8.30am and have walked through the doors of the Children's Hospital of St Louis, the place where dreams are created and where anything is possible. We are met once again by our friendly security guard John who with a smile welcomes us back to the hospital. We have time before our appointment so decide to take a walk to the gift shop as Dana wants a new hoodie with the hospital logo. Midway down the hall a lady catches us up and asks us if we have left our walker outside, second time we have left it behind so off I go back to the front of the hospital where it's sitting all alone. Subconsciously I know I want to get rid of this contraption and when I mention it to John he just says ' It's because she won't need it anymore and she is gonna to be just great'. You can feel the love and care that oozes from every part of this hospital and it's just so infectious.
We are scheduled for a 9am physio assessment and meet our therapist Erica who calls herself 'Erica from America' so people dont forget but end up calling her 'America' who is going to put Dana through her paces this morning. She gets Dana sitting, climbing up and down stairs, standing, crawling, walking on her own and all within an hour. She then takes Danas measurements to see range of movement and to see how she will progress over the next few weeks. Her diagnosis is that Dana will benefit in many ways from this operation and she really does not have too much underlying spasticity.
Next stop on our tour of the hospital today is the x-ray department. Now I want you to imagine the x-ray departments back home, dreary, lifeless....now I want you to imagine this. Your met by a huge area which is decked out in baseball memorabilia, with pictures, huge baseball bats, colourful furniture and staff that are all genuinely welcoming. Then there's the waiting area with people that are dressed up as clown doctors with big shoes, red noses and Drs bags with loads of toys, tricks and rubber animals to keep you entertained whilst your waiting. Take a look at the picture on Facebook and you'll see what I mean.
Dana's name was called and we were taken to a small area asked lots of registration questions and Dana was given an ID bracelet. We were then shown back to the waiting area until they were ready. The clown was still there entertaining the kids as well as the adults. Within a few minutes Dana's name was called and we followed a nurse down a long corridor where the walls were filled with pictures and colour. Some of the pictures where objects of a baseball glove or an ice skate and when you looked at it on the side you could see the bones on the hand or foot. Very clever. We entered the x-ray room and I was given a blingy red apron while a nurse and another staff member explained what would happen. Dana was a bit apprehensive as this was no ordinary x-ray, it is were Dr Park will make his incision. I had help getting Dana on the bed and made her comfortable and suddenly three doctors walked in who all shook my hand and introduced themselves. One of the doctors took charge of the X-ray machine while the other looked at the screen, both communicating to each other all the time and counting down Dana's spine until they reach the appropriate vertebra. They place metal scissors on the Dana's back and place a black cross to mark the spot. The doctors wished us well and left the room, we continued to chat with the nurse who was very interested in the royal wedding and asked if we watched it.
This is it. Not long until the operation. It feels Dana is starting a new life and in a way now am glad she is the age she is. Dana wants this and will work hard to achieve the results. You know I had a dream a few months ago and Dana walked into my bedroom, I woke up knowing it was a dream, but you know now it really feels real and am so excited for the future.
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