It’s been almost 2 weeks that Kiera has been home and we have been trying to adjust to her new life. 

In general things are going really well.  Kiera gets stronger every day.   She still uses her walker to sit or stand and her wheelchair to move around.  She is building those upper arm muscles up- that is for sure!  She has to “wheel” around at least 30 mins a day which she fights me on but it is important to her recovery.  

Emotionally she is having a hard time.  She gets really sad when she thinks about the future and what she will or won’t be able to do. I keep telling her she can do anything she sets her mind to, but being a teenager she becomes very emotional about it all.  That has been hard on all of us.  

Having her home has been wonderful for us but it is a lot more “work” than I thought and I have already threw my back out. Getting her up and going each day takes almost 2 hours.  So does getting ready to go somewhere.  It’s like I have a little one again!  Which I am so thankful for - she is here and alive and not permanently paralyzed.  

Friends have been bringing meals, which has been such a blessing!  It is the one thing I don’t have to worry about every day.  Thank you all!!!  

Keeping Kiera busy and going has been a new goal this week.  Just getting her to get up, get dressed and get out of the house every day has really helped her mood.  She grumps all the way but is happier in the end.  

We met again with the neurosurgeon (from Carle) last Monday. He (Dr Arnold) still thinks we need to do surgery.  The most recent MRI showed that the swelling has gone down, her vertebrae are healing but that disc is still herniated. He really does NOT think that will heal.  So unless she wants to remain in a cast her whole life and live a sedentary life- she will need to have surgery.  We told him we would like to seek out another opinion or two.  He said that we could also wait 2 months and at that time he might be able to fuse less vertebrae and make her movement the least restrictive, than if he did the surgery right now.  We are fine waiting and it gives us sometime to get more opinions and more time for her to heal.  

I want to take a moment and say that I didn’t mean for this post to come across like I am complaining I’m really not.  I am so thankful for each of you.  We do try and put a happy face on every day but I won’t  lie -it has been really difficult. We are so appreciative to our friends and family that are understanding of our limitations right now.  Kiera wants to go and do just like before but she just cannot some days.  

We thank you for praying for us and loving on us as we keep plugging along!