Bump in the Road

Sorry I am just now getting to update. Friday we had a check up with Dr. Epps and he informed me that the bone was healing very fast. He said he would be in contact with me that evening reguarding what we would need to do. Before he could call me to give me the news Haleigh re fractured the bone that was healing to fast. When we got to the hospital he informed me that other than her being in the most pain anyone has ever been in that this was not that bad after all that she had done this because he was about to call and tell me that we had to go back into surgery and do this all over again. So yes the break was a blessing in disguise and God does work in mysterious ways but I would never want her to go through what she went through on Friday again. I have honestly never felt so helpless and scared in my whole life. Haleigh was admitted on Friday for pain management after screaming for 6 hours straight the morphine and muscle relaxers finally worked. They kept her on the pain pump and she was released on Sunday. We are home now and she is pretty much back to normal. Once again she has amazed me through this and is doing very well!! Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray that he bone will do as it is supposed to from here on out.

Going Strong

We had Haleigh's first follow up visit yesterday and the Doctor said everything was great!! Our first day out of the house was a great success even though Haleigh decided to tump her wheel chair over in the Olive Garden. Besides the fact that she freaked EVERYONE in the place out she was OK!! Pin Care is no big deal now, she sings a song she learned at bible school to help her be strong while we are doing it. The song says be STRONG and COURAGEOUS do not be terrified cause the LORD GOD is with you......... Makes me smile and want to cry all at the same time!! She is getting around good in the house and has started holding her leg and scooting on the floor. Very determined that she will NOT miss anything. She does get frustrated and wants "that thing" off of her leg but over all she is still being a fighter!! We will be starting therapy this week so we pray that will not be a painful experience for her. Hope you all have a great weekend!! GOD IS GOOD

The pics below are of her first day out of the house, the leg cover we made to keep her warm, and of course we had to PIMP the walker out!!

What a Trooper

I titled this post What a Trooper because Haleigh has truly been a trooper since we have been home. She is pretty much not on any pain meds at all which amazes me!! Pin care was tough the first time because there were bandages to be removed and that of course was extremly painful.... Today she told me she was going to be strong and she did great!! I started turning the struts yesterday and so far she has done ok. She was a little sore yesterday but has not complained about it today. She has definately learned how to use her wheel chair and is able to reposition her leg by herself now. Nights are long but getting better. Super Daddy rigged up a tarp for Haleigh to be able to go out in the snow so she would not miss out on all the fun. She was trowing snowballs and loving it!! I will post pics soon!! Continue to check back for updates, I plan to keep this going until she is "Halo" free!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

Home Sweet Home

Well this morning Haleigh woke up singing (which we have not heard since Sunday)and decided she was ready to go home. I told her she needed to get up be nice and do her therapy so we could go home. She amazed me once again and ended up walking 10times more than they expected. Needless to say that I was convinced that it was time to come home!! We learned how to do pin care today, which was very painful to her and waited on her wheel chair, walker, and potty chair to get there then we packed up and headed home. The ride home went well, she was singing and dancing to Hannah Montana just like normal and could not wait to get home to show her brother and sister her new walking and rollings skills!! She is now snuggled up in her bed watching TV and to top it off she has not had any pain medicine since 2:30 today and still has not asked for any!! Lets hope tonight goes as well as the day does. GOD IS GOOD!!

Please be in prayer as we adjust to having her home. So far so good!!

Thanks again for all of your support!! Also Thank You GOD for bringing our little girl home without any complications!!!!

Blessings,
The Shaver Family

Day Two

Haleigh had an OK day today. She had two sessions of therapy. She was not very cooperative the 2ND session. She is very irritable and grumpy one minute and happy and playing the next minute. The doctors say that it is the pain medicine and it is something that we are going to have to deal with for now. She had her IV, catheter and epidural removed today. Needless to say it has been a LONG day. She threw up before dinner, and refused to get in the shower, so Haleigh had her first bed bath today. We may be able to go home Thursday or Friday, it all depends on how therapy goes and when we feel comfortable enough caring for her at home. Please continue to pray that we have a smooth day tomorrow.

PS. I had a baby doll, coloring book, and portable DVD player thrown at me today.....I guess it is par for the course!!!

Day One

Well Folks it was definately a LONG night but thanks to benadryl and pain medicine about 6:00 this morning we finally got some sleep. Doctor came in about 7:00 and said that today would be the worst day she was going to have. He said she was starting therapy today and that it was going to be very painful and to get ready!!! Boy was he wrong. Our little bug got up out of bed today!!!! She made us so proud and they could not believe she was doing so well. They are very impressed with her progress so far and hopefully she will continue to do well. Believe it or not she is more upset because she cannot put her clothes on. The medicine is making her itch, she can't get comfortable, and she is very irritable and fussy this evening so please pray that she will have a better night and gets some relief soon. Thank You all for keeping up with her and for all of your thoughts and prayers. I will post pics soon!!

Hanging in there

Haleigh was out of surgery around 10:00 and in her room around 12:00. The doctor said the surgery went very well was very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. She has been very restless and asking to go home. She wants the halo off of her leg, she says it is too heavy. Over all she is doing okay. Please continue to pray for her to adjust to having this halo on her leg. She is in some pain but this was expected - we only hope that the pain subsides as time goes on. I believe that she expected to wake up and her leg would be fixed. The more she wakes up the more she realizes that this is different and she does not understand that this is a 5 or 6 month process. Rachel and I had our moment as she went into surgery but we now feel much better that she is awake and responsive. She is crying now but she just received some more pain medicine and I would expect her to doze back off in a few minutes. Thank you to the friends and family that came and sat with Rachel and I while she was in surgery. Your support meant the world to us and the conversation with you guys helped to take our minds off the surgery for the time you were here. We would also like to thank everyone for the supportive phone calls. Thanks again for every ones support and prayers and we love you all.

P.S. She fell back asleep before I could finish typing. She is resting now. - OOOPS I spoke to soon, she is awake again. It's going to be a long night.

David & Rachel

surgery update

Just wanted to let everyone know that Haleigh went into surgery at 7:50am. We got an update a little while ago and they said it was half way thru and she was doing fine. Thank you all for your prayers and support!!!

Leg Lengthening

For those of you that have posted curious about what Haleigh is having done I am attaching a description of what will take place. Haleigh was born with one leg shorter than the other and the hope was that the leg would continue to grow at the same rate as the other one. It has grown but not as quickly as we had hoped. Haleigh has to have a leg lengthening procedure to correct this.

Leg lengthening is performed under general anesthesia, so that the patient is deep asleep and can't feel pain. Of the several surgical techniques developed, the Ilizarov method, or variation thereof, is the one most often used. An osteotomy is performed, meaning that the bone to be lengthened is cut, usually the lower leg bone (tibia) or upper leg bone (femur). Metal pins or screws are inserted through the skin and into the bone. Pins are placed above and below the cut in the bone and the skin incision is stitched closed. An external fixator is attached to the pins in the bone, which is used after surgery to gradually pull the cut bone apart, creating a gap between the ends of the cut bone in which new bone growth can occur. The fixator functions much like a bone scaffold and will be used very gradually, so that the bone lengthens in extremely small steps. The original Ilizarov external fixator consists of stainless steel rings connected by threaded rods. Each ring is attached to the underlying bone segment by two or more wires, placed under tension to increase stability, yet maintain axial motion. Titanium pins are also used for
supporting the bone segments. Several fixators are available and the choice depends on the desired goal and on specific patient requirements.

Today will be difficult but we know we have God, Family, and Countless Friends praying for us at this time!! We Love you!!!!

Surgery Day

Surgery is set for Monday, November 30th @ 7:30am. We will be in the hospital at least until Thursday. We thank you all for being supportive of us during this time. We will post as soon as we can after surgery. ~~Blessings to you all~~