First Steps

Well, its been two weeks today since accident #2.  Kamryn is doing great, but still having a hard time getting around.  Friday she took her first steps, with help from mom.  So, she is making progress, its just slow!!!  It's hard getting around when "half of your body is broken", as Caden puts it.  A few days after she broke her arm, the same doctor that did the surgery on her knee put a cast on her arm.  It's blue, her new favorite color, and waterproof!  Woohoo!!!  The thought of six more weeks of a waterless summer was a little overwhelming for us.

She only needs to wear her leg brace when she puts weight on her leg, which isn't very often because of her ankle.  It's what is giving her the most pain now, that and bending her knee.  She has an ankle brace that the physical therapist told her to wear when she tries to put weight on her ankle.  It's slow going, so we usually use the wheelchair.  She can't hold onto her crutches anymore because her hand is in the cast, also it hurts her arm to put all of her weight on her arms when walking with the crutches.  She spends a lot of time scooting around the house on her rear end, using her good leg and good arm for support.  Its good she's such a cheerful little thing!  She just finds a way to do what she can!   We go to physical therapy twice a week where they help her with her ankle and with bending her knee.  That darn ankle really slowed us down.  We had to stop all weight bearing exercises and are just barely trying them again now.  Friday we decided she could walk into physical therapy with my help, so we left the wheelchair home.  It was a lot harder than we thought  it was going to be, so we pushed her around in an office chair with wheels once we got there.  I ended up carrying her out to the car after.  But, she did take a few steps and we know that even though it hurts, that's what she has to do to walk again.  Hopefully her ankle will start feeling better and things will go quickly from there.  It's still bruised and swollen and looks pretty goofy!  Oh well....!  She has an appointment with the orthopedist next Monday, and her goal is to have 90 degrees range of motion in her knee and to get to her  appointment without her wheelchair.  Hmmmm-we'll have to see.  Getting her around without it is a lot of work for both of us!  She's a great kid, though, and just goes with it.  She's pretty happy in spite of it all, so that's a big blessing.  We know she'll be better soon! (Maybe just in time for school to start!) :)

Warming up at physical therapy before her exercises

Cooling down at physical therapy after exercises

Standing with no crutches and no wheelchair...
to bad she can't actually go anywhere yet!  Oh well,
that's what mom and dad and big brothers are for!