Life in the brace

It has taken almost a week for things to normalize with the brace but E no longer runs away as soon as she sees it and she doesn't cry when she hears the word brace anymore so that's progress. Yesterday while we were taking a break from it both girls were trying to put the brace on their stuffed animals so that they can have straight spines as well. I am not sure what I expected but I don't think it was to the transition to the brace to be so hard. There was a lot of screaming and crying. I dare say more than we've had since the first cast disaster where I am pretty sure the cast tech forgot to trim the bottom and the neck entirely and we were sent home that way. The only way to get through to the other side on this one is to just knuckle under and keep going. It felt awful to see the big fat tears and listen to the screams but now she accepts the brace and we are past it.

One thing I am completely lost on is how to change a diaper without taking off the brace. I will take some pictures of the brace to illustrate. I just do not have that kind of skill. It comes down much lower than any of our casts have and I see no way to get that sucker on and off especially if there is a poo involved.

It did not help that we got the brace the day before our big move. We had the pleasure of moving in the pouring rain and I am not sure when this new house will be unpacked but my guess is half past never. It's been a week since we've had a usable kitchen table for one thing. Daddy can't find any of his pjs. I had to venture into the attic (after Daddy tried) to find E's summer clothes since we went from 50F on Saturday to 92F on Thursday. Everything is just a hectic hot mess.

I will leave you with pics from our d.isney trip.

Raising Money for ISOP

I finished a new quilt to raise money for ISOP. Heather (the fairy godmother to all infantile scoli families) said all money collected this year will go to training in proper casting technique! This is VERY important. At the least it improves quality of life and saves lives without invasive and painful surgeries. I've had this fabric a while and I love how the quilt came out. E loves the quilt so much I think she is trying to keep it. I am so happy to be able to use my skills to raise money for such an important cause.

E gets her brace on Thursday. Apparently it is taking longer than they expected to make it so now we are taking her into children's the day before our move. I am not sure how everything is going to come together for this move but I suppose we will figure it out as we go. I am so much less organized than last time and I am sure it will be down to the wire.

Big News Around Here

I've been quiet because we were off at Disney with the girls celebrating E's straight back! I will post more about that another time when I can get all the pictures together but the real big news here is that E is starting to walk. I finally got a picture today. She is so proud of herself and I am happy that she might finally stop ruining her shoes and pants with that butt scoot.

Excellent News!

Presenting the very first image of E's STRAIGHT spine.




In just 6 months and 4 casts. We are amazingly lucky. E didn't cry during her cast removal this time. Perhaps she knew it was her last? :) We have some technical difficulties getting the xray but the person who measured E for her brace was totally awesome and great with kids. We go back in 3 weeks to pick up the brace and learn about the feeding and care of a B.oston Brace :) It can't possibly be as hard as a plaster cast right?

E is with her PT right now. She will take steps for her which goes to show the kid is totally playing me with this little I'm helpless and sad routine she is throws at me when I try to get her to walk or stand without holding on.