Guatemala Girls April

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABI!!!!

This month we gathered at Gabi's house to celebrate the youngest of our girls turning 9! 

The traditional group picture on the stairs.

Opening presents. 

Selfie Time! Rosa, Julie, Julie and Ally

Mommy and Ally

Cheryl and Alica

Roxie, Mary Beth, Alice, and Cheryl

Gabi and Kim

Instead of cake it was make your own sundae, delicious!!!

Our Guatemalan Girl.

Blue Hair

I suppose I should be more creative into title but sometimes simple is good.

Ally has been fascinated with dying her hair for about a year. We have some hair chalk, from Crayola that we have used in the past but it's not great. She has a hair extension piece she wore for Halloween, and this weekend we tried a wash out hair dye. It washes out after 2- shampoos.

Step one as clean dry hair. Ally showered and then we watched a movie while her hair air dried. We saw Soul Surfer, about the surfer who lost an arm in a shark attack. Ally was enthralled. It was a great story about a young girl, 16, coming back to the sport she loves after a medical issue. And it took place in Kauai which was even more fun to watch.

Me applying the dye. You squirt it in your gloved hands, and rub it in your hair to create colored highlights. 

Ally loved it!

Close ups

Photoshopped to show the color.

Next up was Becky!

They look great!

First week back!

To combat the Sunday night jitters we invited a group of Ally's girl friends over from school. Ally was anxiously awaiting their arrival. I had no idea she could stand on the couch and peer out the window. Turns out she is quite accomplished at this. 

4 friends were able to join us. Ellie (in green) top left, Maya, Elsa, Daniela then Ally. The girls were making "creations" in the kitchen. In edible dough like concoctions. I didn't care, I just wanted Ally to have fun with friends. They played on the Kinect, ate snacks, did the kitchen experiments and played more Kinect. I am so grateful to guess families who made time to bring their daughters over on their busy Sunday's so that Ally could reaquaint herself with friends before her first day back on Monday. 

Kinect Dance Party was a huge hit. 

None of them girls had heard of Xbox or Kinect until then. It made me laugh, because if Ally hadn't been at the Clinic she probably would not have either. 

Later that night relaxing with some ice cream and a game with mama.

School went well this week for Ally. She got thru every day. She said she had some pain, but she climbed and played everyday at recess. In gym class they were doing sprints as part of physical fitness tests, and Ally isn't up for that yet, so she was a judge. Becky and I had a much rougher school week. 3 meetings with the principal and a parent teacher conference. Turns out it's a little difficult to get your child the services you feel she deserves after a long medical absence. In the end we feel pretty good about the plan, and expect another meeting soon to finalize things. 

In bad news, Cloey needs knee surgery. Her knee cap is not formed properly. It's common in small dogs, but she is young and in excellent health, and surgery is the best option. Above is her in the car after I took her to the animal hospital for a surgical consult. Surgery is scheduled for May 6. The hardest part will be the 6-8 week recovery period during which Cloey is not allowed on any furniture. Ugh that will be tough for our cuddle bug. 

Our movie star gymnast! It was super sunny on the way to practice so Ally wore my sunglasses. She made it thru 90 minutes of practice and for the first time in months was able to all normally after practice and didn't need any ibuprofen. It was fantastic.

Thursday night Ally had a salad for dinner. This is what she ate for lunch everyday at the clinic. (The patients went to the hospital cafeteria and ordered their own lunches everyday.) Ally had a salad of shredde carrots, chicken and cherry tomatoes. No dressing, no other vegetables or toppings. 

She was thrilled to eat a salad again!

Thursday morning, savoring time with Cloey on her head watching TV in the morning before school. 

Friday was CELEBRATION DAY!!!!

A few months ago we promised Ally a new 2 wheel scooter if she stopped wearing her ankle brace at school. We agreed that this week was it! No brace or ace bandage all week, stairs and no elevator, we walked to school and home most days! Definitely celebration time. After a trip to Target for the scooter and some other fun items and essentials, we went out for pancakes for dinner! Ally had chocolate chip pancakes and a chocolate milkshake.

Becky ordered the "The Hungry Person" special. It was a HUGE plate of food. 

We went for a walk around the block, to test out the new scooter when we got home.

Ally always puts safety first and asked for her helmet. Then we started out.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of her feet.

That right foot down on the scooter, full weight balanced on that right foot as she pushes with her left one. 

It's so incredible to see this. 

On Saturday Ally had ballet and while she was extremely worried before hand about being in class without her ace bandage or brace for the first time in 6 months, she had a fantastic class. Her teacher told us privately after class she was amazed. It was like Ally was her pre-October self. She said not just in ability but in attitude, there was laughter and silliness and focus and hard work. It really reinforced to Becky and I that Ally's time at the clinic was worth it. Really worth it. 

Week 4 (final week) Complete

This was a short week, only 4 days due to the Patriot's Day holiday on Monday. It was also school vacation week so Becky was off, and I was scheduled off from work as well. In the end I worked a few hours every day after dropping Ally off and before picking her up, which was fine. Becky spent most of each day doing school work for her class. She completed her final assignment Friday morning and so she is done!

Tuesday morning Ally took this selfie.

Wednesday morning I snapped a couple pictures of her in the back seat as we drove to the clinic. I was stopped at a red light. She was fiddling with her headband. 

Thursday Ally and her friend Isobel began work on their ceiling tile it is a tradition at the clinic that every graduating patient designs and paints a tile for the ceiling. The tile is then placed in the ceiling for future patients to see and be inspired by. 

Their completed tile! "Believing is the secret to success" 

On graduation day the graduates bring in treats to share after the ceremony with the other patients and their parents and the staff. We brought in cupcakes and lollipops. Ally's choice. 

Ally's goals and accomplishments from her final week. 

#6 is Finishing the skit. Ally and her fellow patients wrote and performed a skit, it was a parody of the clinic and staff. Ally actually starred as the patient in the skit. It was hilarious!

We met with all of Ally's therapists and physician before our final family session. We learned about everything Ally had accomplished and received a bunch of reports documenting the improvements she has made. It was really fantastic to see. One of the most impressive things was that when she entered the program on March 28 they timed her climbing a set of stairs. At that time it took her 22 seconds, using both the handrail and two stepping each stair. Yesterday she was clocked at 9 seconds with no railing and single stepping each stair.  She is even stronger than before, and the muscle tone in her affected leg is improving significantly.  

At our final family PT session Ally chose to play Kinect with mama. They did beach volley ball, and Ally jumped on the bosu ball for 10 minutes nonstop! It's like a trampoline. Then they played track and field. The sprint was hilarious! And so was the hurdles. Above they are at "take your mark"

Running in place to simulate the sprint.

I love the expression on Becky's face, and Ally's bouncy hair!

Soon it was time for the graduation ceremony. The staff all speak about each patient briefly, and then speak more fully about each graduate. So Ally heard her doctor, the staff director, her PT, her OT and her psychologist that she worked with for all 4 weeks praise her efforts and wish her well. It was quite touching. She then received a certificate of achievement and a new stress ball.

Then it was time to reveal their tile! 

A group picture! 

During the party I asked Ally and her team for a photo. Her psychologist, Alli is in red, her PT Annie in the middle behind her, and then Megan her OT with the long hair. These 3 women worked tirelessly with Ally each day. The support and encouragement they provided us and Ally was amazing. I am so very grateful to them. We met Megan in January when Ally started getting PT (Ally was not her patient then, but the OT and PT share a gym so we would see her twice a week for months while Ally was working on PT) and then when we started at the clinic it was Megan's first day at the clinic too she had transferred. It was so nice to see a familiar face that first day, and really special to have a therapist who knew Ally when she was at her worst and then now at her best so far in this long journey. 

After graduation, and the celebration we went out for a final time with Isobel and her mom Annabel. It was a great way to end the day, and very nice to be able to say our final goodbye away from the clinic.

These two have a special bond and plan on staying in touch. They text and FaceTime already, and Isobel and her family will be back in Boston in September for a follow up appointment, and we may need to make a trip to London sometime!

There were lots of tears last night. It's hard to say goodbye. 

But this morning it was graduation gift time! Kinect!!!!! 

Ally played as soon as she woke up. In her pajamas, dancing to Dance Party!

Eventually she got dressed and kept on playing. Her PT said it's great therapy for Ally to do things with the Kinect.

Our time at the clinic is complete. Ally has much better functionality, but still has pain. It seems less, but we don't talk about it. Talking about pain only heightens it for Ally. So we all try to ignore it and focus on what Ally can do. On her accomplishments and her success. When Ally says she is hurting and in pain we have lots of coping strategies she can use to distract herself from the pain. It's back to school on Monday and we are so thrilled to get back to our usual routine, no appointments and missed school. Just regular 3rd grade for our fantastic, strong, brave daughter,