What Not To Wear and Big Firsts

Maddi loves this show! I think she just knows that I can"t help her with any sort of fashion sense. I have none. Today, Maddi was allowed the option to wear "civilian" clothing. We are not talking about skinny jeans and jackets but anything is better than a hospital gown sized for a large sized teen.

John and I raided Maddi's room for anything meeting the specification given by the OT and PT people. They actually do have names; Lisa and Tara. They are fabulous! I found only 2 things that would slightly pass the test if I bent it a bit. Levi's and trendy tops don't fit the description.

So, I actually entered the stored loved and hated by most Americans, Walmart. We found T-shirts with a little attitude for $3.00. Can you say score?! For the bottoms we found some great lounging pants that will work for therapy. Now, she has a few options. I really didn't find something cheap enough that she would hate so I will keep looking! I am not about to spend hard earned cash on something expensive. I like to think of myself as frugal not cheap!

So, first thing on the agenda for today was to get Maddi dressed and ready for the day. A T-shirt that has a large pencil on it with the saying,"What's Your Point!" I thought that was perfect for our little budding novelist. Day One in regular clothes. It felt so good to see her in something cute! It was encouraging.

The second thing on the agenda was a little "work" in the form of botox injections. They put two shots in each leg to help loosen the ankles preparing for when she will walk again. Without doing those shots her ankle could drop and her foot could get stuck in the pointing position.

I know she is a dancer but we don't want her walking on her toes unless it is on purpose. I kept joking with the doctors that they could just pop a couple of those between my eyebrow to take care of my worry lines. They didn't take me serious!

She gave the dude giving her the shots the best "junior high crusty" look ever! I loved it. Now, under normal circumstances I would have to correct that type of behavior but I wanted to do the happy dance again.

The third thing on the list was a cast to be put on her left leg. That will stay on until next week when her splints come for her feet to prevent that foot drop. All of this is standard with brain injury kids with Maddi's type of injury. The brain is still working out the details and it tends to misfire with those ankles and calf muscles.

The fourth thing was Speech Therapy. They are working on stimulating her mouth and getting her ready to learn to eat and talk. They start by having her smell it and then they put some on her lips. Today it was Cheetos and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. She really wanted the the Cheetos! She moved her mouth and jaw in just the right way. Of course, these are just indicators and not the actual movements they are wanting but it feels good that they are even trying it out on her right now!

The OT/PT people, Lisa and Tara decided to let Maddi have a day to rest after getting the new button put in. Maddi was kind of sleepy today but the anesthesiologist said expect her to sleep most of the day after her surgery. She was actually really alert compared to what I was told to expect.

Seriously a big day! Now to spend some time with my other kids! Going back and forth everyday from Cache Valley to Salt Lake City is tiresome and leaving Maddi is so hard but this is the best compromise we can come up with.

Slowly but surely!