Physical Therapy Day 2...Parker Walked!!!

Today was Parker's second day of physical therapy and his first session went great.  He didn't like putting on his leg but once he was distracted by the therapists iPad he was ready to play.  He cruised around the therapy table and tried pushing a shopping cart.  He still has quite a bit of trouble lifting his new leg but he did a great job of pulling it along today.  Yesterday he was easily frustrated when his leg wouldn't move with him but today he didn't seem to mind at all.

After today's first session we relaxed at the park before a nice nap and lunch.

After nap we had a fun time in the playroom again:

And in our second session...DRUM ROLL PLEASE..... Parker WALKED!!!

These are his first steps...

And this was at the end of our session today...

They are adjusting his foot for us so it won't turn in and then we get to take it home tonight to show the other kids!  Tomorrow we have our last 2 physical therapy sessions and then we wait about a week and then Parker will be able to bring home his leg!

Day 1 of Physical Therapy

Today Parker and I started physical therapy to teach us how to use and care for his new leg.  Scottish Rite provides a room for families during physical therapy so the babies can still nap during there sessions so they are more cooperative.  This is Parker after we checked into our room:

We will have 2 sessions each day starting today through Wednesday.  The first session today was to introduce him to his physical therapist and to let him look around and get comfortable in the room we'll be working in.  They have these big blue tables that can be raised and lowered to the height that works the best.  They brought out an assortment of balls and cars to get Parker interested in standing at the table with his leg.  He did good putting weight on his leg and trying to move around.  He was frustrated when he would try to scoot down the table and his new leg wouldn't get out of his way.  Overall it was a good session and he seemed okay with his leg by the end.

After physical therapy we went into the playroom and he enjoyed some relaxing floor play.

 After his nap he had some lunch and Mo Monkey tried on his leg:

Parker did good during his second session of physical therapy.  He cried at the beginning when we put his leg on again and took some convincing that toys were fun but then he found the cars again and the world was great.

Almost there...

This morning we got to see Parker stand up on two legs for the first time!  We had our second fitting for the socket to make sure the adjustments that were made worked out okay.  

                      

Parker is still definitely not a fan of wearing his new leg but I'm sure his feelings will change once he realizes he can keep up with his brothers and sister.

                          

 

This is Parker and I having a discussion abut the greatness of the leg.

                               

The socket fit perfectly so our next step is to spend time at the hospital with the physical therapist and the doctor who is working on the prothesis.  We are scheduled to go next week Monday - Wednesday to learn all about caring for a prothesis and how to use it.  Then we will leave the leg at the hospital so they can make adjustments and make the leg we can bring home permanently.  We should have Parker's leg home in about 3 weeks, so exciting!!  But for now Parker would rather just hold his leg... :-)

Working on Parker's new leg

Yesterday we had Parker's first fitting for his prothesis.  Two weeks ago he had his nub casted so they would know what size to make his leg.  Casting is exactly what it sounds like, they put a cast on his nub, waited for it to dry and then took it back off.  They used that mold to make this first socket.  The socket was clear plastic so they could see how his nub fit in the socket and if there were any parts that were too tight or that were rubbing in uncomfortable spots.  They took notes on the socket with a sharpee marker and then had him "stand" on phone books so they would know how tall to make his leg.  

Parker was not a fan of the process at all, which is why the picture is from the back :-)  He was not a fan of the casting process so now when he sees this doctor he immediately starts to cry.  I told her not to take it personally, that she would probably end up being one of his favorite people since she could make him cool legs.  He has no idea that in a few weeks he'll be able to stand up tall and move around with a lot less effort.

We go back to the Scottish Rite in about two weeks to try on one more test socket.  On the next fitting they will also add a leg and foot so they can work on getting the correct foot size and placement.  After that the next step will be to have a week of physical therapy at the hospital with Parker's new leg.  At the end of the week they will keep the leg for a couple of days to make any necessary adjustments and then Parker will get his leg!

Happy to Be Home

Digging is fun!

Kirby making sure everyone makes it up the stairs safely.

                                         I missed you!






Kirby, watch me slide!

Home Sweet Home

As we were walking to our car today at the hospital Parker yelled "HOORAY!"  so I guess that means he was glad we were leaving.  Everyone at Scottish Rite was wonderful but there is nothing better than being at home with our people!  Parker was excited to see everyone when he got home and Kirby was very excited he was home...so she had to go outside while she learns a new more gentle kind of love for Parker for the next couple of weeks :-)  The kids all had a great time playing together this evening, it was nice having our full house back together.

Andersen and Paige asked if they could see Parker's new leg so we let them see while we changed his bandages.  Andersen and Paige were both a little unnerved with seeing the stitches and the new shape and Xander kept trying to touch it.  I think it was the first time Parker realized what happened so Andersen and Paige went to bed and Parker and I sat on the floor and cried.  I'm not sure if Parker was crying because we were changing his bandages but it seemed different to me and I think he finally realized his sweet wee foot was gone and he cried for several minutes.  When I told him it was time to put the bandages back on he was better and gave me a nice long hug then went to play.  When we went in to hug Paige good night Parker gave her a nice hug and a kiss and she started to cry because she was sad that his foot was gone.  We talked about it some more and I think we all may have a few more good cries over the loss of our favorite wee foot but we also talked about all of the great things to come for Parker.  So no time for new pictures today but I'll get some tomorrow and then we'll take another break from blog land until Parker's follow up appointment in two weeks.  We are so thankful for all of the friends and family who have been such a blessing to us throughout the whole journey.  We have had so many sincere offers of help and love and we continue to feel surrounded with love and we are grateful.

Thank you.

Time to Go Home!

Parker had another good night last night.  The nurse had to wake him up for his pain medicine a couple of times during the night since he is no longer on his epidural but he went back to sleep pretty quickly each time.  This morning when he woke up he was ready to get in his wagon and go explore. We are trying to stay in the room this morning so we are here when the doctors come by so Parker got to have breakfast in his wagon which seemed like a good compromise.

The doctors came in and removed Parker's bandage and drain and seemed pleased with how the stitches looked.  Parker was not expressing great love for his doctors during the bandage change but he did say thank you when they left and was ready to go play.  They gave us instruction on how to change the bandages and told to come back in two weeks so they could cast him for his prosthesis.  After they left we got in the wagon and went straight to the playroom and all was well in Parker's world again.  Now we are back in our room and Parker just had a dose of pain medicine and is settleing in for a nice morning nap before we take out his IV and get ready to go home.