The difference

January 24, 2017

February 7, 2017

Two weeks.

Look at the difference in that girl in just two weeks.

I'm having a rough night tonight. There's another post brewing in my mind that may or may not have time to get out before my hospital stay ends. But for the moment we'll just stick with this one.

Don't even look at the colors in the two photos - I had the flash on in the first photo, which makes her look washed out, and we have lovely color-adjusting ambient light in her room at Gillette, which I have set to give everything this warm, slightly rose glow. So don't look at the color.

Just look at my girl.

Can you see the difference??

Would you believe that even one week ago, the orthopedic surgeons who were looking at her x-rays said they were not sure how much could even be done for her surgically, with either the scoliosis or the awkward curvature of her neck?

Turns out something much less invasive than surgery has worked wonders on her neck already.

Look at the tension in her here, the day after we picked her up:

Her neck, her chin, even her eyes look tense.

Here's a photo from our visit in September. It is the end of our last visit - we've spent almost four hours together in total by this time, and she has grown accustomed to our voices. This is the first time I have dared to hold her.

She is so stiff and rigid, and completely motionless, except for the coughing that results from the awkward position of her neck making all of her saliva pool in the back of her throat. I have to quickly change position and roll her onto her side so she can drain it out onto a napkin.

Look again at this picture from tonight:

She hardly looks like the same child! I look at the girl lying on the bed beside me right now, and I can envision a future for her where, with the help of some special equipment, she could sit up and take in the world around her! I had not let myself really consider that as a possibility for her.

She has already exceeded my expectations. Yes, we went into this ready and eager to love her just the way she was. But the little girl that is emerging from what not all that long ago a scary photo with an even scarier file is beyond what I had let myself imagine.