Monday December 20th we drove up to Shriner's in Salt Lake for surgery. Alyssa's legs differ in length by 3 cm right now, so for this latest surgery the doctor inserted 2 8-plates into her longer tibia's growth plates to allow the shorter leg to catch up while the growth in the long leg stops. She is about 5'3" now, so even if she never gets any taller that will be fine. The doctor also inserted an 8-plate into the inner side of the shorter femur's growth plate to allow the other side to grow more and rotate the leg under her body more. Some old unnecessary hardware was removed at the same time. I love that they don't insert the IV until she is asleep from breathing through a mask. That helps with her stress levels.
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| Silly from the medicine in the pre-op room |
When she woke up, they let her choose a blanket to take home with her before bringing her back to her room. She recovered quickly from the anesthesia and was eating a full meal within 2 hours of waking up. I stayed overnight with her to make sure she was doing okay and had her pain under control before we left. She enjoyed listening to music on her MP3 player and painting a wooden hummingbird. When they came around with Uncrustables and milk for the nighttime snack, she even ate seconds! She kept explaining that since she missed breakfast and lunch, she needed to catch up on her food intake :) The staff at the hospital are always very sweet with her and make her feel so comfortable. They even remember her from previous stays.
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| After a red popsicle, she got red Jell-O |
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| Each night they have a craft for the kids - Alyssa loved it! |
On Tuesday, Troy brought the kids up to visit since they couldn't make it up the canyon to go skiing due to the snowstorm. They enjoyed playing with all of the fun toys in the playroom. Troy played pool with Alyssa in her wheelchair too. A friend from our Lindon ward came up with her boys to visit Alyssa and brought her a game. Alyssa was so happy that she had visitors! During the afternoon, a magician came to put on a show and he was great. Troy and the 3 youngest kids helped with some of the tricks. We headed home before the traffic got bad and stopped to pick up cupcakes and cakebites from the Sweet Tooth Fairy in Draper - YUM!
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| The kids all loved the service dog and want one of their own |
On Tuesday, Troy brought the kids up to visit since they couldn't make it up the canyon to go skiing due to the snowstorm. They enjoyed playing with all of the fun toys in the playroom. Troy played pool with Alyssa in her wheelchair too. A friend from our Lindon ward came up with her boys to visit Alyssa and brought her a game. Alyssa was so happy that she had visitors! During the afternoon, a magician came to put on a show and he was great. Troy and the 3 youngest kids helped with some of the tricks. We headed home before the traffic got bad and stopped to pick up cupcakes and cakebites from the Sweet Tooth Fairy in Draper - YUM!
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