Battle Scars and PT

Needless to say it's been a rough few days but it's getting better and Alex is being SUCH a trooper.  She really is.  We changed her bandages on Sunday and I was prepared for her incisions to look much worse than they did so I was pleasantly surprised.   She's still been moaning and crying a bunch, but who can blame her?  With her having the reaction the pain meds, she's only been taking ibuprofen, and with the immobilizers on her legs she can't position herself so she's literally stuck in the same position until we reposition her.  Today we took her to physical therapy for some stretches and to try and get her to weight bear - Aaron and I couldn't get her to do it at home and Lord knows we weren't going to push her to do it.  She LOVED the fact that she was getting out of the house - we asked her if she was excited to go out in the car and she raised her eyebrows several times in a row (her new way of communicating yes - pretty cool, huh?!?) - we then told her she was going to see Ms. Shannon and she quickly blinked her eyes hard - which means No!  As much as we L-O-V-E Shannon, can't say that I blame her! I questioned myself on taking her to therapy so quickly after surgery, but with Alex's tone and the way her muscles contract, I really felt like getting her out and having Shannon stretch her, and show us how to stretch her, is going to be more beneficial than waiting a few weeks.  Alex probably disagrees.  :) 

 

So, here's what her knees look like....she has an incision on the left and right sides of both knee caps.

 

The part that makes my knees hurt when I look at it is the back of her knees where they did the actual hamstring lengthening...

That's such a sensitive spot and I would think that has got to hurt the worst.  The good news is that the incisions look really good with no signs of redness or infection. 

 

Unfortunately the leg immobilizers are beginning to rub on her skin and she's having a little breakdown.  Shannon put some foam on the inside of the immobilizers so hopefully that will fix that issue.

It was a little painful for us to watch as Shannon ever so gently began to stretch her out - and she was not happy about it.  But for the most part, she did great.  Have I mentioned she's a trooper?

 

 

Thank goodness for Daddy. 

 

 

And speaking of Daddy, I really, really have to give him a lot of credit - he has been by Alex's side ever since Thursday.  We had a hotel room in Charlottesville for him to sleep at but once she came out of surgery he wouldn't leave and he stayed with us in the room the entire night sleeping for a few minutes here and there in a chair.  Since we've been home he's been completely on top of her medicine, her positioning, her changing, he's the first one to jump out of bed in the middle of the night when she's crying and he couldn't be more attentive.  I don't ever give him the credit that's due and I certainly am so thankful for how involved he is in all of her care, not just with her surgery, but all the time. We're a good team and I couldn't imagine not having all of his help.  I'm not looking forward to him going back to work tomorrow! 

After the stretches and measurements it was time to stand her up and get her to weight bear a little bit - and that's when I kind of freaked out - just a little!  We're guessing maybe her blood pressure was a little bit low, or because she's been laying down so much that when she got in a standing position she got lightheaded because her eyes completely changed, she looked like she was going to throw up and the color drained from her face a little and it was pretty clear to me and Shannon that she looked like she was going to pass out.  Shannon, in true form, was very calm, repositioned Alex back a few times (thank goodness for the bungees and Ms. Kristen!) and slowly shifted her position a few times before she got her back on her feet and got her looking a little bit back to normal!   

 

Whew.  Glad that was over with!

Shannon asked her to smile for her Daddy and she made a very cute, very brief attempt at a smile.

 

She stood for just a minute and then we got her back in her chair to head home.  It's definitely going to be a slow road, today took a LOT out of her but we will slowly start getting her stronger and stronger. 

 

Thank you again for all of the love - Alex appreciates it and so do we!