Dinner with a Lifelong friend

On Thursday night we all went to dinner with a good friend of ours, Daniel, and his brother. We met Daniel when we were in Vail and have kept in touch ever since we left. He has also had both of his hips done with Dr. Philippon, and he was in town to see family and so we took a drive up to West Palm Beach to have dinner.

It was really a great and special evening and it was incredible to see how a negative thing such as hip surgery can turn into a positive, when you have made a life long friend.

Getting Ready for School

Since we got home from NC, Shae has been very busy with getting things ready for school. She is the school class president and has a ton of responsibilities to fulfill. Yesterday she went to school for a meeting and today she was at school early in the morning to help with freshman orientation. She is a very busy girl but I think it is good for her because it will keep her mind off of her hips.

Vacation outside of Vail!

Most people would think that having spent 2 months in Vail is without a doubt a vacation. However, when you have two family members coming out of surgery and permanently on crutches, it kind of takes the fun out of vacation. So, although we have had great times in Vail, we all still felt like we needed another vacation before going back to school. And so, we took a road trip up to North Carolina to visit family. It was absolutely amazing, NC is beautiful and the drive was most definitely entertaining. Shae and I sat in the middle seat and unfortunately had to stick Talya in the back seat by herself because Shae and I needed the leg room for our hips and my knees.

My grandparents live on a beautiful lake in NC and we spent the entire weekend going out on the boat, skiing, tubing, jetsking, knee boarding, and wake boarding. And boy Shae was INCREDIBLE! Just kidding, Shae and I skipped out on the intense water activities and worked on our tan instead. Shae didn't do much rehab but my mom and I did her range of motion and she did pool therapy majority of the weekend to keep her hip loose.

Talya learned how to ski and wake board. Our cousins Michael & Michelle are phenominal at wake boarding and skiing and they were great at teaching Talya.



Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Gifts from a special someone

The other day, we received a HUGE package from a very special friend of ours. We knew he was sending us something but we had no idea what it was let alone how big the box was going to be. Phil, is a very good friend of ours who we met in Vail this summer, he too has had hip and knee surgery. We all hit it off and it has been a perfect friendship from the start. He is a really great guy and an amazing friend, and he most definitely spoiled us with this amazing package of yummy cookies, healthy foods, and tons of videos. Thanks again Phil, you are the best and we love you!

We are Family, I got my cousins with me!

Two weekends ago, we had a really fun weekend. My Uncle Andre and my cousins Remy and Guy came into town from Canada. We spent the weekend by the pool and on the boat. It was a beautiful sunday on the boat but it was incredibly hot, so most of the day was spent in the water.






Another great part of this weekend was that our best friend Dameon came to visit. He was home after being in Iraq for several months, he is in the Navy and we have been friends since we were little. We alway have a great time with him and we have missed him so much.






Shae struggled a little with walking around the boat and going up and down the stairs, and she was in some pain afterwards because when you are on the boat you don't realize it but you are constantly trying to stabalize when the boat moves and that engages the hip and legs. She was a trooper but the most comfortable position for her was to be in the water with her aquajogger.

Update!

Woops, I have fallen a little behind with my blogging. But we got home from Vail and it seems as though time has just flown by and we are now faced with a week until school officially starts up again.


Since I last blogged, we have been doing consistent rehab with Shae, and she has officially graduated from using crutches. Aside from using them once or twice when going out with friends, she now walks around the house freely and has no limp! And as of yesterday she has progressed to some difficult exercises such as double leg bridging and 1/3 mini squats.

On Wednesday she did complain of a slight pinch when she was walking but we called Howard Head and spoke to Lindsay and she said that we should do more of the Thomas stretch to help stretch her hip flexor, and to work on getting her knee into her chest by doing a certain active release movement. We did it during therapy and it worked. Shae said she felt the difference and she also noticed that if she walks without engaging her glut then she will occasionally feel the pinch. She also said that when she would do cat and camel and the quad rocking, the pinch went away. Overall, Shae is doing great and making great strides.

Childhood Friends

Shae got a visit from her long time friend, Shira. The two of them have been friends for years, and first met when they were on the same swim team when they were 8 years old. They are now both 15 and are still really great friends.

Then:



Now: