Our Red Thread: Blog Bits and Birthday Beauty (part 2 of 3)

*any picture can be enlarged by clicking on it

Time for a 2016 blog post entry! Time to catch our faithful readers up on some of the things that have happened/transpired/celebrated or we've been doing/working on since the last update:

Blizzard of 2016

Winter/Snow - while many of us in this family are NOT snow lovers, Lucy girl is. After each snow fall this winter, she would ask to go out and play in the snow. Even after Pennsylvania's blizzard which dumped about 30" in one storm, she begged to go out and help "shobel". Walking or trudging through snow and maintaining balance with a brace on her leg is a bit hard for Lu, but that doesn't hold her back from wanting to enjoy the cold wet stuff! Not Me! I've been ready for spring since January!

Bundled and ready to help shovel

Physical therapy - Lucy's schedule is kept busy with her 2x/week p.t. sessions with our beloved therapist "Miss Sarah", as well as daily p.t. at home. Lucy had a contracture in her right leg,which kept her from having a straight right leg for the first five years of her life. In March 2015, she was put into an "external fixator" and over the course of 3 mos. the ex. fix. corrected the contracture so that her leg was in a constant new "straight" leg position. Her anatomy in her leg especially around the knee area is abnormal. Ligaments and tissue were in this contracted position for 5 years and created their own design . Lucy's hard work now (and for many years ahead) consists of gaining/building strength in her (small) right leg and working on obtaining a proper gait pattern. She's also working on straightening and bending the leg (not as easy as one might think!) at will. Lucy Kim practices things at physical therapy like walking very slowly on the treadmill, going up and down stairs, working on getting into the 'ole "criss cross applesauce" position that most littles can get into without thinking twice about and more "fun stuff."

hugs for Miss Sarah

Medical appointments -too many to count since coming home from China 2 1/2 years ago. However, the medical appointments (other than physical therapy) have settled into a bit of a fairly predictable pattern. Every few months we need to check in with Dr. vB (orthopedic specialist at Shriner's Hospital in Philly), periodic x-rays for some other issues related to her previous tethered spinal cord. In March , we made a trip to Philly to pick up Lu Belle's new AFO and KAFO. She was starting to have a lot of discomfort and got a pressure ulcer from her KAFO (the full length brace she wears all night every night). Lucy continues to be in a brace for about 23 hours a day and this will be her protocol until she's done growing.