Boy it’d been a very long time since I updated the blog, and so much has happened in that time. The overall picture is that Ashling is doing really well, and has even started taking a few steps without her walker, which is really exciting!!!
It’s been a busy few months with Ashling. She finished her rehabilitation at The Wilson Centre in July, having spent 2 days a week there for about 9 months. Ashling made massive progress during her stint there. Not only did her legs eventually get back to where she was pre-surgery regarding her walking etc, she met a lot of other milestones too. She learned how to push herself up from the ground into a seated position by herself for the first time, learned how to crawl, learned how to do tummy time etc. She had missed so many of these milestones because of the tummy tube that she had and all of the related problems afterwards. Thankfully that is a thing of the past now. The surgery that Ashling had in Jan 2011, (which was to close the gastrostomy hole), proved to be a huge success; Ashling is very comfortable on her tummy now. We are still working hard on building her strength though as she is very weak in this position.
As I said, the rehabilitation after Ashling’s 8 plate surgery in Oct 2010 took about 9 months. This was also because she had an unlucky year, fracturing her right leg twice in the same place, just above where the plates and screws were in her legs. However, despite the setbacks, Ashling finished her rehab in July and has gone from strength to strength since then.
Her 8 plate surgery was due again 2 weeks ago, to readjust the plates/screws. Even though this was a year on from her last one, Ger and I still felt that the rehab had taken too long and we didn’t want to repeat the process at this stage. The 8 plates had worked somewhat. Her legs have straightened by about 5-10 degrees and we were delighted with that. But it was a huge cost to her – a very tough year. So after a lot of hard thinking, researching and getting alternate medical opinions, we decided to have the whole lot taken out of her legs for now. We will re-evaluate things in a year or two when she is bigger and stronger. So Ashling had her surgery and it went really well. She was in casts for 10 days, mostly to protect her knees and to stretch her legs into a straight position. They came off yesterday and she is doing brilliantly. We just cannot believe how quickly she is recovering and we are absolutely thrilled with the decision we made. It was the right one for her at this time.
Otherwise, all is well. Ashling and Jamie continue to get on like a house on fire and life is good – particularly now that that there are no foreseeable surgeries in the next 12 months. Halleluiah!!!
If you get a chance to have a look at any of these videos, you’ll see just how much Ashling is coming on....
Thanks again for reading this. Lots of love, all the Collins Gang xxx
Videos:
1. Ash walking with a buggy http://youtu.be/X_BA56O-5EM
2. Ash and cousins singin "Ireland" http://youtu.be/oi6F1hDp1CM
3 Girls playing http://youtu.be/DwCi_5XmNl4
4. Girls doing twirls like ballerinas http://youtu.be/6Fnq98d8iMg
5. Girls Messing before one of the Ireland world cup games; http://youtu.be/zBGb3vKxMIc
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