In just a few hours I will be waking Landen up for the long awaited tendon surgery. He will be having his hamstrings and Achilles tendons thinned to allow them to stretch and his legs to straighten. I've been a bundle of nerves all week. We put it off until I was done with finals so that I would be 100% available for him. I know we are doing what is best for Landen he loves to walk and he loves to play and this will help him stay mobile for longer. We took him last week to Shriner's in Salt Lake to have a gait analysis done before surgery. (they basically took video of him walking focusing on his legs as he walked) We did this for two reasons. It helps the surgeon to make sure that he has come up with the best plan for his surgery and also so we can do it again afterwards to prove that the surgery was necessary and helped him. It was so bad they had us strip him down to his onsie so they could see his little legs and had him walk. First with no braces the poor little guy walked so high up on his tippy toes it would make a ballerina jealous and at the same time his knees were extremely bent and he was hunched over like an old man. It looked painful but he still walked up and down the room. Then they did it with his braces on and still he walked up on his tip toes hunched over. It was so hard for me to watch. Even the PT who was running the exam had a hard time it looked so uncomfortable. There is no doubt in my mind that this is what is best or at least it there wasn't when we first made the decision to do this but as the days have gone by and it gets closer and closer I'm so unsettled. Okay so I still know its the right thing but I just worry. Its painful and he will have to have casts on both legs for four to six weeks. I don't want to put my baby through this. Yet I want to see him able to get in his walker and cruse the halls again. He loves walking so much. Keeping him mobile is good for his health. This week has been so emotional up and down. I could be fine just one moment walking through the grocery store and the next crying in my car because I'm so worried about my baby boy. Its been a long week for me and the wait is almost over. I think one of the best distractions was reading through the wonderful cute cards Landen's kindergarten class sent home with him today. They are so cute and so sweet my sister and I sat down and read them to each other it was just the funniest strangely calming activity. We were both just in stitches over how cute they were.
We check into the hospital at 8:30am surgery is 10:00am. Surgery will be at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake. I'm not exactly sure if I can sleep. We are planning on a stay over at the hospital at least overnight but who knows. I was told for the first week Landen cannot sit or move so we have set up a bed for him in our living room where we will be able to easily care for him and keep an eye on him until he is a little more independent. I have asked but have been given no idea how we are expected to keep such a energetic wiggly child still for a whole week. I feel so unprepared for this. It will be a long two months until we are able to see how this surgery benefits him. I will have plenty of time to keep everyone updated to his progress and maybe fill you all in on whats going on in our lives as I sit with Landen.
We can use all the prayers and good thoughts we can get for tomorrow. I have not doubt its going to be a hard day and a very long morning for all of us.
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