I arrived home from the hospital three days after my surgery. I thought it was not going to be hard but I was wrong. The first few weeks at home were extremely difficult. It was a challenge adjusting to my daily life routines. It is frustrating trying to get a full night's sleep; I can only sleep on my back. This leaves me a bit groggy all day. Now even the smallest, ordinary routines have turned into a major struggle. I need my mom to help me use the bathroom, use the shower, and to change my clothes. I feel like I’m in the toddler stage of my life again. I even need help with my food. Before, I was able to cook all my meals on my own, but now someone else has to prepare them for me. I feel somewhat helpless and humbled.

Part of my recovery includes going into the swimming pool. Since I am confined to a wheelchair close to 24 hours a day, my body needs to stretch to keep all my other muscles working. So, I try to go in everyday. I need extensive help to get into the pool. Before I used to slip into my bathing suit and just jump in, geronimo, in a flash. Now, getting into my bathing suit is the first time consuming chore. Then I remove my plastic braces and leg coverings; I place water-proof bandages on my incisions to protect them from infection. The bandages also protect my skin from being scarred by the sun. Then my mom wheels me to the end of the pool and with help from my dad or one of my sisters, they lower me until I’m seated on the first step. I drag myself in using only my arms to the open area of the pool. My legs feel like dead weight behind me. Once I’m fully in, I use two noodle floats to help me drift around the pool. Floating around comes as a big relief to my strained, achy muscles.  Ahhh!

As the month has dragged on, from June to July, my life is starting to get a teensy bit better. It is becoming easier to move from one place to another. I am growing used to my changed routines and sitting on my wheelchair all the time except for when I go to bed. There are many times when I have the urge to just burst out of my wheelchair and start walking. I daydream and imagine myself doing this almost everyday, but I know I have to wait. I will not be able to leave this chair, my new home, for the next 2 to 3 months. I think about others in wheelchairs…at least I will be out of mine soon. There is an end in sight. But, there are people who are in their wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. I feel heart-broken for them because they don’t have the same opportunity as I do. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for them to be sitting there all the time. I promised myself that no matter what I'll pull through this. I’ll keep looking forward to the day, the moment, when I’ll be able to walk again.

The surgery I had is a new one of its kind in the medical world. It has been around for 2 to 3 years. Dr. Christopher of Nemours Children's hospital in Orlando, FL is one of only 100 surgeons in the country using this innovative technology. He was the one who performed this procedure on me.  The surgeon, who is usually an orthopedic doctor, drills canals at the top and bottom of the tibia and femur. An osteotome is used to complete an osteotomy. Since I know you aren’t a doctor you must be wondering what this is. Basically, they cut my bone horizontally at the top. Ahhh! This will be the stretching point. Stretching point? Are you in suspense? Is this some modern day torture chamber technique? To continue, a metal rod is placed down the center of the bone to keep them from coming apart. Then two titanium locking screws, which are custom length to the patient, are screwed into the drilled canals to keep the long vertical rod in place at the top and ankle area. This is getting a bit boring I know. But, here comes the gory part.

Daily my mom uses a magnet that communicates with the system in my leg to start ‘pulling my bone apart’ - streeeeeetch - 1mm a day. We do this 6 times a day. Quite a change to my normal routine and my mom’s who has to do this therapy on me. Another part to the process, which I opted for, was to correct my genu varum condition, bowed legs. The doctor straightened my bones, ouch, so that my legs can be straighter. It is a very complicated process. The recovery time can be up to 4 and a half months, depending on how long the extension process takes. I am required to see the doctor once a week so he can check up on my progress. So for me it's a little crazy because Nemours hospital, where I see my doctor, is all the way up in Orlando. My family and I have to make a trek from our home in Plantation to Orlando and back in one day. We start off at 5:30 in the morning, load up in the van which can be very difficult since now we have my wheelchair to deal with, then we start the long drive to Orlando. We arrive at the hospital where they first take my x-ray and then I speak with the doctor. We grab a quick lunch at the hospital, which is actually delicious...definitely better than Miami Children’s, and head back. The drive home can take five hours if my grandma is with us because she makes multiple coffee and bathroom stops. If my dad drives it takes only 3 hours; we make one speedy pit stop, that’s it!

I think this surgery is going to help many people who have a similar condition as me. I am hoping it will help change my life.

*To be continued…*