Sunday, February 15, 2009

A Little Worried

IMG_0946 I'm cleaning up baby puke and I'm worried about what life will be like a few weeks from now. On March 24, Allie will have surgery. She has cerebral palsy and brain damage brought on by an injury about a year and a half ago. Her bones are growing faster than her muscles and this is causing her hips to migrate out of joint. In fact, instead of her hips being a round socket, they are more of a flat surface. So the joints need to be reshaped and her hips repositioned. Along with that, she has to have some leg muscles lengthened.

After the surgery is over, she'll be in a cast from her waist down for six weeks. She'll spend three days in the hospital and then come home. We are unbelievably anxious about what life will be like for Allie and us. Will you please pray?

Prayer request on Susan's blog

Row Your Boat

More of Allie working out with Joan.

Good Morning, Allie

Here's Allie stretching out with Joan her new physical therapist.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

YouTube - Allie at therapy

Here's Allie with Marium her new speech therapist. More videos to come.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

The Magic Formula

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Allie has had a cold the past few days which is quite paralyzing for the whole family. She didn't sleep more than fifteen or twenty minutes straight during the night or during her mid-day nap for two or three days. She doesn't know how to blow her nose. She doesn't know what to do with post-nasal drip so she throws up. This is her subtle way of really making the party lively.

Grandma Yolanda comes down twice each day to do her share of Allie loving and holding and hugging. Allie gets so excited when Grandma gets here even when life is a living nightmare because of the cold and the puking. Even though Allie aches and her muscles are tight, she expresses delight when Grandma walks into the room.

Sunday afternoon Grandma lays Allie down on the floor and starts rubbing something on the soles of Allie's feet. I'm not in a super cheerful state with the lack of sleep and all so I think to myself, what the hell is she doing?, but since I'm a nice guy or at least trying to be I actually say, "That's interesting. What's that you're putting on her feet?"

"It's Mentol Chino like Vicks."

"On her feet?"

"I've heard of that, putting Vicks on feet rather than the chest," says the charming and beautiful Susan.

I'm still in a bad mood so I'm thinking what the hell are you two hens clucking about?, but I'm trying to be a nice guy so I keep my mouth shut.

So Allie has this Mentol Chino that Grandma Yolanda brings up from her native Ecuador on her feet (Allie has it on her feet - Grandma Yolanda doesn't bring it from Ecuador on her feet... never mind). The charming and beautiful Susan also applied some of the stuff to Allie's t-shirt and put another shirt on over the top of it.

Allie slept like a baby. She's been napping. The snot has dried up. She had an amazing day yesterday. She slept great again last night. We're all sleeping wonderfully. It's like I've clicked the heels of my ruby slippers and we're all back home in Kansas. I don't know if this Mentol Chino is FDA approved or not. Don't care. It's a miracle drug.

When Grandma Yolanda walks in the house, Allie's not the only one delighted to see her.

Check it out here: http://www.dyvenpro.com/ but you better know Spanish.