All about Kalysa!

Now that I have downloaded all my pictures from the month, I realize I never posted the photos from Kalysa's encounter on the skateboard so here is what she looked like after we returned from the e.r.

Her lip was SO fat and the gum surrounding the missing tooth was cut and bruised and ugly. For the first few days, every time she smiled I just cringed. It looked so painful. It took me a while before I could get used to seeing that big gap where a tooth was supposed to be. When your kids have a loose tooth for a few weeks, you have time to prepare. You know it is gonna happen and you can rejoice with them when the time finally arrives and the little baby tooth is finally free from is temporary home in your child's mouth and moved to it's permanent home-in their baby book. I just hated the fact that my baby lost her first tooth by blunt force trauma but by the next day (after a dollar under the pillow and the swelling had gone down) Kalysa was proudly showing off her toothless grin just like every other child. The trauma was over and a milestone had been reached! Who cares if it involved screaming, crying and blood squirting down her shirt-forget about the trip to the emergency room and the promise to never get on another skateboard for the rest of her life-trauma over-swelling subsides-She lost her first tooth!! And once the gum healed up, she was still just as pretty as ever!!

And now on to leg news...After Kalysa got her last cast off, she got a new pair of shoes and a splint to help keep her muscle from tightening back up. We also discovered that her left leg is 1/2 inch shorter than the right leg so there is a lift attached to the bottom of the splint. The shoes are made to fit the splint. The right shoe is full of insoles where the left shoe is empty. You can't tell form the outside that they are different at all.

We got a picture of Kalysa without the splint but both feet flat on the ground.

That is a sight we were not used to seeing! If you look you can tell she has the right knee slightly bent to accommodate for the length difference. I can't believe we had never noticed that before. It wasn't until she had the splint and shoes on and was running and playing that I noticed how much smoother her movements were. The limp that I had not realized she had was gone. She was all evened out.

Normally when we do much walking, Kalysa's leg would start to hurt and get tired after about 15 minutes. Now she can go and go! The splint and shoes have taken the pressure off and she does not complain of pain. She loves to wear the splint and even wears it to bed. We did get to see the Shriner Dr. in Oklahoma City. He usually does surgery on kids between the ages of 7-9 so she is still a little young. The good news is that the bones do not seem to be affected right now and he believes with her being so active, she may really benefit from the surgery now. He will be lengthening the 3 muscles in the left leg. Of course, as she grows, there is always the possibility that they may tighten up and the surgery could have to be done again when she is older but he really thinks chances are good that she will not. I guess she may always have to have a lift in her shoe-we really did not get into that so I'm not sure if the surgery will help correct the length difference. So here is the plan-in September we check into the Shriner hospital in Shreveport La. Surgery will be the next morning. The schedule goes from youngest to oldest and right now she is the youngest so she should be first in line. The surgery should last 1 1/2-2 hours. She will be in a cast and stay in the hospital for 1 week. When she is released from there, we will bring her back to the Children's Center and she will be admitted there for 3 weeks of therapy and rehab. She will still wear the splint after it is all done but I am not sure for how long. The tough part will be the 3 weeks in the hospital in OKC. We will have to work out some type of schedule so that she is never there alone-I couldn't take that-especially through the night. They have teachers available so the kids don't get behind in school but I already let them know I am the teacher so we will do school when we can. We have several months to try to get all the details figured out! I am just so thankful that the Lord provided this opportunity for her! Please say a little prayer for us and Kalysa and Dr. Gates whenever you think about it.

Update(4/30/09):

I got a call from the shriners hospital today. Kalysa and I will being going to Shreveport on August 27 for her Gait analysis. They will hook her all up to electrodes and the doctors will be able to see what ALL of her muscles are doing or not doing when she moves. This will tell them exactly what needs to be done in the surgery and how best to do it.