Monday, May 2, 2022

The Rest of April

Besides Sydney's surgery, Taylor's award, Parker's field trip, and our trip to Miami, here are some other things we did in April!

Parker got new braes rubberbands!

Mom rang the bell after 5 weeks of radiation!

Hartley's 11th birthday:




LOL!



Stars and Strikes with the kids and Taylor's friend, Eden:








Lots of basketball!






This was a critical 3 pointer Taylor made to tie us up!  I love the still pics... her coach with the "3" symbol...

And her team going crazy!


Taylor was picked as a "stand out" for this tournament!

Another tourney- they won!


Bus stop on PJ day

Sydney's getting stronger!

Dinner with Grandmom!


Stephen and Parker's girlfriend, Emory. ;)

Friday, April 29, 2022

Sydney's Surgery (#1)

Poor Sydney has had continued knee dislocations over the last couple of years since her ligament-replacement surgery.  We met with her surgeon again, and he said that since her growth plates are now closed, he could do a more permanent-fix of a surgery on her.  Luckily, this wasn't an emergency surgery, but he recommended doing it sooner rather than later.  Unfortunately, he would have to do this surgery on both knees, two months apart!

Surgery #1 was on April 19th on her right knee (this was the same leg as her last surgery).  The surgery is called a Tibial Tubercle Osteotomy (TTO) and the doctor was also going to replace her MPFL ligament again (since it had torn again).  

The surgery took about 2.5 hours, and when she got out, she was in a LOT of pain.  They kept her a little longer to give her more pain meds to keep her comfortable.

It has been a long process, and several days of a lot of pain for her, but she is doing much, much better now.  She is going to PT once a week, and has gone from wearing her long straight brace + crutches down to just a small brace.  

Unfortunately, she has to go through all of this again next month... I'm not looking forward to it, and I don't think she is either, but we're hoping this will give her a new lease on life, involving being active.

She's a super tough cookie, and I am so proud of how she has handled everything!  Next up... June 21, surgery #2!










On day 8, she spiked a fever, and we were told to go to Urgent Care...

...which turned into them, 3 hours later, telling us to go to Scottish Rite.  We were there from 10:30 PM - 4 AM, and they ruled anything "bad" out- so we were good to go!

So, so many sweet friends and family got Sydney some goodies.







Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Miami!

 Sydney was facing another knee surgery in late April, so we went on a girl's trip over spring break so she could get away for a bit.  We decided to go to... MIAMI!  Neither of us had been there, so it was a fun new place to visit.

It. was. a. blast.  I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about traveling by myself being responsible for her.  Stephen traveled so much that I always let him lead the way anytime we go on a trip!  But, I'm happy to say that all my research and plans paid off- we got there and back safely. :)

We flew in on Monday.  We left cold Atlanta and arrived in the upper-80s in Miami.  We dropped our bags off at our hotel, and got to walking.  We ate some lunch, checked out some of the different downtown areas and shops.  We went on their Sky Wheel, which gave amazing views of the bay and city.  Sydney had wanted to see the new Spiderman movie, so that evening we went to an 8-story movie theater (?!) to watch it.  We grabbed dinner at Whole Foods and headed back to the hotel for the night!






The next morning, we made our way over to South Beach.  Wow, this place is beautiful!  We started off at the southern-most tip of South Beach, where there were beautiful beaches and a park.  We rented bikes and rode 30 blocks north, getting to see different stores and neighborhoods. We got smoothies for lunch and did some shopping before heading back to the mainland.

Riding the bus over to South Beach.













That evening, we went to dinner at Hard Rock, and then went to the Miami Heat game!







Wednesday morning, we got up and did a boat tour!  This 90 minute tour went around "Millionaire's Island" where lots of really rich people live.  It was a beautiful day and a fun time!  We ate lunch on the pier afterwards, before packing up and heading to the airport.










It was SUCH a great time with my girl!  Lots of memories made. :)