Hello Walkable Feet

Ellie asleep yesterday evening.

Ellie is resting now and we have a long road ahead of us. She has casts from the knee down to toes on both legs. Within those casts are feet at neutral and straight if not pointing out slightly (which is good because her tone pulls them in). She has flat feet! I don't mean that in the can't get into the army way and I can't see if she has a proper arch. But she no longer has feet twisted to the side that don't allow her to stand.  It's a wonder to see and a good thing as I have discussed in my last post.

She also has a foam wedge between her knees and knee immobilizers. It's going to be a very long recovery. Right now she has an epidural block in so she can't feel her hips and pelvis. This is a godsend.  I worry about the pain after that. There's a whole team devoted to her pain management and so far they have been doing great.

Ellie's a bit out of it and uncomfortable - but sleeping intermittently.  She needed a blood transfusion but since she got it her color is a lot better and when she is awake she has more energy.

So far so good.

Amazingly we got assigned a private room so it's quiet which suites Ellie very well as she is such a light sleeper. It's a small reprieve. And of course, it's raining. It rained the day Ellie was born - back in the days when it still rained in Los Angeles.  It rained when she had her brain bleed. It rained when she got ventriculitus when she was still in the NICU.

As we were driving in yesterday it rained too and Dave commented on it.

I love rain and am trying not to see it as a sinister thing. Maybe it's more of a symbol of healing for Ellie?  Maybe it's a way to soften the sharp edges around her?  Maybe it's just rain.

I totally see how superstitions start.

Despite the rain, Ellie survived these many surgeries within a surgery. We will be able to let her stand and in doing so let her organs stretch and breath and allow her body to build bone and muscle.  Because we went through this, ensuring that the pain is worth the gains that these interventions allow is critical.