Made it thru week one!

Yesterday was pretty nice for Samantha.  She had lunch with her dad and step mom and later in the afternoon took a bath and washed her hair.  That pretty much knocked her out.  We had to re-wrap her leg.  At this time we have Ace Bandages we are using to keep the leg tightly wrapped, it can't be too tight or too loose - we are learning.  I was up a couple times making adjustments last night.


Samantha slept for most of the day today.  She did get a visit from her best friend and that lifted her spirits.
She has just a few more days of relaxing - her tutor will come on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting next week and she is starting physical therapy tomorrow.


The plan is to keep the leg wrapped just right and do exercises to keep the knee's range of motion as great as possible.  It will make transitioning to a prosthetic easier.


Her sutures will come out in about a week and a half.  At that time we will get her 'stump shrinker' although you can't use that terminology in from of Sam - she cringes.  We call it her leg shrinker.  It is like a compression sock for the limb.  This will control the swelling and help the limb take on the shape it should have.  The next step will be at week 4 or 5 - she will have a cast of her limb taken and the first socket formed.  It is made from clear plastic.  The prosthetist will put together her leg with this socket and Samantha will start walking.  They use clear plastic so they can make sure she has the best fit  - that the pressure is put on the correct part of the limb for comfort.  Once they have a good socket formed, a more permanent one is cast and she will have her leg!


I think I need to put a count down together for Samantha.  Right now her emotions are all over the place - she is sad or happy or just sleeping.  I am hoping if we have a count down to Prom (April 28th), that it will motivate her to exercise her limb and get moving around a bit.  Right now I am not pushing too hard because she is still dealing with physical pain but each day that gets better.  She will have to do daily exercises to get in shape to walk.


Her list of 'to dos' is starting to look like mine.  She has homework, exercises - we have to plan for Prom and graduation...


It is never-ending.   I guess that is good - we always have something to look forward to!


Samantha has her first PT appointment tomorrow and Isabella has a 5K run on Saturday.  I will try to get some pictures posted of both.


love to everyone!