Leggie Dreams

This morning Madeleine woke up from a bad dream. She was talking in her sleepy state and kept saying, "leggie, leggie?" I told her that her leggie was in her bedroom, that we took it off so she could go nigh-night and if she wanted we could put it on. Then she said, or asked, "brokie? Leggie brokie? and she seemed upset. I assured her that it was not broken and if she wanted to see it I could go get it. She was satisfied and went back to sleep.

Mommy doesn't get frustrated

Prosthesis.... Or is it Prosthetics?

Some people know that I'm a bit of a grammar hound. I'm not ashamed to admit this. In fact, I'm quite proud of it. I actually enjoyed diagramming sentences in high school. I liked learning the French language because I loved learning a new grammatical puzzle, if you will.

If you know me you know that I hate it when signs are incorrect. Particularly with apostrophes. You don't need an apostrophe when you are not writing a contraction or showing possessive. For example...

Don't (apostrophe in place for the 'o'.... do not = don't)

Suzie's dog (whose dog? Suzie's)

The Kids' bikes (multiple kids and their bikes- showing possessive)

Plurals do not get apostrophes...

the dogs (more than one)

the dog's bone (possessive as to whose bone)

Get it?

The difficult one (and the one that drives my students into an angry and argumentative fit is...

Its and It's

It is = It's (contraction)

Its (plural)


I know, I know....


Okay so let's talk prosthetics vs. prosthesis

Prosthetic is an adjective describing the noun. She has a prosthetic leg. Leg is the noun and prosthetic modifies it or describes it.

A prosthesis is a noun. She has a prosthesis.

If you wikipedia Prosthesis you get this...

"In medicine, a prosthesis is an artificial extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of fusing mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control lost by trauma, disease, or defect. Prostheses are typically used to replace parts lost by injury (traumatic) or missing from birth (congenital) or to supplement defective body parts. In addition to the standard artificial limb for every-day use, many amputees have special limbs and devices to aid in the participation of sports and recreational activities."

If you type in prosthetic it reroutes you to prosthesis because prosthetic is an adjective or a derivative of prosthesis (the word).

If you type in prosthetic into dictionary.com you get this...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosthetic

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Okay, so this is not the goal of this post but I had to clear this up first.

Madeleine should get a new prosthesis in the fall or so (or a new prosthetic leg, shall I say). We have the option of covering the leg so that it has some sort of print on it. We can also do a 'tattoo' so that you have a picture and it is laminated onto the leg. We do not have the option of a cool pipe leg. Unfortunately. As Madeleine is a below knee amputee (bka) and thus there is not enough room between her actual leg and the prosthetic foot.

I thought I would put up a few pictures to help you understand the complex world of prosthetic limbs. At the end of this post I am hoping that you can help us make a decision.

Logan's cool pipe leg which we cannot have :(
Love this picture of Logan! He is laughing! What a kid!

Mei Mei's cool laminated pipe leg (example of laminated patterns)
So pretty!


Mei Mei, herself, what a star!

Helen's fabulous Finding Nemo leg
What kid would NOT want this leg?


Another view. Cute shoes too!


Helen, and her cuteness, in her fantastic leg! Helen is just over two years olf and obviously doing as well as Madeleine with her prosthesis. She was born with the same type of thing as Madeleine and her mom, Amy, has been a huge support of me! Thanks Amy!


All of Sarah's legs
Sara has the same type of amputation as Madeleine. I don't know this child personally but I wish I did. She seems incredible. She surfs, she swims and she is so beautiful. Pretty cool that she has all these legs, eh? Shows you how much growth can happen. She donated the legs, by the way.

Sarah's new leg:





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So now you see our options. I have been think that we want to laminate some fabric onto Madeleine's new leg. It will look like Helen's or Sara's remember. The dilemma in making this decision is knowing that more attention will be brought to the leg. Parents who have kids with prosthetic limbs know all about this. How much attention do we really want? Should I just get it out there? Am I in the mood to explain what 'this' is? I'm not sure. Sometimes people don't even know that Madeleine wears a prosthesis; especially when she is wearing pants. Other times they notice but do not know what it is.

Here is a conversation that occured at the park the other day.

Older lady that was playing peek a boo with Madeleine: Is that a cast on her leg or something?

Me: No, it is an artificial leg (pause for understanding) a prosthesis.

Lady: a what?

Me: a prosthesis. She doesn't have a foot so her leg fit into the prosthesis so she can walk.

Lady: does she have a leg?

Me: yes, about this much below her knee (showing her with my fingers spread).

Lady: Oh. Was she born without a foot?

Me: No, she had a foot but it wasn't functional so we amputated.

Lady: (gasp) wow, that must have been a difficult decision.

Me: yes, it was. But she is so 'normal' now we don't really think about it.

Lady: Well, now yes, but it will be hard for her when she is older.

Me: Yep, probably, but you know, this isn't really that big of a deal.

Lady: (raises eyebrows)

Me: seriously, having twins is harder than dealing with a child with a prosthesis. She is fine.

Me: okay, gotta go... nice chatting.

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What would you have said? Where is the balance between educating and just wanting to be left alone.

my climber

Had to share with you all about my little climber. Madeleine climbs like she was born doing it. She climbs up anything. The sofa, the stairs, her crib, whatever. The OT at school says that Madeleine is more adept in climbing and balance then others in her age group. Well, hello! My girl wears an artificial leg! I swear she has an amazing sense of balance because she is so use to putting weight on one leg and has adapted to casts and new prosthetics. Michael says it is from him (hmmm), he says that sense he has an amazing sense of balance she gets it from him. Ask him to do Yoga- I dare ya!

Here is a picture from my friend's blog. I think it is super cute and shows you how monkey my kids are- they did this themselves!



For more pictures and to see the twins' best friend, Tegan, go to Brooke's blog at winbrooke.blogspot.com

The new thing is that Madeleine tells me she wants to dance Ballet. She sees the girls in the Sound of Music doing a bit of ballet and she tries to copy. So cute!

Hand, Foot and Mouth anyone? anyone?

Sooooo, the kids have contracted about the very worst virus man can get. It is called Hand, Foot and MouthDisease and let me tell you I am in sheer hell. hell. I tell you hell. This is NOT hoof and mouth disease found in sheep and cattle but I'm sure the farm animals would be as miserable as my children are.

Here are the course of events:
Wednesday (last week): School friends meeting at the Greenlake community center since we are on spring break.
Thursday: Target shopping, play ground
Friday: Birthday party
Saturday: Madeleine wakes up with high fever
Sunday: Madeleine feels like shit and is whiny all day
Monday: Madeleine goes to doctor- confirmation of HFMD (no, she didn't get it from the birthday party nor did she spread it there. It has a 3-7 day incubation period and they are not contagious until the sores appear in the mouth)
Tuesday: Madeleine still doesn't feel well and Max starts getting cranky. By Tuesday night Maxy has a fever of 101.7 and is refusing to eat.
Wednesday: Madeleine feels a bit better except that she has a RASH all over her entire body! Max now feels like shit.

Me? Oh, I haven't slept, but what's new? I've had a child hanging from my arm, leg, neck, back nipple- you name it. My kids are so unhappy and so so sick. I'm trying anything to entertain them. Here's what we have done....
*taken baths
*played with cotton balls
*painted paper and our bodies
*sidewalk chalk on the patio
*Mr. Potato Head (thanks, Cindy!)
*made musical instruments
*watched video clips of Julie Andrews singing from the Sound Of Music over and over and over and over and over and over (no, I'm not over exaggerating)

Can you jump?

This video was taken when we were visiting the trees at the UW. It is in front of Miller Hall which is where all my graduate classes were and the education department is.

What is it about kids and jumping? They can't actually get off the ground in the beginning, although they think they can. I had never seen a child with an artificial leg jump. Okay, let's be clearer... I had never seen anyone with an artificial leg jump. Besides, I had never even seen a child with an artificial leg until Madeleine was 5 months or so.

So, I asked Greg (Madeleine's prosthetist) if jumping was something that Madeleine should work on during OT time at school or if that was something that people with prosthesis are not able to do. This is his response...

Jumping is fine for Madeleine and most kids start jumping when they are ready. I see no limitations for Madeleine.

Bless you, Greg, for your care of our daughter and your positivity.

We Mothers...

First, a shout out to BethGo. Thanks for coming by! It means a lot to me to meet others out there who know what the stares are like. Who understand the heartbreak of knowing that your child will never be "normal" (I know, I know, she is "normal" but if you are questioning this statement you don't get it). Beth, I have been by your blog too and although haven't had as much time to read it as I'd like I did add it to my favorites so I can find it easily when I have more time. I scrolled around on it and found an entry where you talk about your oldest saying something about a child (I think on a cartoon) without a hand and he asks you what happened and you blow it off and say, dunno- born like that, or something. And then, of course, the irony set in. I can appreciate those moments.

I remember when I got pregnant Michael and I talked about what if our child/ren had Down Syndrome, or what if they had a cleft lip and palate, or what if they had autism. We thought of and discussed every possible scenario (or so we thought) and how we would handle it. When we found out we were having twins we knew there was a chance of cerebral palsy, hindered eye sight and other complications from premature births. We worked out situations. What if...

I think every parent does that. You wonder if your kid will be "normal" or, shall I say "typical". You think about what they will look like, what they will be like. You go through all the probable scenarios.... Downs, autism, club feet, cleft lip, heart problems. You never, ever think about what if your child is missing a bone or a part of their body. Seriously, this thought never crosses your mind. However, as I have said before, people are born missing limbs all the time. Isn't the statistic 500 children every year will be born with a limb difference?

Okay, so here's the deal. I appreciate you mothers who know what this is like. Thank you Lizzie, Mei Mei's mom, thanks again BethGo, thank you, Amy (Helen's mom) and all the others out there who are reading this.

A special thanks to Jenna and Logan. My Seattle friend that can understand what being this kind of mom is like. We can talk about prosthetist appointments, new legs, chafing, physical therapy to ride scooters, how "amazing" our kids are, and, most importantly.... the only other child that Madeleine knows who has a 'leggie', very special indeed. So, Jenna, I hope you don't mind but I am going to encourage all of my readers to check out your blog (click the link above or on the side) so that they can see Logan's fabulous new leg and revel in his awe inspiring scooter work. You trying riding a scooter with a knee that doesn't bend!!!!