Wow, this girl is so strong!

I honestly didn’t know what to expect for the first day post surgery but I can tell you I never dreamed it would be the day we have had. For starters this first picture was taken last night when Dr. Johnson met us in the lobby after Alex's surgery so she could speak with both of us together. You can see the tired and overjoyed eyes of a woman who never gave up until the job was done and done right. I wish I had a picture of the entire amazing team because they all gave their all for our sweet girl. I also want you to notice that Dr. Johnson wore her Nashville Predators cap for surgery just for Alex.

Thank you all who prayed ceaselessly for this team throughout the day. It was really neat and encouraging to see all through the day the notification of people viewing the blog. It doesn't show names but it does give me state or country and to see and know that people were praying for these doctors, for us, and for our girl, and the rest of our family from not just all over this country but from many parts of the world was such an encouragement to us.

This is the little girl who greeted us with a smile only a very short time after waking up from approximately 13 hours of sedation. Groggy, swollen, a little confused but still trying to smile. She has been the best little patient. The night was hard but not because she was in pain. They have done an absolutely amazing job of managing her pain. She has given them 0 on the pain scale multiple times through the day. She was confused because her leg didn't feel short or backward. She kept saying she didn't think it was backwards. That has mostly ended throughout the day today as we have been able to get her into position where she could see it or feel it. She also was aggravated by the spica cast that comes to her knee on her long leg and to ankle on the short leg and up to her rib cage. She has all the wires also and pulse ox and blood pressure cuff of course and all the things were aggravating. All important things of course but hard to explain to a six year old who just doesn't want things touching her. She wanted to show off her Elsa cast. They did Frozen blue with sparkles and an Elsa tattoo on the front. She loves it.

She was able keep down ice chips, water, Apple juice, applesauce, and popsicles. This all happened a little at a time over several hours just to make sure she was able to keep it down. Next she kept down some crackers. Middle of the night we moved on to Jello and pudding and that did not stay down so she had to take a break from food until morning and she was not happy about that but she was happy that her tummy felt better. A funny around that was after she threw up she asked the nurse if they had healthy food here!! The nurse and I both laughed. So first chance she got she ordered fruit and other yummy things but that had to wait till morning. She was a little bit confused that it was still dark yesterday morning when we went into the hospital and back to pre op and then it was dark when she came out. She kept saying morning has to be here soon its been dark so long. It was a long, slow night. She was also missing Daddy and ready for him to come visit her this morning. She did take some small naps off and on through the night. One little funny. When she first woke up after surgery she looked at the doctor and nurse and said, "wow, that was really fast"!! We all just laughed and said, sure it was!! Shortest day ever!!

Here is the backward foot while we were listening to the beautiful sound of the pulse. Her pulse has been so strong ever since she came out of surgery. I am going to try to get the video to load here of her moving her foot in the OR. When Dr. Johnson showed us the video we were in awe. It was amazing. I was so surprised that she was able to control it so quickly. Such a huge blessing. She is lying on her back in this picture and that is her left leg. I am going to post a picture of all of her soon as we are able to get more clothes on. She is not loving keeping things on right now, which who can blame her with all the things that are attached to her and can't come off.

This was the beautiful sunrise that greeted us this morning out our hospital room window. It was a welcome sight for sure. She was waiting for morning because morning meant Daddy was coming and that she could have breakfast. So many good things came with the morning. Her night nurse was wonderful. So sweet and attentive.

Today started a little bit slow because she was very tired. She chose egg and cheese burrito, fresh fruit, and blueberry muffin for breakfast. She had a nap after she and Daddy played for a while. I was able to go back to the condo and have a nap this morning, which was awesome. When she woke from her nap she was a different kid. Her day nurses have been as wonderful as her night nurse. She and Brent played with floam, built a lego set, and played with a bouncy ball. He is the fun parent for sure!!! She has had a couple struggles through the day but nothing that wasn't quickly controlled. The did open her cast on the short side to allow a bit more room for swelling because she was hurting a little bit. Thankfully the swelling has not been anything more than what they expected. Another huge blessing. She has handled the position changes very well and even gotten to lounge in a wheelchair for a little while and we were able to put her in the sun from the window, which she loved. She sure does miss outside. She has had two or three times where she has become really agitated when she would get uncomfortable. She tends to power through things that she doesn't like until she can't stand it anymore and then she breaks. This is what has happened each time. We have noticed that she starts tapping her toe really gently when she is powering through so that is something we are watching for more. The foot tap or shake has been consistent for the last year or two when she is irritated but it has been very obvious this time. Other than that it has been completely smooth. The second picture is her opening a painting that LaRue made for her with a really cool background and a prosthetic leg in the center. It's so cool and she loves it. When the doctors came in to take report from the nurses and to check on her they kept saying how impressed they are with her recovery process.

I know I have said this before but I just can't say it enough times. Thank you all for your prayers. We know that God is covering her and us. It is an amazing testimony. When we got the call from the nurse last night that Alex had pink and wiggly toes we were ecstatic. We called the other children on facetime and got them all in the screen and told them and it was quiet the volcanic reaction of joy. It was so sweet to see their faces and celebrate with them.

I have to admit that I was a little bit anxious about how I would feel and handle the loss of part of my little girl. It has helped so much that there was opportunity to donate her bone to research for Gorham-Stout Disease. It brought even greater purpose to what was happening here. The interesting thing was that when I look at her sweet little body with this tiny leg and backward foot I see a healthy, whole, and complete little girl and it brings me so much joy. I can say that is not what I thought I would feel but once again so thankful for that. God has been so good to us through all of this journey. In many ways we didn't even know until we were beyond it. Looking back has been a beautiful thing for this reason. Seeing God's goodness intertwined all throughout this story.

Brent is with her at the hospital now and just texted to say she is asleep. Hopefully this means tonight will be a bit easier since she didn't sleep much today wither. I think I am going to take a nap before going back and trading out with him. We love you all and are so thankful for each one of you.