More about Jenny

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This is mostly another update on Jenny. For those of you who are my newer friends and do not Know who Jenny is, she is our 16 year old daughter. She has cerebral palsy and her legs were always very twisted inwards. She had an operation on June Fifth to straightened her legs. They cut the bones on both legs six inches above the knees and rotated her legs forty degrees outwards. She was only in the hospital for three days before they sent her home and she was confined to a wheelchair and could put no weight on her legs and had immobilization braces on her legs. After only 35 days the doctors decided that she could start putting weight on her legs and started her on intensive physical therapy. I had to take her to Sacramento every week day for three weeks. We would leave the house at 8:30 in the morning. They would put her through all kinds of exercises and stretches and then give her a two hour break and then would start over again. We would get home about 4:30 every afternoon. At the end of the first week she was able to walk using a walker for a limited time each day. During the second week she was given crutches and they removed the braces form her legs and had her walking most of the time but still had to use the wheelchair away from the hospital but did not have to use the braces at all. At the end of the week she was told that she no longer needed to use the wheelchair at all. After being waited on hand and foot for six weeks she was now able to do things on her own. She was able to get dressed, use the bathroom and even take a shower all by herself. Yahoo! Originally she was only supposed to have two weeks of therapy. But because the school systems her start really early they decided to add another week to her therapy to get her ready to go back to school. They taught her how to get through doors, wear a back pack and walk up and down stairs. They even worked with her on her stability. Bumping into her and hitting her so she would learn to not fall if kids did this to her at school. Well! School started on Monday. It was really hard on her. She was so tired and sore when she got home that she just put on a noght gown and went to sleep. The next day was a little better but she had a lot of pain in her hips and legs. Todayt was the third day back at school. What was really cool is that the school security all got together and decided that they would pick her up after every class and take her to the next class. They said they will continue to do this until she doesn't want them to any more. Can yuo believe that they did this? I was totally amazed. So today Jenny is back to her happy self. I really appreciate my dear friends her and all the support that you have given over the last two months. I would always read what you said to Jenny and she would glow with appreciation. I am sorry that I have not been around much in this time. There were occasions I was able to get her but it seemed like for just a short time. I know have all my regular email caught up and am ready to get back to socializing and being here again. Mark