Goodbye Hardware

I had an appointment with my orthopaedic surgeon on Tuesday in Denver. It was a long drive with the kids and the appointment was around lunch time. When I got there the receptionist announced that the doctor was still in surgery and there were six patients ahead of me. I just drooped and told Dustin that I didn't want to wait with the kids, but I hated to reschedule since the appointment is all the way in Denver. I don't really know what happened after that, but I was the first one called back to see the doctor. He then told me that if I wasn't squeamish and could handle quite a bit of pain that he could take off my fixator in the office that day and I wouldn't have to come back to the surgery center to remove it. Well, needless to say at that point I was pretty motivated to have it removed. It didn't take long, but honestly it was quite painful. It was definitely worth the trip to Denver. After I got in the car, Alia was clapping her hands and with a big smile she said, "Mommy got her fixator off! She can drive, now!" And since I'm finally completely off the narcotics, this is true! I took the girls out to the mall on Wednesday morning. It feels strange and a little bit emotional to be behind the wheel again. I feel overly cautious, which of course is a good thing. But the biggest blessing is that I feel like I have been released to a little more freedom. It's just one more thing that is falling into place.

Dustin has done well this week going back to work. It's difficult for him to refocus himself on work duties instead of being so family oriented 24-7. He went with a friend to a recording studio in Denver to play guitar and visit with buddies. I think it was a nice break for him to get to do something fun after so many weeks of stress.

McKenna continues to make progress. We're still dealing with a lot of emotional feelings that are related to the brain injury. She would really love to be outside all day long riding bikes and playing water guns, and is sad because it's just not possible right now. Please pray for her to continue to make miraculous strides so that she can feel like the rest of the "normal" kids. She has another swallow test on June 20th and it's not too soon to pray for good results for that. It would be super to have her restricted diet be lifted soon. It's hard to go all summer long without ice cream and Popsicles!

Thanks for checking in with us. We're hanging in there one day at a time!