Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Ethan's new legs...that work
Hello everyone,
Sorry I haven't updated our blog for a while but its been a little bit of a whirlwind lately with all of Christmas activities.
Well I'm not one for suspense...and from the title of my entry...I'm sure your wondering what news I'll be passing along to you so i'll pass along the news.
Ethan decided that he's had enough of his walker and started using his crutches this past week. He was scared to death the 1st time but a few days later decided to walk across the room a few times with them and all with complete ease. Yesterday in school, he continued to practice too in the hallways. The excitement that he shows...is unmeasurable. He still uses his walker and chair to get around longer distances but his walking is sooo much nicer with his crutches as he has to go slower than he does with his walker.
Needless to say, I've been in touch with our travel agent about starting to plan for the much promised trip to Disney World next year (2012). The kids are sooo excited.
Who would have thought that just a few short months ago Ethan was in a wheelchair and today...using crutches. Miraculous...
We also joined up with a local group called HOPE INC (watch the January 2nd episode of Extreme Home Makeover to get to know the family who heads the group and what HOPE Inc is.)...
Last Saturday we played Sled Hockey for the 1st time...Connor and Ashlee too got to participate. Mom pushed the sled for an hour and thought I was going to bed ridden the next day due to sore legs but...overall it was a blast and weather permitting we'll be back this Saturday. Ethan and Connor had a great time-Ethan scored 3x and Connor 1x...Ashlee wasn't too sure about it.
Our journey truly continues... Ethan continues to make definite progress. His tone reduction has been compared to that of what one might see with after having a rhizotomy surgery... He still likes to pull up on his toes a bit but we are confident that with stretching and strength building some of that should be resolved however due to short hamstrings, we may have to have a hamstring lengthening surgery in the future but we'll cross that bridge when we get there...For now, we are thrilled with the progress Ethan has made and continue to see daily miracles.
That's all for now...stay tuned!
Lisa
Sorry I haven't updated our blog for a while but its been a little bit of a whirlwind lately with all of Christmas activities.
Well I'm not one for suspense...and from the title of my entry...I'm sure your wondering what news I'll be passing along to you so i'll pass along the news.
Ethan decided that he's had enough of his walker and started using his crutches this past week. He was scared to death the 1st time but a few days later decided to walk across the room a few times with them and all with complete ease. Yesterday in school, he continued to practice too in the hallways. The excitement that he shows...is unmeasurable. He still uses his walker and chair to get around longer distances but his walking is sooo much nicer with his crutches as he has to go slower than he does with his walker.
Needless to say, I've been in touch with our travel agent about starting to plan for the much promised trip to Disney World next year (2012). The kids are sooo excited.
Who would have thought that just a few short months ago Ethan was in a wheelchair and today...using crutches. Miraculous...
We also joined up with a local group called HOPE INC (watch the January 2nd episode of Extreme Home Makeover to get to know the family who heads the group and what HOPE Inc is.)...
Last Saturday we played Sled Hockey for the 1st time...Connor and Ashlee too got to participate. Mom pushed the sled for an hour and thought I was going to bed ridden the next day due to sore legs but...overall it was a blast and weather permitting we'll be back this Saturday. Ethan and Connor had a great time-Ethan scored 3x and Connor 1x...Ashlee wasn't too sure about it.
Our journey truly continues... Ethan continues to make definite progress. His tone reduction has been compared to that of what one might see with after having a rhizotomy surgery... He still likes to pull up on his toes a bit but we are confident that with stretching and strength building some of that should be resolved however due to short hamstrings, we may have to have a hamstring lengthening surgery in the future but we'll cross that bridge when we get there...For now, we are thrilled with the progress Ethan has made and continue to see daily miracles.
That's all for now...stay tuned!
Lisa
Saturday, December 18, 2010
New Braces
Merry Christmas everyone! Its been quite a year that's for sure. I remember last year at this time when Ethan came up to me and asked for "New legs that work!!!"...hence our journey began. Needless to say Ethan has his new legs that work...it took a trip to Germany and and an orthopedic surgery but we have loose legs and flat feet! Yesterday we got our new AFOs (braces) and now we can go to town on walking. Ethan is walking better today (even without his braces) than he has EVER walked (even at his prior best). Now that we have the new braces, we're really going to focus on walking more with the walker and retire the wheelchair as much as we can...once that is accomplished, then we'll move on to the crutches.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support and prayers--we couldn't have gotten to where we are today without them. To all of my new friends I have met along the way this past year... you mean sooo much to me; thank you! I am truly blessed to have met so many WONDERFUL people ...you are treasured beyond words.
I will be posting some new pics/video shortly...so stay tuned... Til then, Happy Holidays!!!
God Bless--
Lisa
Thank you to everyone for your continued support and prayers--we couldn't have gotten to where we are today without them. To all of my new friends I have met along the way this past year... you mean sooo much to me; thank you! I am truly blessed to have met so many WONDERFUL people ...you are treasured beyond words.
I will be posting some new pics/video shortly...so stay tuned... Til then, Happy Holidays!!!
God Bless--
Lisa
Saturday, November 27, 2010
New link
Hey all...I've posted Ethan's latest new's story to our blog...check it out under Ethan's Links!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Follow up story
Catch Ethan's update from last night on KVLY LIVE (http://www.valleynewslive.tv/) @10 (11-24).
Monday, November 15, 2010
The casts are off!
Well, its been a week and Ethan's casts are off. The words out of his mouth (after screaming above the saw--YOUR GONNA CUT MY LEGS OFF!!!)...were "Look mom--my feet are FLAT!!" Ethan just sat and looked at his feet in amazement; he was so proud. The surgeon too was pleased with the outcome as he watched Ethan sit on my lap with 2 dangling legs and wiggling toes. It was an amazing site. Needless to say we left with huge smiles on our faces. I was so excited however that I forgot to get gas until the little bell rang and reminded me while I was in the middle of a construction zone somewhere on interstate in South Dakota. My heart hasn't raced so fast in a long time. Thankfully we were able to make if off the road and to a gas station about 5 miles off the interstate... Whew!!! That was more than enough excitement for my day.
The rest of the week was busy... On Wednesday Ethan decided to walk with a walker at school (about 10 feet) and without braces on... just very naturally too. Talk about EXCITED!!! On Thrs, he stood up straight in the therapy pool (with support from behind) and interviewed with the news reporter... He also decided to try pedaling a bike... as long as we hold his feet in place; he can pedal just fine! He was laughing so hard he almost fell off...
We still have to get his new braces molded/sized but due to some serious anxiety issues we may have to get some sedative as Ethan is terrified to have anyone touch his ankles/feet. We'll be visiting with our family dr this week to see how he'd like us to approach it. We know that things will improve with time but its going to take just that...time. Trust needs to be established again after some of the pain the kiddo has been put through so we're giving him some lee-way.
Other than that... he just keeps surprising us with all sorts of neat tricks... Every day is a new day and full of excitement.
Thanks for the continued prayers and thoughts... we live off of them and they're what keeps us going day to day.
Well..that's its for now. Until later...
Lisa
The rest of the week was busy... On Wednesday Ethan decided to walk with a walker at school (about 10 feet) and without braces on... just very naturally too. Talk about EXCITED!!! On Thrs, he stood up straight in the therapy pool (with support from behind) and interviewed with the news reporter... He also decided to try pedaling a bike... as long as we hold his feet in place; he can pedal just fine! He was laughing so hard he almost fell off...
We still have to get his new braces molded/sized but due to some serious anxiety issues we may have to get some sedative as Ethan is terrified to have anyone touch his ankles/feet. We'll be visiting with our family dr this week to see how he'd like us to approach it. We know that things will improve with time but its going to take just that...time. Trust needs to be established again after some of the pain the kiddo has been put through so we're giving him some lee-way.
Other than that... he just keeps surprising us with all sorts of neat tricks... Every day is a new day and full of excitement.
Thanks for the continued prayers and thoughts... we live off of them and they're what keeps us going day to day.
Well..that's its for now. Until later...
Lisa
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Just a few more days til Ethan's casts are off... he is VERY excited to have his feet back and is anxiously awaiting a much needed bubble bath. Ethan continues to show progress and surprised us by sitting unassisted in the middle of our kitchen floor with his legs extended in front of him... all while reading the Toys R Us toy catalog... My husband and I were delighted beyond words.
For now that's about it but there will be more news to share next week!
For now that's about it but there will be more news to share next week!
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