First day of Week 3: Things are looking up.

June 27th, Day 6.
(It is amazing how much straighter the foot is even just by pinning it in place in surgery).

Fell asleep this way! Whole frame resting on the other big toe!

When a fellow TSF mom told me that the first two weeks would be difficult, I had no idea what difficult meant. I would venture to say it was more than difficult. It was torturous. It was maddening. It was exhausting. BUT we made it through. I am well aware that even if that is the worst thing we ever go through, we are very, very blessed.

It is day 15 and Josiah is doing great. I'd say he's about 90% back to normal and I think each day will get better. Today, he has not even had OTC meds since 4:30am. Every now & then he says, "Ow, it's hurting," but when I ask him if he wants medicine, he says no. (He hates the taste of them and I think he is realizing that his pain is manageable & intermittent.

Today we tried to use a walker my mom found, but it's the wrong height, and since Josiah's right foot is clubbed too (though not severe) it is hard for him to hop on one foot while lifting the fixator. I am weary of taking him to the bathroom in his wheelchair every time he needs to go. I read on another mom's blog that her son scoots around on his bottom everywhere, like a crab, so I suggested Josiah try it. After some coaxing, he tried it and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't hurt and that he could get around. I think he is realizing he can do more with it than he thought. I told him, look, you could even sit on the floor like this and play with your Lego's, etc.

Josiah scooting around and his shadow, Ava trying it out too.

So that other 10% is the drama that comes with getting him to try something he hasn't done yet with the fixator (and the occasionally howling about pain). Today's drama came via bath time. He had some dried blood accumulated around a pin, and I wanted to gently push it off while the foot was underwater. He screamed and cried about the idea of it for a few minutes until I finally just did it.
*sigh* Exhausting.

Another bit of drama is occurring during the turnings. I don't know if it actually hurts him, or if he just thinks it will/does. We're not actually turning the pins in his foot, but I think he thinks we are. We are moving the frame a mm or 2 each night, and of course that does move the foot... but I can't imagine it being enough to hurt... If we did like 5 or 6 mm, yes, but not 1 or 2 mm. I don't know.

Anyway, things are looking up. He had his first outing this weekend for the 4th of July. He went to see Cars 2 with his dad, and then we joined our extended family to watch a firework display.
It did my heart good to see him laughing and joking with his cousins.

Praise the Lord for being with us and for revealing himself, personally, to Josiah through this ordeal.