Grinding away.

I tried making a list of pros and cons to sum up our current adventure and I failed miserably. It came across as such whiney horseshit. Obviously, the first big negative on the list was the fact that Kate and I make Emily scream and cry a minimum of four times a day as we care for her pin sites and stretch her out. After that...well, what else is there? Ooh, I wake up with headaches from grinding my teeth all night. Wah, I don't have time to work out. Boo hoo, I'm not sleeping as much as I'd like because one of my two children usually wakes up in pain during the night. What's their excuse? Paige is six months old and cutting teeth so...yeah. And Emily? Well, she has 10 stainless steel pins DRILLED INTO HER LEG. Maybe it's that. Or maybe it's because of the small bar we install on this device each night which keeps her leg locked straight. Can't believe she can't get comfortable. Softy.

But there are positives. I swear. The ocean view from our condo is awfully nice. Perhaps most importantly, we're making progress. Real, visible, measurable progress. If my math is correct, as of yesterday we have grown 5.3 cm of new bone since May 25th. For the metrically impaired, that's just under 2.1 inches. That's right. Wow. 

Even more impressive is that she has maintained a necessary level of flexibility and range of motion during that time (mostly due to Kate and a team of physical therapists manhandling her on a daily basis.) No small feat when you consider the stress on her muscles, ligaments and tendons. If we can keep this pace, she would hit 8 cm on August 9th which just so happens to be her 4th birthday. While that seems unlikely (it's rare for kids to continue growing bone at this rate. Usually flexibility wanes, pain increases and a slowdown is required,) it would be a nice birthday present. Still, I'm sure she'll want toys or something. Just like a four-year old...completely missing the big picture. 

In the end, that big picture is what matters most. The daily grind, the small hiccups, the everyday struggles...all of that will all be washed away if we can just continue to maintain the forward momentum.