Resting

Ava sleeps peacefully now. Surgery went well yesterday, but it was a little harder on Ava than last time because Dr Campbell had to replace part of the rod and it makes her a little more sore than just a regular expansion. This morning she is still pretty out of it and not her normal self quite yet, but she shows small signs every once and a while that she will come around soon. Dr Campbell said he stretched her out quite a bit and showed us the x ray which looks better than before. Morgan and I tried sharing one of the small chairs to sleep on last night and couldn't ever get comfortable so we are a bit groggy today, but other than that we are happy Ava is okay.

Back to Philadelphia-Surgery # 9

We're back to Philadelphia for Ava's 2nd expansion surgery. Things are going very well. Ava is still in surgery now but every so often they give us updates to let us know how it's going, and so far so good. Ava has been doing very well lately and even began walking a couple weeks ago! We couldn't be happier with her progress and will keep updating!

Something new

Good things do happen. Morgan got a job! We found out in March and it's taken me this long to write about it. Its for a Landscape Architecture firm in Columbia/Clarksville Maryland. We couldn't believe it worked out. It was one of the jobs he was most interested in and it happens to be pretty close to my parents house in Maryland. We move next week! Its so soon and not quite real to me yet. We will say goodbye to Logan which will be sad in some ways, but we are glad to be moving on. It will be weird leaving Utah behind for good. We are so used to coming back all the time. It's this world thats always there.  It's a place that feels very protected from the rest of the world, very innocent and safe and has a character you won't find anywhere else. I will miss that, and family and friends that are still here. We are excited to go back east to be near my family and all the loveliness of Maryland too though.  Oh Life!

So far so good

Surgery went very well yesterday. Dr. Campbell expanded both rods and bent one of them to help straighten her back a little more. He seems very pleased with Ava's progress and it is quite possible that we could go home today, if not tomorrow. Ava is still a little out of it and uncomfortable, but every now and then she shines through it all.

Surgery # 8

My mind is kind of blank right now as we wait for Ava's surgery to be over. Whenever Ava is in surgery, this kind of happens to me. I don't really feel worried, I actually feel glad that she is finally here and we are getting it done with, but this whole experience can be pretty draining. She wasn't too happy when we got here and they had to draw blood. I didn't realize how strong she has gotten until they tried to take her blood and she fought like crazy. My least favorite part was when morgan, me, and the nurse had to hold her down, but eventually they got it. After they left, she fell asleep and woke up in a much better mood. We took a little video of the sweet pea before they took her away.

Untitled from Morgan Handley on Vimeo.

Cruising and crawling

Ava has been doing great. Since the beginning of January, she began walking around the room (while holding on to things) and a few weeks ago she even started crawling! We never thought she would crawl because of her back, but she decided one day that she wanted to give it a try and just took off. Everyday she makes her rounds; from the chair to the couch to the bookshelf to the desk to the fridge and down the wall to the bathroom where she always tries to get to the toilet, but that is where she is stopped by me, mean mom. These last 4 months without any surgeries has felt like we have been on vacation, but soon it must end. We fly out east for her first expansion surgery this next week. It seems it is about time for her VEPTR to be expanded because she hasn't been able to keep her food down as well lately. This is Morgan's final semester and we have a lot to think about. We are looking for jobs (especially ones with good benefits), trying to sell our house, we have Ava's surgery, Alyssa is getting married in April (very exciting), and it seems like there are a lot of other details that I won't bother to mention, but it is craziness!

She is really good at getting all the magnets off but not back on

Playing hide and seek

Best of last month

This last month was difficult but there has been a lot of good too. We made it through the second VEPTR! I don't know if I mentioned this, but Ava was sick right before we were supposed to fly out to Philadelphia and the stress was running high. It was a great blessing that she got better just in time for her surgery. It went so much better than we could have imagined. She was a lot stronger than the first time and everything went smoothly and quickly. Our families have really shown their love for us by sacrificing their time and energy to help however they could. Morgan's professors were all very understanding and didn't demand much from him while we were gone. Things are slowly beginning to normalize. We are so happy about that.

Linda has been so great to come up to Logan to help with Ava on the weekends, so we have been able to get out a lot more than we used to. Thank you Linda! We are so grateful for giving us a much needed break. Morgan took me on a date to take pictures in the canyon. Pretty cool.

Our final follow up with Doctor Campbell after Ava's surgery. We will be back in February for expansions.   

We got to spend more time with my wonderful parents. They were amazing and stuck by us through Ava's surgery. The hospital is not the most comfortable place to hang out day in and day out, but they did it. During this very difficult year  with Ava they have done so much to make things more comfortable for us and we thank them with all our hearts! 

Ava has been a lot happier. She is healing well and only has a couple weeks left before she is considered completely healed. She has been coming alive more and more every day.