This post is a being written out of order (this is actually an update from April 08th, the day Fiona was discharged) but things have been a bit crazy the last few days and I figured you would rather read this news than not.
First of all, I took the red-eye on Tuesday night from Seatac to Detroit. OK, THAT was nuts! I sat next to a talker. You know the kind - a nice guy with a quasi-interesting life, a persistent approach and a little slow on the 'hint' uptake. Yawning, closing my eyes, all the usual things didn't seem to shut this guy up so I listened - a LOT! I had been upgraded to first class so luckily had access to premium and low-cost libation so, even though I didn't sleep, I DID enjoy an occasional scotch! (And you know me and scotch..)
I arrived at St. Louis Children's Hospital with camera in tow, just in time for Fi's final PT with Beth. I was amazed with the change in Fiona's tone (old spaghetti legs I now call her) - from having stiff, unyielding hockey sticks for legs to having unnatural flexibility. I quickly realized that Fi will need a LOT of PT in the near future to help her build up tone and strength in those muscles that she has never had the chance to use. Very exciting and yet, very scary! Her ankles and knees bend in ways I'm not sure they are designed to! We were encouraged to take a trip to the St. Louis zoo before the flight left - you may remember from a previous post that our zoo day had been rained out before surgery - and even though Fi was still quite medicated, she was VERY excited about seeing the animals. We had an uneventful check-out / discharge and then headed to the zoo.
Fiona on the platform swing 
"I'm a tiger!"
"Mum, gimme the puzzle!"
"Come on, Fwoggie, this won't hurt a bit!"
Shooting hoops - St. Louis style
Now this is SOME zoo!! I had heard great things about the place, most of which were followed by "...and it's FREE!" so I guess I had low expectations. How good can a free zoo be, right?? Well let me tell you, the St. Louis Zoo is AMAZING! Great accessibility for wheelchairs, an extensive collection of animals, great habitat for the beasts and expansive! We could have easily spent the day. If you ever find yourself in St. Louis, make sure you check out the zoo! (Did I mention that it's free?)
A soulmate - especially after a red-eye!
Sooo, if therapy on horseback is "Hippotherapy" would therapy on a zebra be "Zippotherapy"?
"Come closah with that fancy Nikon!!! We'll see if it's waterproof!"
In case you don't know me, I have a weekend gig as a Wedding Photographer. Why am I telling you this?? Well, we had one more stop to make in St. Louis en route to the airport. Denis Reggie, one of the leading Wedding Photographers, was speaking in St. Louis at 6:00pm. Our flight was leaving at 8:05pm. Not likely, right? Well Chris INSISTED that I scoot by the venue and at least touch base with Denis Reggie. (Chris bought me a four-day training session with Denis a few years ago and it's ALWAYS a good idea to keep in touch with folks!) So, plug the address into the trusty GPS and race like a fiend (NOT speeding Phil!) through the streets of St. Louis. I arrived at the hall five minutes before Denis was set to speak and I had the chance to talk with him again. This was cool and if it hadn't been for Chris' insistence, I would have taken the conservative approach and gone to the airport instead.
At the airport, we were in for more fun! As you can imagine, we had a LOT of gear - suitcases, Fiona's walker and stroller and car seat, feeding bag, carry-ons, my camera gear, etc., so when we hit the check-in counter, we were a bit flabbergasted. When we arrived at the gate, the gate agent asked if we wanted to board early to avoid the rush. This is code for, "Can we get you out of the way so you don't cause a traffic jam", but we were glad for the extra time. The gate agent gave the car seat to a flight attendant who strapped it into Fiona's assigned airplane seat. The gate agent then took Fi's walker (a rather expensive orthopedic deal) which we had gate checked and rather than carrying it to the tarmac down the stairs at the end of the jet way, she attempted to send it down a makeshift chute that was obviously too narrow and too steep. Cha-ching! The walker fell fifteen or so feet to the pavement below! Something else to deal with when we hit Seattle!
From the minute we put Fi in her car seat, she complained that "My back is soah." We expected this what with the trip to the zoo, the crazy rushing around and the fact that she had been flat on her back for the past few days so we didn't really pay too much attention to her lament. Come on, Tylenol with Codeine! She complained on and off the entire flight but she did get some sleep. When we arrived in Seattle and had pulled up to the gate, I unbuckled her car seat to find that the flight attendant had attached the airplane seat belt in such a way the belt buckle was positioned just about exactly where Fiona's spinal incision was! It was covered by about 1/4" of padding so we hadn't noticed it before but every time Fi had moved or the plane had jostled her, the seat belt buckle must have dug into her back. YIKES!!!! As soon as I had unbuckled the seat belt, Fi pushed back in her chair and said, "There, that's better!" OK, for all you judging people out there making comments about me as a Father, I'M SORRY!!! It won't happen again!
All in all, the tip went better than I expected. Fi is very resilient (more so that Chris and I) and we look forward to her new life and new found possibilities!
We appreciate all of your support and the feedback we are getting about this blog. We will update as much and as often as we are able but now we are back in the daily grind at home, we don't have quite as much time to be writing....but we'll try! Please stay tuned!
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