learning to walk.... again
When we were in China I noticed that Elie's hips were not okay. In the course of our two weeks together prior to traveling home, I tried to get in pieces of a physical exam whenever it worked. It may seem odd but that's what you do when you are a nurse. I realized the first time I rotated her legs that her hip joint was not okay. The first week we were home an xray confirmed my suspicions... her femur and her pelvis were not functioning properly. The orthopedic surgeon said surgery was not an "if" but a "when". And I began to dread the time the "when" would arrive. The idea of going through surgery with Elie was not appealing. Our relationship was often rocky and her emotional health at times unstable. Would she regress? Would the surgery trigger old memories? Would the anger and screaming take over? Would our other children survive another change, another season of stress? Would the surgery make things worse? And on and on the ques