dinner and treats them like VIP’s. On Thursday it was our turn. We ate so much but it was all worth it! The owner brought over his grandson Preston to meet Ethan. Preston sat and showed him his games on his IPad. Ethan was so happy and excited about his new friend that he said Preston was his new best friend. LOL

This week has gone very smoothly at PT minus the temper tantrums. He is not as tight and stretches are going pretty easy.

It’s Friday and we are eager for Monday!!! We will know how we have progressed since our last x-ray/surgery day and hopefully get a definite day of departure!

Have a great weekend and I will let you know how Monday goes!! Please continue to pray for all the class of 2012!!!

Prayer Request!!! (12 weeks)

Today, we had our hip x-ray and Dr. Paley confirmed the one thing that I was not prepared to hear. Ethan's hip is dislocating and will require another surgery to secure the hip. Not only is Ethan getting more pins but he will also get the decompression done. What does that mean to mommy? More pin cleaning, more sleepless nights, more discomfort for Ethan, and more chances for infection. I think, I turned green when Dr. Paley uttered the words "surgery tomorrow" he didn't have to say anything else. Dr. Prince looked at me very sympathetic and I really wanted to run to him and get a big hug. I needed comforting but I managed to composed myself and started asking John questions. How I wished Servando was the one to break the news. I managed to compose myself tell I got to the car. I cried and still crying not because I'm worried about surgery because I have full confidence in Dr. Paley and team but because this shouldn't be happening. We should be on the end of the race and near the finish line. I'm so ready to go home!!! They said this wouldn't slow us down but I just can't imagine.

On a brighter note Ethan is making beautiful bone!!!!

I have to get some much needed rest. Please pray for Dr. Paley and team, for Ethan and for mommy and daddy. Surgery is set for 11 AM tomorrow. I will keep you updated.

Good night!