New Ice Cream Cone Leg and One More in the Making!

New leg time! Her geometric leg was getting a little tight. When they made her leg it was already  a little small for her and she could only wear it with a nylon tights kind of sock, so when it started getting to small there wasn't any wiggle room for adjusting it and she needed a new leg. We went in and had her first casting/fitting. Then about a week later we went in for a fitting.

 We first had to go see a doctor to get a "prescription" for getting a new leg(you have to get a new prescription once a year).

 Sydney chose ice cream cone fabric for her leg.

 After seeing the doctor we went back into the lobby and waited for about an hour and a half and then were told that it was going to be another hour because our prosthetist accidentally broke the check socket and it would take him 2 hours to make a new one.

 So instead of waiting there for another 2 hours, we headed out to the movies and saw Finding Dory! That was a fun little twist to our day!

 After the movie was over we headed back to the doctor's and they did a fitting with her check socket.

 And funny enough! We came back a week and a half later to get her finished leg and she was wearing the same dress as the time before when we went.

It is now a week and a half later and we went in to see the prosthetist to have her leg adjusted and also to see the doctor. We saw the prosthetist and then headed to see the doctor and they did x-rays and when they did that they found out that Sydney's new ice cream cone leg is actually 1.7 cm too short for her(which was a little satisfying to hear because I had mentioned that I thought she looked a little lopsided to the prosthetist, whom we love- don't get me wrong, and he thought it looked alright). So then after seeing the doctor we headed back over to see the prosthetist to get her fitted for a new leg. She'll probably get her new ice cream cone leg in about a week and a half.

Dance Class and Ice Skating with her Prosthetic

Sydney has been doing dance class and an ice skating class and has been loving them! Dance has been good. Since she is pretty young, her prosthetic hasn't really  held her back in any way because they aren't really being too techinical with their techniques(like pointing your toes). The only thing that has been different is the amount of holes that she has gotten in her tights thanks to her prosthetic..  but even without a prosthetic I think she would have gotten a hole or two by now anyway!

 he recently started an ice skating class and is LOVING that. She doesn't get excited about dance like she does with ice skating!(she's the one in the blue coat in all the below pictures). There is one small challenge with ice skating with her prosthetic- the heel in the ice skates. Here is a little heel in the ice skates and because her prosthetic is made with a flat foot, it forces her leg forward/ her knee has to be pretty bent to be in the skates. Luckily with ice skating, you have to bend your knees quite a bit anyway, but it definitely is a little more than a normal bend. She does so good with it though! IT doesn't seem to bug her at all! Her determination with it inspires me!

She loves to skate on her own, which actually means shuffling/trying to keep her balance the entire time, but it's adorable and so fun to see her determination to get it! Her favorite thing to do in class is throw the little stuffed die that they have and skate to get it. She skated to the center of the rink the other day on her own just playing that game.:)

 Skating to the center of the rink!

Time For Her 2nd Leg!

Lots has happened since my last post! Time to get all caught up!

Sydney now has a new leg, but leading up to it she had 3 appointments to adjust her old leg(her big hero 6 leg). One of the times she needed it to be taller, so they took off the foot and gave her a new foot with which they shaved less off of the foot to add a little height (she is so short that on the first leg they had to cut a crescent shape into the foot to get the foot under her stump/prosthetic). At her other appointments they were just adjusting the foam-like liner (she's wearing it in the picture below). It was putting pressure in certain spots because she was growing so they just shaved the foam liner thing down a little in the pressure spots.

After having her first leg for over 6 months (which they told us that her first leg would probably only last about 3-6, so we got some good use out of that leg!) it was finally time to get a new leg. She got her new leg at the end of February. Our prothetist told us that when she started having red marks on the front of her shin up towards her knee, or when she started getting red marks/blisters on the bottom/front of her stump, that it was most likely time to get a new leg. She started having those issues and also started having discomfort on the top of her knee since her prosthetic goes up over her knee to help with hyper-extension and her leg had apparently grown to be too tall for where her prosthesis's knee placement was.

These are from when she was getting her mold done for them to make her new leg. Then we just had to wait for that to be done.

In the meantime she wore her old leg. That wasn't too bad, I just had to remember that she might want to sit in the stroller sometimes when we were walking a lot because of discomfort.

About 1 week after getting the mold done for her new leg, we went in for the first fitting with the clear mold. One week after that (so 2 weeks after getting the mold) we went in for the fitting of her new leg!

Her leg was a little tight, but after making a few adjustments and shaving down the inner liner a little it now fits well! Sydney has lost the majority of her calf muscle(this is normal btw) and so the bottom of her stump is a little bigger than her  calf is. This is a good thing because the bulbous part of her stump will be able to hold her leg on better. It also meant that they had to mess with the leg a little to be able to get it on. Her prosthetist cut a slit into the liner so she could pull it on, and for some reason that did the trick!

 She also wears a super thin panty-hose like sock (seen below) with this prosthetic because it was a little tighter. If she uses her 1-ply socks, she can't get her leg all the way on. These thin socks are apparently usually used for arm prosthetics, but  it worked great for her skinny little leg!:)

 Things have been good since getting her new leg and Sydney's doing great!

First Swimming Experience

Sydney had her first experience swimming since her amputation. She did great! She tried both prosthetic-on and prosthetic-off swimming. When she was just swimming around she liked not having her leg on, but when she wanted to do the little playgound, she preferred it be on.

 When she had her leg on, we just put a sock on with the foam insert and then her leg - all like normal. It all just got soggy and so when she was just swimming around it got heavy and she said it was also falling off a little and so we took it off when she didn't want to do the playground.

She did great though! It's kind of interesting standing on the sidelines watching though because you can see some people staring. That's something I love about kids though, they either don't notice the staring, or if they do, they don't care! Kids are the best! I could learn a few things from that attitude!

Shriner's Hospital for Children Halloween Party

One of our Halloween festivities was  going to the Shriner's Hospital Halloween party. Sydney had a blast! She especially loved meeting the princesses. For a week straight after that, anytime she had her Rapunzel dress on she would sit on the ground, flair out her skirt and invite her little bother to "come talk to Rapunzel!" in a sweet voice.

 Talking hair with rapunzel

 We ran into our friend Maddie at the party!

 Getting her face painted

 Grandma joined us that day too!

 Little brother got his face painted as well.

 We also stopped to talk with her doctor who was dresses up as Joy from Inside Out.

We love Shriner's Hospital for Children!:)

Her First (and Second) Prosthetic!

Sydney finally got her leg! That was an exciting day! She was so excited about it all and even told me on the way home what color she wanted to paint the toes. The prosthetist was pretty amazed with her as well because she pretty much jumped up and wanted to walk the second he put it on her. Within a few minutes of trying it out, she was walking on her own(a little bit wobbly looking, but she was doing it!)

It didn't take long though before I realized that her foot didn't fit into any of her shoes though and I think she was getting a little frustrated as well because the leg was too long and she kept tripping over it.  I called back in and came in to have it adjusted. We saw a new prosthetist because ours was out of town and I really liked him. Because of a couple reasons combined, we switched prosthetists and I am really happy we did. We have loved James! Below is a picture of her foot before he shaved it down to fit into her shoe. When he did that he also noticed that her Croc shoe she was wearing was giving her blisters and offered to bend it outward for her so it wouldn't give her blisters. He did that and added some blue stuff to it that made it slippery and not as likely to rub and give blisters. I love that he did that! Needless to say, I really liked him and the extra effort he gave!

After shaving down the foot to fit into her shoes, he ordered her a new foot that was smaller so she didn't have to have the funny looking foot ( although it almost looked artistic and modern which was kinda cool but also a little funny). It took about a week for that to come in.
We came in a week later for physical therapy and to have her new foot put on.
The physical therapist thought she was doing really well! That first time we went she spent the entire time helping her to turn her foot inward. She was twisting her foot outward because she was struggling to walk with the new stiff foot and so she would turn her foot outward and walk on the heel. She did really well though and within about 3 days she was walking with her foot forward.

 After physical therapy, we headed downstairs to meet with the prosthetist to get her new foot. James, Our prosthetist had actually noticed at our last appointment that Sydney had been hyperextending her knee so he made a new leg that went up over her knee and helped with her hypertension. I thought that was so awesome! So he did a check socket that day and then he had the leg ready THE NEXT DAY, so we came back in the day after that for the fitting.

 Ignore the tape on the top of her prosthetic in this next picture. I put that on there anytime she wears pants in hopes that it won't rip them a quickly.

 Sydney got a bike for her birthday right after having her surgery, so her first experience with a bike was with her prosthetic leg. She took to it quickly and is now a bike riding pro!:)

 Here is one more picture at her second physical therapy appointment. I think she was a little bummed that she only had to have 2 appointments. She loved physical therapy! It's basically an hour of play time with new toys!

This girl is amazing though you guys! She has overcome all obstacle with a smile on her face! She does so well with her leg. I honestly think she walks better now, especially since she had such a leg length difference before her amputation and now she doesn't have that. We love this little girl!:)