Tendon Release is Scheduled!

Some of you may be aware of the extreme pain Ava has been living with...  Because of her brain injury she suffers a common related disorder known as "dystonia."  This basically means that her muscles do not work properly and, in her case, stay in a flexed state constantly.  Which means she has constant pressure on her joints, constant pain.  Imagine a Charlie horse that NEVER went away...ever.  Ava's right ankle is turned in at such a sharp angle that her ankle bone is constantly stretched taughtly under the skin.  It is always red, always in a state of bruising.  She has received Botox therapy, is constantly on Motrin and Tylenol, and now even Oxycodone does not bring her relief, except to knock her out.  

Suffice it to say I am extremely relieved to get this surgery, but there are always inherent risks.  She is going to have a cast on for several weeks, possible upwards of a month or so.  So there will be no way to look at the surgery site.  

So if you are a praying person, prayers for her quick healing would be much appreciated.  This surgery is not necessarily a long-term fix, but it should bring relief for some years.

Thank you and God Bless,

Vicki

Ava - The First Weeks...

This was the site that greeted us when we arrived at Children's Hospital J4 NICU. It was approximately 10:30pm on New Year's Day (what a way to celebrate huh?) and I was still physically in a great deal of pain from the emergency forceps birth. Up to that point, neither Kenny or I had even stepped foot in a NICU, let alone to visit our own child. I had not even gotten to hold her at this point, and would not do so for 4 long days... The Dr's informed us that she had suffered a severe 'insult' as they called it, to her brain resulting from a lack of oxygen during her birth. Shortly after her birth at St. Ann's, she started having siezures and was loaded with Phenobarbitol and Dylantin, 2 medications commonly used for treating seizures. Ava did not blink after birth, neither did she cry, suck, or move in any way. It was as if all of her reflexes were erased in the blink of an eye. I kept asking the Dr's, so when will she wake up? When will she cry? I saw the look in their eyes when they explained they did not know. I finally had one Dr that was frank with me. After being in the NICU for about 2 days, this Neonatologist vry seriously told me, "We don't know yet if she is even going to survive, so let's take it one step at a time..."