Doing Well!

Hello, The lengthening has stopped and now the bone is healing. With this new step, Nick is completely off the pain meds. Well almost. Nick still takes a tylenol, over the counter variety, just before Physical Therapy. But, his spirts are high. Last weekend we went out and bought new shoes. Two pairs. And they did not have to go to the shoemaker for a week. Nick was able to put them on and wear them immediately. what a milestone!!!!! It truely is the little things in life that really make us smile the most. Have a great day.

The monitor has finally stopped.

Although the Doctor told us the lengthening was considered done, Nick ended up having 23 more pole changes over the last five days. We thought it would only be 10 or so. Surprised when they keep coming. Especially at the 8 on Saturday. Yes, that causes us to call Baltimore to ask what was going on. Unfortunately for us the doctor on call was not much help. His only real advice was, "If you have seepage from the incisions please come in. Otherwise you are okay. it should be done, don't worry!" Easier said than done. Oh well, that seemed to be the last push. Nick has not had any new changes. Now, I think we can officially say that the lengthening phase is complete. Yeah! Still need to work on the movement and flexibility. PT three times a week. Joe David, do your magic!

Great News!

Nick is almost done! Well according to the doctor, he is done. The surgery and lengthening is considered a success. At Tuesdays appointment Nick had gained 4 1/2 cms in length. If he would stop now that would be okay. His legs and even and the hips are straight. If he continues to get a few more mms. that would be fine too. So, we are monitoring to see if we can get to 5cm but not worried anymore about moving too much and causing pole changes. Nick is more at ease and happy with the results. It has been so amazing. All the length in one month. Nick is continuing with PT and exercises to regain his leg strength and flexibility. Next appointment is in 5 weeks to check on the bone density and hopefully pitch the crutches.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. We could hear God whispering in our ears during this lengthening process. Reassuring us that we were okay, delivering the many prayers, and letting us know that he was right there with us.

Shuffle off to Baltimore

Nick and his Dad are leaving for Baltimore tomorrow. Nick has an appointment on Tuesday. He will get an xray to see just how far he has come. Almost there. Nick you are my Hero!!!!!!!

Steadily moving along.

Good Morning. Nick is progressing well. As of this morning his leg monitor reads 30mm. Add that to the 4 gotten during surgery and he has 34mm of new leg length. Only 16 more to go.

Physical Therapy is going well. Joe David of David Physical Therapy is very good and Nick likes how the therapy is going. Seems to get the results without the intense pain. Mr. David took the time to take to the Baltimore folks and that made us feel very comfortable with continuing therapy in Pittsburgh.

Yesterday we went to Ross's 2008 Summer Choir Tour concert. Nick wishes that he could have gone but realizes that taking it easy and therapy are more important to him right now. This is the first year that Ross is going and he will have to manage without his older brother. At the end of the concert they always sing the song, "Friends". They ask past choir members to come up and sing the finale. Nick managed to get infront on his crutches. A good friend, Marissa, came down to stand next to Nick so that he would not be standing alone. Very special night. Nice for Nick to see his buddies and send them all off on Tour. Nick came home and ended up having five pole changes for the day. A little more pain than normal so today we will take it easy.

Being Home is feeling nicer every day.

Things were better yesterday. The ride home from Baltimore was tough. Nick got a little too much length too fast. That results in pain. So, July 5th was spent on the couch playing Tiger Woods Golf 2008. We stayed put and managed to get through the day with just the three pole changes that are recommended. We even got Nick upstairs into his own bed. He had a great night.

As of today we are 27 millemeters! Only 23 more to go. In the back of our mind we are reminding ourselves that the last two centimeters are supposed to be the worst pain wise. Also the pole changes might not come as easily and we will have to manipulate his leg to make them occur. So, keep Nick in your thoughts and prayers. He is not done yet. Thanks for the support!!!!!!!

Home Sweet Home....

We finally are home. It feels so good to be in our own home! The ride was a little rough. We had to make several pit stops and I think each one was resulted in a pole change. So far we have five. That is one more than we are supposed to have. So, for the rest of the day Nick will just relax infront of the large HD tv. Sure did miss that little item while in Baltimore.

Nick hit a milestone today. He hit the halfway mark. He has 25 millemeters of new length. That is 2 1/2 cm. It is downhilll from here. I wont be smooth sailing but we are encouraged that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Out and About...

Today was Nick's last PT session with his favorite therapist, Jeff. He was moonlight to make some extra cash for his upcoming wedding. He joked alot with Nick and gave us ideas of where to go for dinner. Nick has Erin tomorrow for his last Baltimore PT session. Nick thought Erin was tough until he experienced Mark. The only time I heard Nick Moan and try to hold back a scream he was with Mark. Who knows what our Pittsburgh therapist will be like. That starts bright and early Monday morning at 9AM.

Tonight we ventured to the Inner Harbor for dinner. We hopped into the car. Well, loaded slowly and methodically. We went to the ESPN Zone for dinner. It was nice to sit and relax and celebrate that we are going home. Nick and Ross enjoyed watching six baseball games all at the same time. Even the Pirate game was on one screen. And they were winning. Imagine that. Nick really enjoyed the walk back to the car. He loved the stone walkways and all the bumps in his wheelchair. I think the wood plank foot bridge was his favorite. Just as the pain meds were starting to wear off. He wont soon forget Baltimore.

Good News!

We got great news today. According to Dr. Herzenberg, Nick is doing great. He has 2cm of length already. X-rays show good bone healing material. He even said that maybe he would be done lengthening in two weeks. Alot faster than we thought and great to hear. It seems the majority of the pain comes with the lengthening process. I am not the doctor but in my eyes, that means less pain. Nick is definately looking forward to that. At first we were only supposed to get a small amount of growth each day. Now we have to look for too little. Too little could result in the bone consolidating too soon and need to be rebroken. We don't want to do that again. More good news, at PT today they said that Nick is doing very well. He has a lot of movement and flexibility still. Finally, the best news of the day. We are coming home!!!!!!! Yep, we will hit the road on Friday. We are going to finish the week of PT. We have PT at 4 on Thursday. Instead of driving at night. We will hit the road early Friday morning. Oh, yah. They are also having a BBQ here at the house with Chocolate sno-cones. Nick promised Amy, the house coordinator, that he would have a chocolate sno-cone. Actually in Baltimore they call them snow-balls but you know, same thing. So we have to wait until Friday to leave. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers! They are working.