Because of Him

Happy Easter!

5 Years Old Already

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 5 years since we’ve had the twins.  We had a rough start but are happy for the lessons learned the last 5 years.  We sure love them and are so grateful for having them in our family.  We celebrated their birthday last Monday.  My sister Veronica brought her kiddos down for lunch, bike riding, playing at the park, and decorating cupcakes.  The party continued after she left when Jared got home from work.  It was an easy night of hamburgers and watching the movie Frozen.  Even before finishing the movie, the twins were exhausted so they went to bed at their usual 7:30.

This weekend was General Conference weekend and the kick off to Spring Break.  The kids were extremely reverent and watched all 4 sessions (2 hours each).  I had a few activities for them to help them pay attention and also rewarded them for taking notes/being reverent.  I love general conference and I know that the prophets/apostles/leaders who talked to us were inspired by God.  I felt the Holy Ghost witness to me that what they shared with me is true and will make me a happier/better person and life will be easier as I apply what they talked about. As Elder Perry said with regards to being obedient, why rely on my own power, when God's unlimited power is offered to me by following the direction of living prophets.  I'm grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that Jesus Christ does live and direct His church.

Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR)

As most of you know our daughter Amelia (just 5years old last week) underwent a partial Spinal Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery at the beginning of February at Primary Children’s Hospital (Dr. Marion Walker). Basically, the doctors went into Amelia’s spinal cord, unraveled her nerves, and cut off the ones that were overly reacting to stimulation (about 50% in each leg). I thought that I’d post an update about how Amelia is doing.

Prior to surgery it was as if Amelia had a rod in her legs and calves.  To bend her calves or stretch her hamstrings we had to really force her joints to move. Instantly after the surgery Amelia’s hamstrings, hips, and calves were so much looser than they ever had been, it was amazing! Granted we couldn’t touch her legs much for about a week after the surgery since her legs tingled so much because her nerves were so sensitive. 

The first week at the hospital was really rough, Amelia was in a lot of pain. To make matters more difficult, it took Amelia about a week to regain bladder control, so having to be cathed on top of the nerve sensations and back discomfort was torture.  They started Amelia with physical/occupational therapy the 4^th and 5^th days at the hospital.  Amelia had to relearn how to sit, crawl, stand… Making her work made her very angry because it hurt.  

By the second week however she turned a corner.  With her feeling better she started “playing” more and was more willing to build up her strength. The 3^rd week went pretty well until she was hit with a terrible UTI which set her back and caused a lot of pain, but once the meds kicked in she was happy again and ready to go home. 

Let me say, if you're going to have surgery, Primary Children's is the place to go.  It was so much fun (considering).  They have a big playroom for the sick children and their families. They have so many volunteers who work hard to make the stay as fun as possible; they play with the kids, bring crafts, books and prizes to them, and they come and just visit with them in their rooms. Most of the nurses were so kind to Amelia, they even made her an honorary nurse and gave her a stethoscope, name badge, and clipboard with a check-off list to ask people who were walking by (things like "did you drink enough water today?"....). Amelia would beg me to leave so that she could hang out with the nurses. Amelia was also able to participate in music therapy, which she loved.We also appreciated all our friends and family who stopped by to visit us.  It was so nice to see familiar faces. 

For the first 3 weeks post hospital release we’ve done about 3 hours of physical therapy per day (3 x’s/week for 2 hours at the physical therapist, the rest at home).  After the first 3 weeks we’ve decreased to about 1 ½-2 hours at home per day.  It’s hard to dedicate so much time to therapy, but we’ve seen some big gains.

 Amelia is quickly regaining strength, and she can do things that she’s never been able to do.  Some of her new tricks include she can put herself into criss-cross sitting, she can tap her toes, she can pedal a tricycle (without her feet being strapped to the pedals), she can kick her legs independently of each other.  Granted these “tricks” take a lot of focus on her part, and she’s still weak, it’s exciting to see her improve.  She had not made improvements for a couple of years prior to surgery, so improvements are exciting. Amelia has been able to walk again using her walker.  She’s not as strong as she was prior to surgery, but she can have more control of her movements if she focuses.  So we’re working on having her walking with better form and building up endurance.

So far we are delighted in the progress she has made.  Her back is pretty much completely healed.  It had become infected a couple weeks ago, due to a stitch that they hadn’t removed.  10 days of antibiotics fixed the problem.