PT

Sierra had her first physical therapy appointment yesterday. She has been holding her leg at basically a right angle since the biopsy, so her muscles have tightened, behind her leg, and at the top of her hip. She is also afraid to straighten it because of the pain she was feeling before and after the biopsy. She was very excited when we got into the therapy room because they had a big swing, the therapist and her got on it, and they basically just talked while the therapist worked on straightening her leg as they swung. It worked quite well to keep her mind off of the leg so she could relax and just let go. Then she layed on her belly, propped up a bit with pillows and played Break The Ice, and Hi Ho Cherry Oh with Reece. This allowed her hip to stretch and also the therapist was behind letting her foot slowly relax toward the floor as she played, she had it basically straight by the time they were done.(the pic was just as they finished cleaning up and she had just started to move, so leg was actually a bit more straight than in the picture, and much more relaxed, I was just too slow). At this point we are aiming for her to go twice a week when she isn't in the hospital, when she is in the hospital they have a PT who can see her most every day.

As far as how Sierra is feeling, she is not feeling great. She is definitely tired, and has napped on and off the last 2 days(not uncommon as her blood counts go down) and she isn't eating very much(also to be expected). She is also complaining of her tummy bothering her, kind of like her tummy is cramping and it comes and goes. I feel awful when she says her tummy hurts because I can't do anything for her besides telling her to try and go potty and see if that helps(which it often does) she would just rather not have to make so many trips to the bathroom because it is hard work for her to get around. Her attitude has been touch and go, sometimes she is really cheerful and wants to play, but other times she is super crabby and yelling at everyone about everything. We are trying to be patient with her, and understanding, while also making sure she realizes that she shouldn't be behaving that way. It is also hard on Reece because he is so used to playing with her all of the time, and she has little patience for him right now, so he gets upset that she doesn't want him around. We are trying to play with him a bit more so he isn't feeling left out or neglected. As for Evy, she isn't too phased by anything at this point, she is pretty easy going and other than causing some mischief here and there is a pretty good little girl.

With Easter coming up this weekend, we are hoping to be able to make it to church and out to my Dad's for a get together, but that is all up in the air depending on how Sierra feels. I don't want her to miss out, but also don't want to push her beyond what she can handle. Please pray for her to get through these days of feeling icky so she can get back to feeling more like her old self.