4cm down. Another 2cm to go......

Ava has now returned to school full time. Her school have been great with organising things to get her back in for full days. The classroom has been changed to accommodate her zimmerframe and wheelchair and they have provided extra help for her at break times. To be honest she is now pretty self sufficient but does need help carrying her lunch tray and someone to sit and play with her during the break.

In general she is now coping amazingly well. Even the hospital nurses have commented on how well she is doing for a child of her age. We do still have a few moments each week where she becomes upset or frustrated, but these are becoming rarer and she tends to get over things quite quickly.

Ava is much less bothered now when people look at her when we go out (and boy, do some people stare!). Ava's speed on the zimmerframe sometimes causes the most looks as she flies around (far too quickly for my liking). Infact Ava would far rather use the zimmer than the wheelchair, which is good, but it has resulted in her getting callouses on her palms. The solution for this has been to buy her wheelchair gloves. Thankfully I found a pink pair on Amazon.

We went to see the consultant today and we have now achieved a 4cm gap and the new bone is starting to grow. We discussed with him the option of doing another 2cm and have decided to proceed with this. Although this will extend the amount of time she spends in the frame, our view is that its on now so we might as well continue with the maximum the consultant feels happy with and what Ava can physically manage.

In our eyes this is good news as going for the full 6cm hopefully means that the second lengthening at 12 years old will take less time.

We also discussed the option of Ava having another ring fitted on her foot during the second lengthening to try and further correct the position of the foot at the same time as lengthening the leg. Again we have decided to go ahead with this, but its obviously a long way off.

4cm down. 2cm to go!