The leg reveal

But first, the story:

For the week since surgery, we have been talking to Addi about the day that her leg out be unwrapped and her drain would come out. We really wanted to prepare her, and try to keep her calm. So, she went in really excited, and kept telling us that she wasn't going to cry. The assistant, Lindsay, carefully took off Addi's brace, then the ace bandage, and got her to this point. So far so good.

She cut away the gauze dressing, and soaked the bloody parts with water so that it was easier to get off. Still, no tears, although Addi was watching with unwavering attention to what was happening.

Finally, the bandage was off! The bandage got caught on a stitch up by her knee, which caused Addi to start crying, but she wasn't inconsolable, and as soon as the bandage was completely off, we read a book and she calmed right down.

The resident surgeon came in and looked at Addi's leg. I think he was a little concerned, he kept saying we wouldn't know if it took for a couple of more weeks, but he thought it was still ok. We have seen this before - it's supposed to look like that. And, finally, when Dr. Siddiqi came in, he said the same thing.

While we were waiting for Dr, Siddiqi to come in, Addi looked at Lindsay and said, "I'm just wondering if I can walk now." Lindsay told her she wasn't sure, but she could ask Dr. Siddiqi. So, Addi did. As soon as Dr. Siddiqi came in, Addi looked at him, and after a tiny bit of coaching from Lindsay (she asked Addi what she wanted to ask Dr. Siddiqi), Addi said, "Can I walk?" And he said that she could!

Addi cried when we took the bandage off of the drain tube, but it was really stuck on there, I would have cried too, but when we told her that the drain was out, she immediately stopped.

We wrapped her leg back up, and were on our way. Now, bandage changes at home everyday for at least the next two weeks. And we are done until March!



 
And now the pictures: