Abby's OI Pages - Abby's Diary


	Month 81 - 87: December 2010 - June 2011

what an amazing last few months we have had our fair share of ups and downs, but I can say more ups than downs. Abby got her wheelchair on the 23rd December and we took her to see, Robinson Cruiso at the JHB theatro on the same day. She was soo excited we all cried when we saw how amazing the chair was and how it gave her such independence. We managed to start school without any bumps except that we were not able to use the wheelchair as they are not adapted to accommodate a wheelchair. We hope that when she starts Grade 1 we can put her into a school that can accommodate her chair and allow her access to all aspects of school. This will be a challenge but nothing that I know God can’t help out with …nudge nudge Lord Please!!!! Abby fractured her left tibia on the 23rd March which was the worst break that she ever has had and although their was a pin in the leg the bone has grown away from the pin and that is where is was weak. We put a new pin in two days later and although we thought it would be stable it had to be redone in May. Guess what? It has shifted again so we are now all puzzled and the Doctors are now having to reassess the situation and perhaps consult with other specialists in Montreal: Canada. Maybe maybe we might end up there for Femur surgery one day don’t know what the plan is yet but we trust and pray for Gods grace and mercy and hope that we can resolve this soon so we can work at getting Abby walking. This has been a challenging past few months but I must admit we have all grown so much as a family and I can say through the negative we have come out positive.


	Romans•12:12	Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in payer


	Month 66-80: September 2009 - November 2010

A lot has happened in this last year! We had only one fracture this year which was a broken humorous. Darling Abby decided she can climb over everything regardless of the height, she fell trying to climb over the wheels of my office chair trying to get ahold of the cat! She was so brave and held her own arm steady until I got to the Doctor. I am always amazed at how well she behaves generally but even more so when she breaks she is almost peaceful. I am sure the pain level encourages her to focus so deeply. The U cast was on for 4 weeks and she took a while to get her balance back seeing she was still sensitive with her arm and she kept trying to avoid using it. I spent quite a few weeks deciding it was time to improve Abbys mobility and educational abilities and we started again with assessments with Brenda Talbot and Educational Psychologist who targeted some area's where Abby needs to improve on and we investigated medicine to stimulate concentration. We retested Abby's eyes and started a programme of eye exercises with her to strengthen the eye muscles which will also help with focus and attention. We tested Abby for any speech impediments with Petra Fowler and we will probably try a few sessions in the New Year but we decided rather to focus on Occupational Therapy with Cathy Orton who lives close to us and it has been so convenient for us. After we assessed Abby's ankles it was decided that we would try bracing her ankles up to her knees to offer her support and we found the most amazing orthotist in Johannesburg Gagik Hopikan he made the most beautiful braces for Abby she was even able to choose the picture on the braces and can you guess she chose cats (her favorite animal). She has been wearing them now for almost a year and we recently went back for another assessment. We battled to find a wheelchair for Abby and I very nearly gave up until Gagik introduced us to the Meyra a product of the highest quality designed by a German firm. We were able to measure Abby for her chair and placed the order a few weeks back. We are hoping and praying that we will get the chair for December holidays. This has been a challenging year trying to get our heads around education and future plans supporting bones and growth. We have put our foundation on hold for a short period but we are planning to revive it in the New Year. I have started studying again so I am not sure how I will juggle my job, studies, kids and the foundation. Feel more confident that we are going to raise more and more awareness of OI in this next year. My goal in life!!


	Romans•12:12	Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in payer.


	Month 52-59: 27 June 2008 – 28 February 2009

We have had a break free season. Nothing has changed and Abby is still only crawling. We purchased a Kaye (Posterior) walker from the USA. Abby only uses it when she feels brave but we are going to have to push her a little bit each day. We have searched and searched for a school that we will feel would be comfortable for Abby and where she would get the most stimulation. Finally we settled on the Montessori school in Hilton. She will start on the 20th April so we have some time to prepare ourselves. Abby saw Dr Faure the dentist and she was soon good. Although her teeth are looking terrible and have basically eroded she seems to be looking more and more positive for healthy adult teeth. Abby has had a few scares over the last year with the most convincing was recently we though she had broken her femur and she was in a lot of pain. After phoning the specialist (Ian Stead) and putting our emergency plan in place we set off for Radiology as we drove out of the driveway I put Abby's slipper on to keep her feet warm (When she stresses she goes ice cold) as I put her slipper on I felt her leg click into place and she immediately sat up and said "my leg is better can I go visit Uncle David" We cant explain what happened besides knowing God healed Abby. Thank you for prayers. God has been so gracious to our family and kept us all healthy this last year. We will be doing a bone density scan soon and from the results we will plan the year.


	Psalm•139	Thank you God for your mercies and grace. Your love endures always.


	Month 44-51: 26 December – 26 June 2008

Abby had a fall in the swimming pool in January. She was swimming with dad and sat down on the step at a bad angle which resulted in a femur fracture of her left leg. We took her down to Dr Ian Stead (Orthopaedic Paediatric Surgeon) who decided after much deliberation to rod the femur. Abby was in traction over night which was extremely painful and she had the surgery at Three the next day. It took over four hours and Chris and I were absolutely shattered. ICU was not too bad this time and I went home to catch up on some much needed sleep (no sleep for two nights). I was so emotional I could not understand why this precious child has had to suffer so much. But she is so resilient, and by the second day Abby was up and about and wanted to go home. Day three we were discharged. Abby was so brave and went through the whole of the hot summer in her spica cast. We went to my brothers wedding and it was 40 degrees in the shade but she just smiled. We let her play next to the pool with the hose pipe and she spent many hours entertaining herself and keeping cool. Since then we have had two treatments and a HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY. We are scheduled for a third treatment at the end of July and maybe some corrective surgery as the pin in the tibia is shifting. Abby is quite demanding and we have to watch her all the time as she is getting more and more confident each day. We all need a good holiday so hopefully by the end of August we can schedule a good rest.


	2 Corinthians•12:9	But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.


	Month 34-43: 25 June - 25 December 2007

Well these last few months started off as mild we went to the coast several times and spent many hours wadeing around the rock pools looking for small fish. Abby loves the beach and can spend many many hours in the water. It is obvious that we do not put her in the waves but in small tidal pools. We were amazed that Abby was so keen to get on her feet after her operation. She was up and about walking holding onto a pram or table to support her. In September Abby was sitting in the car and toppled out of the seat which resulted in her first fracture in almost two and a half years. She had a clean break right through the right femur and was put into a spica cast for seven weeks. Well after that seven weeks we were so happy to get the cast off but it took her several days to get herself back to feeling better. She sat up about three days after the removal of the cast and only a month afterwards was she even considering putting pressure onto it by crawling although her crawling was more like dragging herself around. In the last two weeks of December she started to crawl properly and in this last few days has been confident enough to stand. We have been swimming and that has had a remarkable impact on her recovery. We spent a quite day with family over Christmas and as usual Abby made herself knowen. Her lastest saying is "Don't ittitate me". I wounder who she gets that from. Abby's brother Matthew is turning 15 this coming year and he is now 6,2" with a size 13 shoe seems like we have the giant and midget living in our house but I can guarantee the midget is loud enough to be a giant. We are scheduled for another dose of treatment in January and some corrective surgery on the pin in her right tibia. So we hope that all goes off well.

Wishing everyone a Prosperous and healthy new year.


	1 Corinthians•13:7-8	Love knows no limit to its endurance no end to its trust, Love still stands when all else has fallen