Both have been very interesting and worthwhile reads. Someday, maybe people will be listing Jacie's book as one of their summer reads... Look for it- Journey to a Thousand Tomorrows- An Adoption Memoir.
Jacie continues to do well. She is still working on her walking. She does not have the walker anymore. I went so far as to return it to the borrowed location. She has adapted to walking without it fairly well. Her biggest problem is that she lost almost all of her glute and hamstring muscles on the left side. In order to walk correctly, she needs to rebuild them both. That (with the other therapy) is our focus. I have come up with a lot of different ways to make this happen. First, Jacie is starting horseback riding lessons. I told her I was going to make her ride on her left cheek only... She did not think that was very funny. Second, we bought a pool for her to swim in and third...? I am enrolling her in hip hop dance class. She will LOVE it! She adores dancing and is quite good. I think that by keeping her busy this summer and sticking with the physical therapy, she will be strong and able again by Christmas. I know that seems like a long time off but I think that she will be her strongest then.
Another goal for Jacie this summer is to learn how to ride a bike. I think that she will be able to do that as her glutes get stronger. I am going to work her and work her until she can do it. She also would like to roller skate- sure. I am up for that too. The more that she can learn how to do when she is young the easier her adult life will be. I am so excited to move past out of the surgery phase and look to developing a normal life and childhood.
Dr. Nowicki asked me if I think that everything that we have done so far has been a benefit to her. I said, "Ask me next year and I guarantee the answer will be yes."
Right now, Jacie is not much better off than when she came from China. She is so weak on that side and can't compensate well for it. She will grow strong, her leg will grow longer and she will eventually walk without a major limp. This, I believe, is the result of the surgeries.
Life continues to move along at a rapid pace. Jacie loves to be out in the pig pen helping (her 4-H pig is here.) She also is quite a worker. She has started taking (a few) paid jobs of weeding and yard work. She didn't think that it was fair that her brothers were getting money and she wasn't. She has decided to rectify that by smoozing her way into their jobs. So far- she has been successful.
This week (Wednesday) was her Gotcha Day. We don't really celebrate that because we have two kids with them and one without a 'special day' besides his birthday. We do talk about it though and reflect on the fact that (for us) it has been 2 years!!! Somedays it feels as though it has been 2 minutes and other days 20 years...
Also, on Wednesday we found out that Jacie is going to need braces on her teeth within the next nine months. I guess all of that yearly surgery money will just be prorated into a dental fund. She is not particularly fond of the idea because she hates pain so much but I told her that a lot of kids need braces and it is a normal life thing. We are definitely lookking for normal for her. I just wasn't expecting to pay an arm and a leg for it. I wish we had dental insurance. The good news? God has yet to let us down. We never go hungery or want for anything. I assume that this round will be no different.
Jacie moved back upstairs by herself this week (our exchange student has left) and has had a couple of tough nights but I have just lightly brushed them off and made her move forward to sleeping in her room (another step in my normacly campaign.) She is such a good girl with a great heart. I am blessed to walk this journey with her.
~Camo Pants
No comments:
Post a Comment