Olivia had a 3 month check up and I had asked for a few days of physical therapy as well. I love taking all the kids with us, it can be lonely (and boring) when it's just Olivia and I.
We both enjoy the company and noise of the other kids.
Anyway, Olivia had her check up and we got some good news....
She is to have the plates (that were put in in February) come out in 2-3 months. Usually these are in for a year, but her knees are about as straight as they can be, so he said they can come out.....
This is awesome,
of course.
She went from not being able to straightening her legs to having them completely straight! Olivia is doing well, she is walking with her braces perfectly, so well that the physical therapist said she didn't need to see her anymore this week!
Olivia is doing much better with her determination and will.....
maybe a little too much.....
We have gone from one extreme to another in more ways than one.
Before her surgery she couldn't straighten her legs completely but could bend them. Now they're straight and she can't bend them.....Let me rephrase, she WON'T bend them.
Our new motto is "Living in Fear".
This has been the past 3 months, fear.
Originally, I was worried that she would fight having her braces on 23 hours a day and not want to sleep in them.
How wrong I was.....they are her security, she doesn't want them off, she doesn't want you to even talk about touching her feet, and if she thinks her knees might bend, she completely freaks out.
She never wants to go swimming and she HATES the word "bath", actually she HATES the word "shower" more, "bath" she just starts crying.
So what do we do?
Well, we can't just leave it like this, she has to bend her knees, and she has to get more comfortable with her body. Initially I tried some stretches with her, laying her on her tummy and bending her knees, I'm pretty sure it sounded like I was stabbing her.
I couldn't do that to her, so I then tried letting her sit on the side of the bed or in her car seat with out her braces and letting her legs hang and gravity bend them.
She would just sit there and cry, and cry, and cry.....
misery.......
So yesterday at our appointment the doctor got to experience this, luckily.
She cried from the second we took her braces off until after she was fitted for new ones, maybe an hour to an hour and a half......
again MISERY.
Now let me just say the dr and I, believe that most of this is not pain, but fear and anxiety. I'm sure it's uncomfortable, like doing a split, when you have never been able to before. The stretch can be quite uncomfortable, but I don't think it is to the extent that she makes it out to be.
Once she has her mind set, that.is.it.
There is no talking her down from the cliff, no reasoning what.so.ever.
Dr vanBosse said we have to do it, we have to get her knees bending more. He tried to talk to her, and explain but I'm not sure she heard anything over the crying.....
He's such an amazing man!
We met with the physical therapist and got some different ideas and stretches to work on at home, so we will start there. And hopefully after her surgery in 2-3 months, we won't have to start all over again.....
Other than the not bending, she really is doing good. She walks all the time, and is using her crutches a lot. They help her to go faster and when she's outside on uneven ground she needs them. She's been able to keep up with "her kids" easier and has talked about how much she wants to play soccer one day.
We're working hard to have that dream come true.
This is the picture I posted of before and after surgery...
And these are her legs now....
